Poster © Paramount Pictures. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreHorror
RatedR
Runtime1 hr 32 mins
ReleasedJanuary 9, 2026
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorJohannes Roberts
StarringJohnny Sequoyah, Jessica Alexander, Troy Kotsur
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Primate (2025)
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| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Primate's Details | |
| Genre | Horror |
| Rated | R |
| Released | 09/18/2025 (Fantastic Fest); 01/09/2026 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 32 mins |
| Budget | $21–24M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English, American Sign Language |
| Primate's Interests | |
| General | Cliffside pools, tablet soundboards, teddy bears, Hawaiian nights, locked enclosures. |
| Music | Adrian Johnston. |
| Movies | Cujo (1983). Another beloved pet having a very bad week. |
| Television | Lost. Hawaii scenery, zero relaxation. |
| Heroes | Lucy Pinborough. Came home for a break and got the opposite. |
| Primate's Crew | |
| Director | Johannes Roberts |
| Writers | Johannes Roberts, Ernest Riera |
| Producers | Walter Hamada, John Hodges, Bradley Pilz |
| Cinematography | Stephen Murphy |
| Music | Adrian Johnston |
| Edited By | Peter Gvozdas |
| Production | 18Hz Productions |
| Distributed By | Paramount Pictures |
Lucy Pinborough (Johnny Sequoyah) comes home to Hawaii after years away at college, bringing her best friend Kate (Victoria Wyant) and Kate's surprise plus-one, Hannah (Jessica Alexander). Home is a showpiece house built into a cliff. Her dad, Adam (Troy Kotsur), is a famous novelist who is deaf, and the family's adopted chimpanzee, Ben, talks through a tablet soundboard that Lucy's late mother taught him to use. Then Ben gets bitten by a sick mongoose and starts acting strange. Johannes Roberts directs. Eighty-nine minutes, stay out of the pool.
Anyone whose pet is smarter than their friends. Lock the gate.
Primate is Cujo with a tablet. Lucy comes home to Hawaii with two friends, the family chimp Ben greets her through a soundboard her late mom taught him to use, and then a sick mongoose ruins the vacation. The friends are paper thin, the kind of characters who exist to make bad decisions near a cliff, and the movie has zero new ideas about killer animals. It doesn’t need them. Johannes Roberts keeps it lean and fast, and the house, built into a cliff with an infinity pool hanging off the edge, is a brilliant trap. Once the group realizes Ben won’t go in the water, the pool becomes a tiny island and the tension gets unbearable. Troy Kotsur brings real weight as Lucy’s deaf dad, a famous novelist off at a book signing. It made $39.1 million worldwide on a reported $21 to $24 million. A 6.2 because it’s a ruthless, efficient chiller with cardboard characters. $390.88 says you float on a pool raft this summer and refuse to paddle anywhere near the edge.
What works: The cliffside house and the pool standoff make a terrific trap, and the movie moves fast with almost no wasted time.
What doesn’t: Lucy’s friends are thin and forgettable, and the story brings nothing new to the killer-animal formula.
Who it’s for: Grown-up fans of old-school creature features who want a tight, mean, yell-at-the-screen night out.
Spoilers
Adam makes it home and helps Lucy and her sister Erin fight Ben off, and Ben dies in a fall from a balcony. In the final beat, an officer bagging Ben’s soundboard as evidence accidentally plays the words "Lucy bad."
| Johnny Sequoyah | Lucy Pinborough |
| Jessica Alexander | Hannah |
| Troy Kotsur | Adam Pinborough |
| Victoria Wyant | Kate |
| Gia Hunter | Erin Pinborough |
| Benjamin Cheng | Nick |
| Charlie Mann | Drew |
| Tienne Simon | Brad |
| Miguel Torres Umba | Ben |
| Kae Alexander | Yoko |
| Amina Abdi | Susan |
| Albert Magashi | Matt |
| Rob Delaney | Dr. Doug Lambert |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 3 November 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 5.8 / 10 (38,816 votes) → 5.8 / 10 (39,102 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 27 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 5.8 / 10 (38,460 votes) → 5.8 / 10 (38,816 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 20 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 5.8 / 10 (38,333 votes) → 5.8 / 10 (38,460 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $39.1M; Domestic box office $25.6M; Opening weekend $11.2M; Profit / loss (est.) -$14.2M; Rotten Tomatoes 77%; CinemaScore B−; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 77% (203 reviews); Metacritic 58 / 100; CinemaScore B−; IMDb users 5.8 / 10 (38,333 votes); movie.guru score 4.1.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 18 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.