A person stepping on broken glass should not emit the sound of broken glass and neither a broken neck when it rocks at the bottom of the cliff, but that is what we get in “Primate”.  Just a few of the loaded missteps in this new horror film of 2026. “Primate” brings nothing new to horror or nothing even remotely classic either. A massive difficult task to complete with this lackluster script.

 The film is far more interested in showing off the house in Hawaii that it takes place in than actually really focusing on being a horror film.  The jump scares are well telegraphed and the gore is too mild and too chill to thrill. The premise of a pet chimpanzee that gets rabies and goes rapid could offer potential enticements of themes of betrayal and man versus animal dynamic but the story seems to keen on the fact that animals with rabies have an averse reaction to water that the whole center of the film revolves  around that fact. So much so that the core female cast has to spend almost the entire film floating in the swimming pool to avoid Ben, the pet primate that now has rabies.  To which the only thing I retain from the film along with the red shirt that Ben, the rapid chimpanzee he wears throughout.

Lead characters just floating in the pool not progressing nor advancing is a great metaphor to the entire film. There is nothing that goes below the surface of a story. They’re just there surviving. Outside of the story what hurts the film the most is the clunky editing and the music score that is so off it takes away anything that might draw the viewers in. So many unnecessary cuts and slices. The film just fights with itself to be taken seriously or just go with being a cult-classic b-movie; it would be a far better product.  

“Primate” is a story that will come again. The betrayal of a loyal, loving pet onto the family that cared for them is too rich not to continue to try. It’s a hook that can get a lot of emotional play in. There is a lot to do with it. With “Primate” they just used the plot to show off the house. 4/10