How ‘The Monkey’ Connects to a Classic Stephen King Adaptation

The Monkey is the most recent big-screen adaptation of a work by Stephen King. Written and directed by modern horror auteur Osgood Perkins, The Monkey is, however, unlike any other Stephen King movie you’ve seen. Boasting dark humor and extreme gore, the film is a scary statement about our species’ relationship with death, all under the premise of a cursed toy that can cause mayhem at the pace of its drumming abilities.

It sounds far-fetched, but it’s exactly what Perkins aims for with his unique take on the Stephen King short story that can be found in the 1985 anthology Skeleton Crew. However, fans of the author should not fear Perkins’ manipulation of the story to make it all a bit more cinematic. You will find plenty of King’s spirit in The Monkey, as funny as the movie tries to be as it follows a monkey toy that can eradicate an entire population if someone winds it up.

Perkins made some necessary changes to the story, yet he also made sure to wink at loyal Stephen King fans who can instantly recognize an homage to the author. Among these nods, there’s one to a classic Stephen King movie (and book) that feels a bit weird. Not because it doesn’t stick but because it doesn’t represent anything relevant to the story. Yes, we’re talking about the presence of Misery‘s Annie Wilkes.

The Monkey

4
/5

Release Date

February 19, 2025

Runtime

98 Minutes

Director

Osgood Perkins

Writers

Osgood Perkins

Producers

John Rickard, Natalia Safran, Ali Jazayeri, Chris Ferguson, Fred Berger, Giuliana Bertuzzi, James Wan, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, John Friedberg, Jason Cloth, David Gendron, Michael Clear, Jesse Savath, Peter Luo, Dave Caplan

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The following article contains major spoilers for The Monkey.

What Is ‘The Monkey’ About?

The Monkey tells the story of Hal Shelburn, a young boy who has always been under the shadow of his twin brother, Bill (both Hal and Bill are played by Christian Convery). Living with their mother, Hal and Bill have no father figure, but they find that he owned a very creepy toy: a wind-up monkey toy that plays a snare. When they take it out of the box and turn the key on the monkey’s back, people start dying. Horribly.

Eventually, the boys decide to bury the monkey after their mother and their uncle die, and they figure that it’s cursed. But 25 years later, Hal (played by Theo James) receives a phone call that will make him recall his childhood. The boys’ only aunt dies and Hal suspects right away that the monkey is responsible. As he’s about to spend one very important weekend with his son Petey, Hal is forced to revisit his past. He must determine if what he and Bill did at some point didn’t work, and the darn monkey is on the loose again.

How Does ‘The Monkey’ Connect to the Stephen King Universe?

Viewers who are paying attention will find the cameo that connects The Monkey to the Stephen King universe. One of the first victims of the monkey’s curse is the boys’ babysitter, a nice young woman who takes them out to dinner. Sadly, the girl meets her demise when the chef’s (very large) knife makes contact with her neck, and her head subtly slides off in an askew way before falling off. That woman’s name, as we find out later in the hilarious funeral scene, is none other than Annie Wilkes (in the original story her name is Beulah).

Annie Wilkes is also the name of the nurse who “takes care” of Paul Sheldon in Misery. In The Monkey, Wilkes is a babysitter with no physical resemblance to Kathy Bates’ version of the 1990 adaptation of the Stephen King classic novel. She’s just a friendly babysitter, and she shows no traits of being the worst nurse you can think of.

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Perkins’ nod is a connection, of course. But it probably doesn’t mean much else in terms of the Kingverse. It’s the same with the twins’ sex-ed teacher, who they address as Mrs. Torrance. Does that mean there’s a connection between The Monkey and The Shining? Not at all. But it’s a cool nod by someone who digs the legacy of the author and yet didn’t try to make the film a Stephen King Easter egg hunt.

When you see the tagline “Based on a book by Stephen King,” it’s impossible not to think that the director will somehow make the story take place in the universe of Stephen King. While this time, Annie Wilkes’ cameo has no specific meaning, it does make you wonder if, at some point, there could be a Stephen King Cinematic Universe brewing. The Monkey is in theaters now.