Movie · 2026 · Horror, Thriller · 1h 29m · R · English
Curator score: 1.1/10 (277.4K ratings)
Something's wrong with Ben.
Overview
College student Lucy and her friends spend their vacation at her family's home in Hawaii, which includes her pet chimpanzee, Ben. However, when Ben contracts rabies after being bitten by a rabid animal, the group must fight for their lives in order to avoid the now-violent chimp.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.1/10
IMDb: 5.8/10
Letterboxd: 2.57/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Johannes Roberts
Production
18Hz Productions, Paramount Pictures, Domain Entertainment
Cast
Johnny Sequoyah, Jessica Alexander, Troy Kotsur, Victoria Wyant, Gia Hunter, Benjamin Cheng, Charlie Mann, Tienne Simon, Miguel Hernando Torres Umba, Amina Abdi, Robin Chalk, Joe Abercrombie, Nick Romano, Ben Pronsky, Rob Delaney, Kae Alexander, Stuart Whelan
Where to watch
Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
Curator Review
Verdict
A lean, creature-feature setup with a strong novelty hook and some satisfying practical gore, but it sounds more like a competent B-movie than a must-see horror standout. The premise does a lot of the work, and the appeal will mostly come from whether you enjoy animal-attack chaos, dark humor, and a knowingly ridiculous survival scenario.
Best for
fans of animal-run-amok horror
viewers who like practical gore and creature effects
people in the mood for a dumb-fun thriller
audiences who enjoy campy, high-concept premises
Skip if
you want polished prestige horror
you dislike implausible survival setups
you need strong character writing or emotional depth
you are not interested in gore-forward genre movies
Overview
Primate is built on a premise that is instantly legible and hard to resist: a pet chimpanzee, rabies, and a vacation home turned into a panic chamber. That kind of setup can carry a lot of audience goodwill on its own, and the reaction around it suggests the film knows exactly what it is. The appeal is less about surprise than escalation, with the fun coming from how far the movie is willing to push its animal-attack mayhem.
Worth noting
The tone seems to land somewhere between grisly and goofy, with practical gore doing a lot of the heavy lifting. That usually works best when the film embraces its own absurdity, and the most enthusiastic responses point to a crowd-pleasing, jaw-dropping experience rather than a refined one. If you like your horror messy, fast, and a little bit ridiculous, there is probably enough here to enjoy.
Bottom line
At the same time, the low-to-mid reception suggests the movie may not fully rise above its concept. The setup is memorable, but the execution likely depends on how much patience you have for thin characterization and familiar survival beats. For genre fans, it sounds like a decent one-time ride; for everyone else, it may feel like a novelty that runs out of steam before the end.
Top Letterboxd reviews
-ˏˋ mak ˊˎ- (2★) · 8228 likes
more like furious george
Reed (3★) · 7798 likes
Vet: “Test came back positive for rabies.”
Dad: “Rabies doesn’t exist in Hawaii.”
Vet: “lol my bad, you’re right, probably a fluke.”
????
Joe A (3★) · 7043 likes
The chimpanzee should have been played by Robbie Williams, now that would have been a movie.