Reviews
Primate
January has frequently become the graveyard for dumping the most egregiously bad horror movies, with the recent Blumhouse effort Night Swim serving as a prime example, so I think I can be forgiven for going into Paramount Pictures’ latest horror outing Primate with fairly low expectations. And while it undoubtedly suffers from some of the same problems we have seen from films of this ilk far too many times before, I would be lying if I said I did not have a surprisingly good time with Primate, even if it had me squirming in my seat more often than I would like to admit.
Following what, even five days into 2026, I am sure will go down as one of the most gruesome opening sequences of the year, set thirty six hours into the future to give audiences a glimpse of what is to come, Primate introduces us to Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) as she travels back to her home in Hawaii with her friend Kate (Victoria Wyant) and her brother Nick (Benjamin Cheng). Kate brings along an extra guest in the ever annoying and transparently pretentious Hannah (Jessica Alexander).
Once the group arrive at the extraordinary cliffside mansion, we meet Lucy’s younger sister Erin (Gia Hunter), who is clearly harbouring a grudge over Lucy’s long absence, as well as their father Adam (Troy Kotsur), a deaf author who is about to be called away on business. And of course there is the real star of the show, Ben, the family’s pet chimpanzee. After being bitten by a rabid mongoose, Ben is set on a path from gentle companion to violent predator, although the family are blissfully unaware of this at first.
From there, the premise and execution of Primate are as straightforward as they come. Ben goes on a rampage and everyone is left fighting for survival. There is little in the way of character development beyond the slow opening stretch, where the cheesy dialogue is at its most prominent, so the film does not give you many people to root for. In fact, it often has the opposite effect, with several characters functioning as enjoyable cannon fodder that you cannot wait for Ben to get his hands on. And when he does, that is when the film is at its gory best. It hits just about every genre trope you have seen before and builds towards a predictable ending that is obvious almost from the start, but Primate understands that it is about the journey rather than the destination, and it delivers an undeniably fun one.
There is a lot to like about Primate. Writer and director Johannes Roberts is not too heavy handed with his messaging about humanity’s relationship with nature, but the theme is present throughout in a way that feels noticeable without becoming overbearing. Visually, the film is excellent. The kill sequences rank among the most gruesome and harrowing you are likely to see in a horror film this year, and if you are at all squeamish, the level of realism will almost certainly have you hiding behind your hands. The tension is consistently well constructed, helped enormously by the sound design. My favourite moments come when the film switches between Lucy and her father, allowing the audience to experience scenes from his deaf perspective, with muffled silence settling over the carnage unfolding around him.
Performance wise, it is Johnny Sequoyah and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Troy Kotsur who stand out the most. Sequoyah brings a much needed confidence to her role, particularly when the supporting cast around her slip into the familiar horror movie trap of awkward line delivery. Kotsur, despite his limited screen time, steals every scene he appears in. I was genuinely shocked to see him turn up in a film like this so soon after his Oscar win, but it proved to be an absolute joy, as he is completely infectious throughout.
However, it is not all good with Primate. From the opening scene through to the finale, the lighting is a major issue. There are numerous moments where it is almost impossible to decipher what is actually happening on screen. When Ben is sneaking around, this murky approach can occasionally work in the film’s favour, but when he is in the middle of a kill, that is something I very much want to see and too often simply cannot. The characters are also guilty of making some astonishingly stupid decisions, to the point where it becomes genuinely jarring. And as already mentioned, parts of the dialogue are painfully cringeworthy, although it is unrealistic to expect anything approaching Shakespearean levels of writing from a film like this.
If you go into Primate expecting the wheel to be reinvented, you may come away disappointed. It treads a path that has been well worn before, but as far as January horror releases go, once it finds its stride after a relatively slow first act, you would be hard pressed to find one that is as enjoyable or as solid overall as Primate.