Gen-X knows that the scariest natural dangers (after quicksand) are killer apes and rabies. Primate, the new hydrophobic chimp horror that opened the 2025 Fantastic Fest, resurrects those primal fears in deliciously gruesome fashion.
The chimpanzee in question is Ben, a marvel of technology (not only can the character talk using a sound board, but the animatronics created to make the effects as practical as possible are absolutely superb). Prior to being bitten and infected by a rabid mongoose, he was been raised as a family pet after the scientist who raised him dies offscreen and before he becomes a killing machine. Mommy dearest’s death gave her daughter, Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah, Dexter: New Blood) a motivation to be slightly sad. Coming back to the family home in Hawaii for the first time since her loss, she decides to turn this homecoming into a party. Which explains why she and her friends all end up trapped in a pool being yelled at by an enraged simian suffering a case of the terminal sniffles.
Seriously, this is a film dominated by two bodily fluids: human blood and chimp snot. And the snottier Ben gets, the angrier he becomes, and the more blood ends up leaking from the swimwear-clad 20somethings.
A classic sealed bottle survival horror with a suitably grisly sense of humor, Primate is a lean game of cat-and-mouse where the cat happens to be able to tear off a person’s arm with their bare paws. It’s got a very simple equation: character gets out of the pool, tries to not attract Ben, Ben appears, and they both race back to the pool. Rinse, repeat, rip off the odd face. It’s a pretty simple set-up, but director Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, V/H/S/99, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City) injects more than enough bone-cracking creativity into his cavalcade of carnage to keep the thrill ride exciting.
Primate’s biggest flaw is that it skips all character development, making it hard to care much about the characters. The script by Johanssen and Ernest Riera (who previously proved his creature feature credentials with Roberts on the 47 Meters Down films) ignores the important lessons of Cujo and Old Yeller in that it forgets to make you care about the characters before putting them in peril. Ben’s infected and committing unspeakable atrocities against his human buddies before the credits roll, so it’s awkward to assimilate the idea that he was once a friendly family pet. As for the humans, they’re barely sketched stereotypes – the angsty but brave protagonist, the supportive BFF, the snippy little sister, the slightly slutty fake friend, and the token eye candy boy. The only reason you’ll may feel bad for them is a certain guilt about not feeling much. Oscar-winner Troy Kotsur (CODA) is particularly underserved as Lucy’s dad, carrying a very underdeveloped subplot about human and ape sign language while also being a mostly absentee parent. If anything, there’s a slight relief when (Charlie Mann and Tienne Simon) turn up as two horn dog party boys and are immediately and obviously utterly disposable.
Moments like that, when Ben is allowed to go (pardon the pun) ape are where the real fun lies, as Johanssen choreographs nerve-stretching anticipation and bloody violence with deep glee. He pays off every baited breath with some truly innovative gore – or, at bare minimum, an incredibly realistic homicidal chimp practical effect snarling which is more than scary enough. If you wish that Nope had just doubled-down on the chimp violence, Primate is absolutely the blood-flavored popcorn flick you’ve been waiting for.
Primate
World Premiere
Thursday, Sept. 25, 11:30am
Fantastic Fest 2025 runs Sept. 18-25, Passes and info at fantasticfest.com.
Find all our news, reviews, and interviews at austinchronicle.com/fantastic-fest.
