Movie · Horror, Comedy · 2025 · R

The Monkey: parents' guide

16+our pick

Best for ages 16 and up. Rated R for strong bloody violent content, gore, language throughout and some sexual references.

A gory, pitch-black horror-comedy for older teens, based on a Stephen King story, about twin brothers haunted by a wind-up toy monkey that causes a freak death whenever it drums. The deaths are deliberately over the top, from a harpoon through the stomach to an exploding swimmer and a beheading at a hibachi grill. The boys' mother dies suddenly in front of one of them, and one twin bullies the other relentlessly. Expect constant f-words and some crude sexual jokes. For the gore and grief, we suggest 16.

What's in it

Violence

Strong

Graphic and frequent: a man is disemboweled by a harpoon, a babysitter is beheaded, a man is trampled by horses, a swimmer explodes in an electrified pool, wasps swarm a man to death, and a bowling ball takes off a head. Played for shock laughs.

Language

Strong

Constant: one count found 62 obscenities including 46 f-words, plus motherf----r, s-words, a--hole, whore and misuses of Jesus' name.

Sex and nudity

Moderate

No sex scenes or nudity. Masturbation is implied and joked about, there are crude jokes about hookers and swingers, a brief strip-club scene, a woman in a bikini, and a man briefly seen without pants, nothing graphic.

Drinking, drugs and smoking

Moderate

Brief: someone drinks beer from a can, a character vapes, a few people smoke cigarettes, and a question about being high is answered with a deadpan warning not to do drugs.

Scary or intense scenes

Strong

A creepy, grinning toy that seems to pick its victims, nightmare sequences, ghosts and the constant sense that anyone could die without warning. A boy watches his mother collapse and die, followed by a funeral.

Sensitive topics

  • Death of a parent
  • Bullying

Worth talking about

Hal fears his bad luck will hurt his own son and keeps him at a distance. How does the film use dark comedy to explore grief, absent fathers and what families pass down?

Where to stream →

On our lists

Similar picks around 16+

Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, movieguide.org, Wikipedia, the MPA. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.