Released in 2025, The Monkey has found a new audience on streaming, reaching the top of the HBO Max movie rankings in Romania after recently entering the platform’s Top 10. The film is also performing strongly across several other Central and Eastern European markets.

Directed and written by Osgood Perkins, the filmmaker behind Longlegs, the movie is based on King’s short story of the same name. It follows twin brothers Hal and Bill, whose childhood takes a terrifying turn after they discover a mysterious wind-up monkey belonging to their father.

The cast is led by Theo James, who plays the adult versions of Hal and Bill, with Christian Convery portraying the brothers as children. The film also stars Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell and Sarah Levy.

Rather than treating King's story as a conventional supernatural horror movie, Perkins embraces a more unusual combination of black comedy, absurdity and extreme violence. The result is a film in which the deaths themselves become part of its macabre sense of humor.

For viewers looking for a horror movie that combines Stephen King’s supernatural premise with grotesque humor and a deliberately over-the-top style, The Monkey is currently proving to be one of HBO Max's biggest attractions in Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria!.

For now, the cursed toy has taken over the streaming charts.