PRIMATE

Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) returns to her family’s stunning Hawaiian home for summer break and reconnects with Ben, a highly intelligent chimpanzee and former research subject of Lucy’s late mother. When Ben is bitten by a rabid mongoose he quickly transforms into a sadistic, face ripping predator, and Lucy and her friends soon become his prey. Lucy’s dad Adam is played by Oscar winner Troy Kotsur, who uses American Sign Language to communicate. He features in several tense, silent scenes that reflect his deafness and these stand out as the films best bits. The rest of this survival thriller is fairly formulaic, relying on heavy violence, wincing gore and characters who exist purely as collateral damage. The survivors mostly faff around and waste time, while making poor decisions. They seem intent on creating as much accidental noise as possible which constantly alerts Ben to their whereabouts. Ben is portrayed by movement actor Miguel Torres Umba and while he gives a decent physical performance 80% of the time, the remaining 20% feels unnatural. Shadows are frequently used to hide Ben’s face and to possibly prevent the monkey suit from looking too fake. I found myself laughing at the ridiculousness of the plot in the second half of the film, even though it’s not meant to be humorous. In the end I saw Ben as the real victim, having spent his whole life in a cage being forced to communicate on human terms. Exotic animals are not pets.