Review | Primate movie review: 47 Meters Down director back for a bloody killer ape slasher

This Johannes Roberts film about a chimp that goes on the attack after contracting rabies relies on low-brow gore, and not much else

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Jessica Alexander as Hannah and Miguel Torres Umba as Ben the chimpanzee in a still from “Primate”. Photo: courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Published: 9:15pm, 19 Jan 2026

3/5 stars

A rabid chimpanzee runs rampant through a secluded Hawaiian mansion in the no-frills gorefest Primate.

Set almost entirely within the confines of a palatial private estate built into a sheer rock face, the latest animal-attack film from 47 Meters Down director Johannes Roberts knows precisely how to appease the bloodthirsty horror crowd.

Unleashing 89 minutes of gooey, gnarly action, propped up by the flimsiest of narratives and the bare minimum of character development, Primate delivers exactly what is expected of its killer-ape premise, but nothing more.

College student Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) returns home to Hawaii with a gaggle of friends in tow, reuniting with her father Adam (Troy Kotsur), a famous deaf author, her teenage sister Erin (Gia Hunter), and the family’s pet ape, Ben (skilfully performed by Miguel Torres Umba).

Ben was adopted by Lucy’s late mother, a linguistics professor, and reacts warmly to her return – until he is bitten by a rabid mongoose, turning a night of innocent revelry into a carnival of carnage when he violently attacks Lucy and her friends (played by Jessica Alexander, Victoria Wyant and Benjamin Cheng).

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}This Johannes Roberts film about a chimp that goes on the attack after contracting rabies relies on low-brow gore, and not much else

This Johannes Roberts film about a chimp that goes on the attack after contracting rabies relies on low-brow gore, and not much else