Directed by Johannes Roberts, whose name is already familiar to horror fans, Primate taps into a very specific kind of unease. The premise is deceptively simple. A family pet. A tropical holiday setting. A return home that should be easy and carefree. Online, the early clips and imagery hint at how quickly that sense of safety begins to unravel.

The story centres on Lucy Pinborough, played by Johnny Sequoyah, who returns to her family home in Hawaii after her freshman year at college. With her father, Adam, portrayed by Academy Award winner Troy Kotsur, away on business, Lucy plans to unwind with friends Hannah, Kate and Nick, her sister Erin, and the family’s beloved chimpanzee, Ben. The house itself is a striking cliffside retreat, all glass, sunlight and open space, which makes the shift in tone all the more unsettling.

From the trailer and stills doing the rounds online, Ben is not just window dressing. Raised as a sibling to the Pinborough girls, he is deeply woven into the family dynamic. That closeness is exactly what makes the film’s central tension so compelling. As Ben’s behaviour becomes increasingly aggressive, the familiar starts to feel threatening, and the idyllic setting begins to work against the characters rather than for them.

What has really caught our attention is the way Primate is being positioned visually. The ape looks genuinely unhinged in the footage released so far, with moments that feel raw, physical and unpredictable. There is a sense that this is horror grounded in realism rather than spectacle, leaning into instinct and fear rather than elaborate mythology.

We know one thing for sure. This film looks like it is going to scare the daylights out of us, and judging by the online reaction, we are not alone. Primate promises a tightly wound, adrenaline-fuelled experience that thrives on tension, atmosphere and a creature you cannot look away from. Sometimes, the scariest monsters are the ones you thought you knew.

• Book for Primate at Ster-Kinekor cinemas here.
• Book for Primate at Nu Metro cinemas here.

Note – the age restriction for this film is 18 D H L V, for good reason.

Other films that have caught our eye lately include Hamnet, read more here and of course Song Sung Blue.

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