Movie Thoughts: Primate (2025)

 

• Released: September 18th, 2025
• Directed by: Johannes Roberts
• Running time: 1h 29min
• Rating 3/5

Synopsis

A friend's trip in Hawaii turns into a nightmare when they're attacked by one of the friend's pet ape, Ben, who has rabies. 

My Thoughts

I don't watch a lot of horror, but this one was...okay. I was expecting it to be pretty bad, but still wanted to go because it's a chimp-centric horror.

I didn't hate this movie or anything. It has some good stuff, such as good visual effects on Ben, being quite full of tension and gore, and a banger soundtrack. But aside from that, I don't know, it wasn't really for me. The main characters I also really didn't care much for. 

I also seriously have to ask why there's never an explanation given for why these people have a pet chimpanzee. Sure, he was an experiment by the late mother, but that doesn't explain why he's still being kept as a pet now. We all know that chimps are dangerous and unfit pets (just look at Travis), but moreover it's literally illegal to keep apes as pets in Hawaii so it doesn't even make sense to set the movie there. There's never any reason given for Ben's exceptional status. He's no longer functioning as an experiment, so that can't be the reason, either.

Also the vet seriously taking the father's advice when he says it can't be rabies makes no sense, either. You're a vet, the expert on this sort of stuff. Why are you letting some rando tell you you're wrong about something as deadly as rabies?

So yeah, not a great movie, but I didn't dislike it or anything.