Primate

Grade: B-

If it weren’t for the pesky matter of the chimp with rabies, I’d love to vacation in the house where most of Primate takes place. It is a paradise. It sits on top of a mountain, overlooking the ocean. It has at least two pools, tropical hanging lights, and fire pits. There’s one in particular that has the fire continuously burning throughout the movie. I thought for sure this would come into play during one of the kill scenes, but no, it’s an opportunity left on the table. However, the outdoor infinity edge pool does feature heavily.

The house belongs to Adam, a novelist – obviously a successful one. Look at his digs. His wife died of cancer a year ago, so now it’s just him, his daughters Lucy and Erin, and his pet chimpanzee Ben. We know from the ads that Ben will contract rabies, go crazy, and start killing people, but the trailer contains bits of scenes that are not in the film, that I wish we could have seen. Primate hits the ground running with the murderous version of Ben, with little to no glimpse into the happier times that would have established Ben as the sweet, beloved family member.

Ben communicates via a Speak & Spell type toy with buttons. A scene in the trailer, but not in the film, shows him using it to say things like “Ben. Happy.” Leaving it in would have lent more weight to when the tables turn and he begins typing messages like “Lucy. Bad. Lucy. Dead. Lucy. Bad. Bad. Bad.” When we are fully into the action, Lucy’s friends keep asking why they don’t just “put Ben down.” Lucy and Erin respond to the effect of “Are you crazy? He’s like our brother!” I wasn’t empathizing with their quandary. Without having seen much of what made Ben so lovable before, I was on the friends’ side on this one. Whatever adorable brother they thought they had is long gone, and they should cut their losses, I thought.

The kids have free reign of the house because Adam has left for a book-signing tour. The only actor I recognized was Troy Kotsur, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing the dad in CODA. As he is deaf in real life, so is his character in Primate, and there are some nice moments of the family of three silently signing dialogue. Sometimes all the sound drops out, as we take everything in from his point of view. Of the younger unknown actors, all are strong, but Johnny Sequoyah as Lucy impressed me the most. Ben isn’t CGI, or an actual chimp. There’s a person in that suit (known as a “movement specialist”), and he is convincing. He has a great laugh in a moment where he’s quite proud of something he just did. The kills are specific and creative, with nice practical effects, and the jump scares are well-timed.

Not everything worked for me. There’s a decision to hide in a closet. The score is repetitive, with the same theme coming up over and over. You’d think a deaf person would at least be able to perceive vibrations on the floor and walls that would indicate a commotion in the next room. Quibbles aside, Primate achieves what it sets out to do. The first couple months of the year are notoriously the worst time for new movies. That’s when studios dump the titles that are nowhere near what they’d want considered for awards. Primate is a fun, tense, efficient minor gem in the midst of the January dump. It’ll put you – and keep you – on edge.

Grade: B-