Primate (2026) Paramount/Horror RT: 89 minutes Rated R (strong bloody violent content, gore, language, some drug use) Director: Johannes Roberts Screenplay: Johannes Roberts and Ernest Riera Music: Adrian Johnston Cinematography: Stephen Murphy Release date: January 9, 2026 (US) Cast: Johnny Sequoyah, Jessica Alexander, Troy Kotsur, Victoria Wyant, Gia Hunter, Benjamin Cheng, Charlie Mann, Tienne Simon, Miguel Torres Umba, Kae Alexander, Amina Abdi, Albert Magashi.
Rating: ***
As an animal lover, I wasn’t exactly psyched to see Primate, a horror-thriller about a chimp who turns on its humans after developing rabies. I hate cruelty to animals. I can’t stand to see any animal (especially dogs) getting harmed or killed. I have actually cursed characters out loud in the theater for hurting or killing animals. I was afraid I’d be traumatized by Primate. Surprisingly, that turned out not to be the case. I actually enjoyed it very much. It’s an effective natural horror piece with some of the best (and most grisly) gore effects I’ve seen in a while.
The plot of Primate is pretty basic. It’s the simian version of Cujo. College student Lucy (Sequoyah, Believe) is home for summer break. She brings two friends, bestie Hannah (Wyant, I Fought the Law) and not-bestie Kate (Alexander, The Little Mermaid), to her family’s cliffside home in Hawaii. It’s a bittersweet homecoming as Lucy’s mother has recently died. Her little sister Erin (Hunter, Sherlock & Daughter) resents her for staying away for too long. Her hearing-impaired author father (Kotsur, CODA) is preoccupied with work. The only one truly happy to see her is the family’s pet chimp Ben (played by Miguel Torres Umba). But we already know something isn’t right with Ben.
At some point, Ben was attacked by a mongoose. He got rabies as a result. Before he goes away on business, the dad locks him in his enclosure pending a visit from the vet. He escapes after tearing the vet’s face off and goes after Lucy and the others. Their only safe place is the swimming pool (opening titles inform us that chimps are afraid of water). The freaked-out teens try to keep their heads above water while figuring out a way to get help without getting killed.
Director Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down) keeps things simple with Primate. He doesn’t overload it with unnecessary subplots or character exposition. It’s just what it looks like, an animal-gone-wild horror flick with a group of dumb teens trying to make it through the night. It’s like a throwback to an 80s scary movie. HOWEVER, being that this is the 21st century, the kids all have cell phones. The trick is getting to them without running into Ben. There’s no easy escape from the pool. On one side is a steep cliffside; on the other, Ben. Either way, they’re screwed. Not all of them make it to the end. We get all of the usual tropes yet it still feels fresh thanks to solid direction by Roberts.
Primate, which comes in at a lean and mean 89 minutes, is loaded with suspense and thrills. It even delivers a few effective “BOO!” scenes. One of the best scenes has the father coming home and walking through the house oblivious to the carnage and mayhem going on behind him. He’s deaf so he can’t hear any of it. This bit had me gripping my armrests for dear life. Primate also has some cool bloody kill scenes including one in which somebody has their lower jaw torn off. Yeah, this one is brutal.
Here’s my favorite aspect of Primate. Ben is NOT CGI. It’s a combo of motion-capture and practical effects. It’s a guy in a chimp suit. When the terror is tangible, it augments the fear. It also elevates the actors being terrorized. They actually have something to react to; it makes their terror feel more real. What’s more, the use of practical FX means Primate will hold up better than horror movies that rely on CGI. Look at Jaws or the original Jurassic Park. They’re just as thrilling now as they were 50 and 30 years ago respectively.
Is it even worthwhile to comment on the performances in Primate? The actors do exactly what they were hired to do, scream and look terrified. Roberts and co-writer Ernest Riera don’t even bother to flesh out any of the characters. They’re introduced and thrown into the fire. That’s essentially it. And that is the essence of horror movies. The characters are merely lambs lined up for the slaughter except for the Final Girl whose identity is typically a foregone conclusion. All that being said, the actors do a decent job with what they’re given to work with.
I have a feeling Primate is going to do very well at the box office. It’s a good movie, plain and simple. It efficiently delivers thrills, shocks and gore. It’s just what audiences want this time of year. Think of it as counter-programming to all the Oscar bait films currently playing at multiplexes.
