Writer-director Johannes Roberts (best known for the 47 Meters Down bloodbath) doesn’t hold back with his new creature feature Primate, immediately introducing the audience to chimpanzee Ben, who, clearly infected with something, inadvertently rips the face off a well-meaning vet. This sets the tone for a fun and bloody horror film that, despite some missteps and missed opportunities, delivers 90 minutes of chimp goodness.
Cut to 36 hours earlier; Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) is flying back to visit her father in Hawaii, accompanied by best friend Kate (Victoria Wyant), bitchy acquaintance Hannah (Jessica Alexander), and love interest Nick (Benjamin Cheng). Her deaf dad (Troy Kotsur) is a successful author, living in a plush, isolated villa, which is just as well because we won’t be venturing outside it. The house also contains Lucy’s sister Erin and loving chimp Ben; it turns out Lucy’s now-deceased mum was trying to teach him sign language, so he’s intelligent and lovable, complete with humanising red T-shirt.
It’s immediately noticeable that Ben is brought to life by an actor in a suit rather than CGI, which is refreshing and really helps you build affection for him. Unfortunately, we all know what’s going to happen. Ben is bitten by a rabid mongoose and tears off the aforementioned vet’s face, Dad leaves for a book signing, while the girls party and invite hot guys they met on the plane over, but they soon discover something is not right with Ben…
The film does a good job of making us care about Ben, so it’s almost upsetting to see him taken over by the rabies virus and attack the girls. However, despite a couple of moments when we see non-rabid Ben return for a brief moment, this is largely forgotten and he quickly turns into a generic creature for the remainder of the film – sneaking up on people, sniffing at them, and chasing them around. The girls also spend far too much time in the swimming pool (the one place Ben won’t venture), the writers finding it easier to stuff them in one location than to think of multiple scenarios.
Audiences have really come here for the kills, and they won’t be disappointed, with Ben employing tools to batter skulls and even removing the jaw of one of the guys. Primate certainly doesn’t shy away from the brutal nature of our closest cousin, never taking itself too seriously. The biggest missed opportunity, though, is not having the last remnants of Ben’s ‘humanity’ on show before he must be dispatched; he is skilfully set up as a member of the family but is ultimately terminated like a CGI shark. A shame, but a riot nonetheless.
PRIMATE is released in UK cinemas on January 30th 2026.
