Primate [Movie Review]

Primate [Movie Review] | When I watched the trailer, I already had a pretty good idea of where the story was headed and how it would probably end.

Still, I went to watch it, wondering if it would unfold exactly the way I expected.

SYNOPSIS

Primate (2025) Trivia

• Starring: Johnny Sequoyah, Jessica Alexander & Troy Kotsur
• Director: Johannes Roberts
• Producer: Walter Hamada, John Hodges & Bradley Pilz
• Production Company: 18Hz Productions
• Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
• Release date: January 9, 2026
• Running time: 89 minutes
• Rating: MA
• Country: United States
• Language: English
• IMDb: 6.2/ 10
• Tomatometer: 79%
• Metascore: 59%
• Hawaii is the only state in the US where there is no rabies.
• It is actually illegal to own a pet chimpanzee in Hawaii.  
• Ben’s movements were designed to feel disturbingly human. The filmmakers drew from real chimp problem-solving and emotional behaviour, subtly heightening it to blur the line between instinct and intent. 
• Ben’s fear of the water is biological. Chimpanzees can’t swim, turning the luxury pool into an island of survival and completely reversing the idea of safety. 

The movie starts normal enough. A veterinarian enters a private animal enclosure in a remote home, expecting routine work. He never comes out. In fact, his face was pulled off of his skull by the primate called Ben. 

Thirty-six hours earlier, Lucy lands back on the island she once called home. She’s older now, reshaped by years away, but Hawaii still carries the weight of unfinished conversations with her sister and father after the death of her mother. Friends trail behind her, some expected, some not. Along the way, two carefree strangers attach themselves to the group, drawn by the promise of sun, parties, and escape.

Lucy’s home is beautiful. It is a sleek, architecturally bold house carved into a cliff face, hovering above the sea. Inside it lives her family and their complicated silences. Her father, Adam, a celebrated novelist, is deaf, communicating with precision and restraint through sign language. Her sister Erin carries resentment that her sister left her alone. And then there is Ben.

Ben is not just a chimpanzee. He is family. Raised with patience and academic curiosity by Lucy’s late mother, he communicates through a tablet, responds emotionally and remembers deeply. When Lucy gives him a childhood teddy bear, it feels like healing. It feels safe.

Ben begins acting strangely after Adam finds a dead mongoose in his enclosure and realises it bit him. Planning to send the animal for testing, Adam asks Lambert to check on Ben before leaving for a book signing. Later, as the group parties by the cliffside pool, a now-rabid Ben kills Lambert and escapes.

That night, Kate wakes to find Ben roaming aimlessly, then gone. Lucy discovers his blood-stained teddy bear just as Ben attacks Nick and Hannah by the pool. A failed attempt to restrain him ends with Erin bitten, forcing everyone into the water while Ben stalks them from the edge. When Nick tries to push Ben away, he is thrown off the cliff to his death. The survivors cling to a pool float until morning, only to find Ben gone.

Inside the house, Ben ambushes Lucy and Kate. Kate is killed. Meanwhile, Adam learns the mongoose tested positive for rabies and abandons a film deal, rushing home after Lucy stops responding.

Who will Adam find waiting at home: his children or the rabid creature Ben has become?

MY REVIEW

What I Like:  

• Yes, it went as I expected, except that the movie is much gore! 
• Lots of action. 

What I Don't Like:

• Some might find it too gore. 

Will I Watch It Again: Sure, I would.

Overall: 4.6/ 5.0

The pictures are taken from multiple sources on the Internet. Thank you.

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