Primate Review

Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Cujo were not a dog, but a chimpanzee? Well, Primate dares to answer that very question. This initially appears to be your average horror narrative. Lucy, a college student back home for the holidays after a long time away, is welcomed back by her younger sister, deaf father, and, of course, her pet chimp, Ben. The idea that somebody would have a chimpanzee as a domesticated pet in 2026 seems improbable, but so much of the film does, and yet, it is already set to be one of the strongest horror films of the year.

The term ‘horror’ doesn’t quite seem to fit with films like this. Horror has always been about scaring its audience but, save for a few customary jump scares, there is little frightening in the film. Sure, the narrative of a murderous, rabies-infected chimp is frightening in itself, but Primate makes the choice to fully lean into the gore and violence side of horror and does it very well. Director Johannes Roberts is no stranger to the genre, with his most successful film to date being the shark film 47 Meters Down.

What sets Primate apart from other animal-centric horror films of recent years (think Sting or Slotherhouse) is that it fully commits to being a serious film. There is never a moment in which the film feels like a parody or a cheap joke; a tired journalist would even say there is no monkey business. In fact, Primate delivers some of the best kills and violence you will see this year. What else the film does so well that separates it from its predecessors is that it cares little about its characters. The only character that really matters here is Ben the chimp; everybody is expendable. The film appears to set up the traditional horror film relationship that nobody ever cares about, but an early kill reveals that the filmmakers do not care for it either.

As is expected with this kind of feature, there is little to note regarding the cast’s performances however, Miguel Torres Umba deserves this attention. He is a physical performer and movement specialist who plays the titular Primate, rather than the film relying on CGI. This human aspect just amplifies the realness of the villain, rather than being purely imaginary. Elsewhere, the Academy Award-winning Troy Kotsur also brings his own unique viewpoint to the narrative as the deaf father, with the film’s best scene coming from the chimp’s killing spree being an unknown background event in his own house.

While Primate is full of plot holes and moments in which you will question every decision made by its characters, that is to be expected with these kinds of movies. You do not go into a film about a killer chimp for the nuance and allegory; you watch it to see brutal murder at the hands of an animal, and that’s exactly what you get.