Film Review: ‘Primate’ (2025)

A Brutal, Old-School Creature Feature That Goes for the Jugular

Director: Johannes Roberts

Cast: Johnny Sequoyah, Troy Kotsur, Jessica Alexander, Victoria Wyant, Gia Hunter, Miguel Torres Umba

Genre: Horror / Survival / Thriller

Runtime: 89 Minutes

Release Date: September 18, 2025 (Fantastic Fest) / January 9, 2026 (Theatrical)

Johannes Roberts has carved a niche for himself in the realm of high-concept survival horror, from the underwater claustrophobia of 47 Meters Down to the slasher stylings of The Strangers: Prey at Night. With Primate, Roberts strips the genre down to its most feral essentials. A lean, mean, and surprisingly vicious throwback to eco-horror classics like Cujo and Shakma, the film weaponizes the uncomfortable boundary between domesticated affection and wild instinct. Anchored by a committed performance from Troy Kotsur and impressive practical creature effects, Primate overcomes a thin script to deliver a relentless, blood-soaked exercise in tension.

Full Plot Synopsis

The story opens in a remote, architectural marvel of a home perched on a Hawaiian cliffside. The residence belongs to Adam Pinborough (Troy Kotsur), a famous deaf novelist, and his two daughters, Erin (Gia Hunter) and Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah). The family is still navigating the grief of losing their mother, a linguist who had been teaching American Sign Language (ASL) to their beloved pet chimpanzee, Ben.

Lucy returns home from college for the first time since her mother’s death, bringing along her best friend Kate (Victoria Wyant) and frenemy Hannah (Jessica Alexander). On the flight over, they also meet two party-hungry college boys, Drew and Brad, who are eventually invited to join the group. Upon arrival, the tension is palpable; Lucy is distant, Adam is trying to hold the family together, and Ben the chimp is treated as a surrogate child, fully integrated into the household and communicating via a tablet soundboard.

The horror catalyst is introduced quietly: Ben wanders into the dense jungle surrounding the property and is bitten by a rabid mongoose. The infection spreads with terrifying speed. Adam leaves for a book event on a neighboring island, leaving the young adults alone. As night falls, Ben’s behavior shifts from playful to erratic. When the group attempts to interact with him, the chimp violently snaps, mauling Kate in a shocking display of strength.

Realizing Ben has succumbed to a rabies-like madness, the survivors retreat. They discover that their phones are destroyed or out of reach, and the house’s remote location makes screaming futile. The group is forced to barricade themselves in the outdoor infinity pool, exploiting the fact that chimpanzees cannot swim. What follows is a grueling siege. Ben stalks the perimeter, using his intelligence to cut power and hunt them down one by one.

Desperate attempts to retrieve car keys or a phone result in gruesome casualties. Drew and Brad are brutally dispatched in the house, and Hannah is killed while attempting to flee. The climax sees Adam returning early, finding his home a slaughterhouse. He engages in a physical confrontation with the enraged animal to save his daughters. In the final struggle, the family manages to lure Ben onto a fragile glass balcony structure. As the chimp lunges for a killing blow, the glass gives way, sending the creature plummeting to the rocks below, ending the nightmare.

Critical Analysis

Themes and Subtext

While Primate functions primarily as a kinetic survival thriller, it lightly touches upon themes of grief and the folly of anthropomorphism. The Pinborough family uses Ben as an emotional crutch to bypass their own trauma, projecting human innocence onto an animal that is inherently wild. The film punishes this projection swiftly. By making the “monster” a beloved family member rather than an external alien threat, Roberts adds a layer of tragic inevitability to the violence.

Acting and Characters

The standout performance belongs to Troy Kotsur (CODA). As Adam, he brings a gravitas that elevates the material. His deafness is not treated as a gimmick but as an integral part of the film’s texture; the silence during his scenes creates a suffocating tension, contrasting sharply with the chaotic noise of the attacks. Johnny Sequoyah is a capable “final girl,” balancing vulnerability with physical resourcefulness, though the script gives her little depth beyond her grief. The supporting cast largely fills the archetype of “slasher fodder,” with Jessica Alexander doing her best with an abrasive, unlikable character designed to be dispatched.

Direction and Pacing

Johannes Roberts directs with efficient brutality. He understands the assignment: audiences are here for a killer monkey movie, and he does not delay the carnage. The pacing is breathless, clocking in at a tight 89 minutes. Roberts effectively utilizes the single location, turning the luxurious open-plan home into a glass cage where the characters are constantly exposed. The sequence in the infinity pool is a directorial highlight, using water and lighting to create a sense of helplessness.

Visuals and Creature Effects

In an era dominated by CGI, Primate deserves immense praise for its reliance on practical effects. Ben is brought to life through a combination of prosthetics, an animatronic suit, and a motion-capture performance by Miguel Torres Umba. This tangibility adds weight to the horror; when Ben grabs a character, the physical interaction feels real and dangerous. The gore is unflinching—jaws are ripped, limbs are broken, and the violence is tactile and wet, satisfying the gore-hounds of the genre.

Screenplay

The screenplay is the film’s weakest link. The dialogue often veers into exposition, and the decision-making logic of the characters—a staple complaint of the horror genre—is frequently frustrating. The reasons contrived to get characters out of the safety of the pool and into Ben’s path can feel forced. However, the script succeeds in its structure, adhering to a classic three-act siege narrative that delivers exactly what it promises, even if it lacks nuance.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths	Weaknesses
Practical Effects: The chimp suit and performance are terrifyingly tactile and realistic.	Thin Characters: Supporting characters are one-dimensional archetypes with little development.
Pacing: A tight runtime ensures the tension never sags; there is no filler.	Predictable Plot: The story follows a very standard survival horror formula with few surprises.
Troy Kotsur: An Oscar-caliber actor brings genuine emotional weight to a B-movie premise.	Questionable Logic: Characters make frustratingly poor decisions to advance the plot.
Sound Design: The use of silence and sign language creates unique, suspenseful set pieces.	Dialogue: The script suffers from clunky exposition and melodramatic exchanges.

Final Verdict

Primate does not reinvent the wheel, but it spins it with ferocious energy. It is a nasty, efficient, and highly entertaining creature feature that respects the roots of the genre. By combining a unique antagonist with high-stakes practical gore and a compelling lead performance from Troy Kotsur, Johannes Roberts delivers one of the better “animals attack” films in recent years. It is a film that demands little from its audience intellectually but delivers visceral thrills in spades. For horror fans lamenting the death of mid-budget studio horror, this is a welcome return to form.

Score: B