Death is the only certainty in life, with every human on Earth shuffling toward the end of their mortal coil. It's an almost incomprehensible fact of life, and one Longlegs director Osgood Perkins tackles in a cool 98 minutes in his new horror comedy The Monkey. Death comes hurtling towards young twins Hal and Bill (both played by Christian Convery) in 1999 when they discover the bizarre drumming monkey owned by their estranged father. After twisting the key on the stuffed creature, those close to them begin to drop like flies leading them to conclude the stuffed mammal controls death. They dispose of the monkey in a well, but 25 years later, Hal and Bill (both played by Theo James as adults) must confront their own mortality once more when the creature starts a spree of death and destruction once more.

Adapted from the short story by Stephen King, The Monkey balances gnarly, blood-soaked kills with poignant, contemplative moments about death, grief, and family in another unique genre offering from Perkins. Among the cast is She-Hulk and Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany, who plays the key role of Hal and Bill's mother Lois who guides them through their first brush with death. As The Monkey hits cinema screens, Maslany spoke to FILMHOUNDS about her character's inspirations, the bloody kill scenes, and dealing with death through humour.

We're here to talk about The Monkey. What was it about the film and the role of Lois that attracted you to the project?

I loved the character because she had such a strong voice on the page. I thought she was really funny and unexpected in terms of mothers that we've seen on screen. I had just worked with Oz on a film called Keeper and had such an amazing experience with him. I loved the fact that he was taking such a different tone in The Monkey. I was just excited to get to ride this whole different roller coaster with him in this huge, gross-out horror comedy.

What influences did you bring to the part?

Oz, sort of said “You're playing my mom.” It was like, “Great, thanks. No pressure” [laughs]. There were some, interviews of his mom online that I watched out of curiosity, just to get a sense of her. And also there were little things and stories that he told me that I brought into her [Lois]. Also, there was a feeling of a kid looking at their mom. I asked myself what is she to them? What does she sound like? How do they feel about her? Because I feel like so much of the beginning of that movie is through the kids' perspective, and it's them contending with life coming at them. I asked who is the icon of their mom in that sort of storm of adolescence? I think she's such a strong figure to them. I was playing with that idea of the image of your mom before you really get to know her, you know, in your 20s. When you're suddenly like “Oh, my mom is a human being.”

When it comes to these films where there is a lot of gore and mature themes, what is it like working with young actors on set?

Christian, who played the twins, I referred to him as twins the other day forgetting that he was just one kid. He is amazing. People didn't know that that was one actor. He's so funny and confident, and he has such an expressive face. He's also been working longer than any of us, so it was amazing to get to work with such a great actor. He and his double were so fantastic and easy to work with. They got to be kids, but then when we were going to work, they were so professional. I'm just kind of blown away by their performance in the movie.

After the first teaser trailer, fans have been talking about the kills in The Monkey. What was it like filming your own death scene?

It was nerve-wracking because a lot of the stuff we were doing was practical effects. There were real things that were attached to me that were going to go off at a certain point. It was thrilling but nerve-wracking on set because you know that you only have one shot at it before everybody's covered in blood and you have to reset, so a lot went into getting that moment right. It becomes a group effort – everyone has to be firing on all pistons –  but it's the most fun kind of movie-making,

After your own scene, did you have any other favourite kills in the film?

I love Sarah Levy's, because it seemed to never end and that's too funny to me. Ending on a freeze frame is so absurd, yeah.

One scene that stands out is Lois' speech to Hal and Bill about death, what it is, and how to handle it. It's so poignant and yet also funny. What do you think about how we as people sometimes deal with death through humour?

I feel like I learned something through that scene. It's hard to have a sense of humour about something that feels so unfathomable, and yet that's the only way to deal with it. What I love so much about that speech is the ending of it, saying “Come on, let's go dance.” Because there's something really wise in facing something unknowable and just being like, “Alright, let's get into our bodies and express like that.” I guess that's why I'm an actor – I have to process stuff through the body, and dancing is the perfect expression without using words of “We're together, we don't have to talk about it, we can have all the feelings that we're having, and we can also have fun.” I don't know how else we cope with it.

Speaking of processing, when you're filming this sort of content was there anything you did to get yourself in the zone before filming, or to take yourself out of the scene after?

There are so many elements that go into prepping for a day of work, and with stuff like this, I was doing a lot of pre-work tonally watching films that Oz had cited as being like references and then playing with the character's voice a little bit. Then on the day, going on the ride of it. The writing is so strong, so you just have to say it and weird, unexpected things come out because it treads that line of humour and pathos. For me, it was about being present and trying to be a mom, which I'm not.

It sounds like working on The Monkey with Perkins was quite a collaborative process. How much of the character that you brought to the role was different to the initial script?

I tried to be as true to the script as possible. I never improvised or anything like that, it was all on the page because the writing was so playful and fun. I really wanted to honour that. I remember reading the character description that said she was cool, and it was like “Okay, what does Oz think a cool mom would be?”

Lots of people have discussed the drumming monkey itself and what it is – whether it's a possessed toy, the devil, or something else. As someone who starred in The Monkey, what is your theory?

I don't think I know, and I think that's sort of more terrifying. It's like death, because it's like life, right? That's what it says on the box. I love that people are thinking that they can come up with the answer to it because I think that's sort of what the movie is talking about. Maybe there is no rationale to it. It doesn't take requests, you don't get to decide, and it's inevitable.

The Monkey is released in cinemas on 21st February 2025.

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