Film Preview: Primate (2026)

Film Poster

Page Revisions:

(October 19, 2025) Original
(October 26, 2025) New Trailer (#2) — New Posters (#2-#3)
(January 4, 2026) New Posters (#4-#5)

Release Date:

January 9, 2026

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “Home from college, Lucy reunites with family including pet chimp Ben. Ben contracts rabies during a pool party and turns aggressive. Lucy and friends barricade in pool, devising ways to survive the vicious chimp.”

Poster Rating: C- / C / C / B / C

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Review: (#1, C-) An unfortunate teacher. It uses the black-and-red horror motif with little variance and features only a titular primate with a teddy bear. If you’re familiar with Jordan Peele’s Nope, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a prequel to that film but without a unique perspective or intriguing image, this design doesn’t do anything.

(#2, C) An isolate chimp in a corner. All of the hues blend quite well together, especially the corner where it might otherwise have felt a little too blended. Positioning the chimp like a despondent child might speak thematically but it doesn’t entice. (#3, C) Is this a Planet of the Apes prequel. You can’t use this type of image of a chimp and not expect such comparisons. After all, the Apes sequels were built on this type of look. The lack of color depth or distinction is degrading.

(#4, B) Although it employs the overused black-red-white aesthetic of horror films, it does try to do something a little different. The inky blackness of the house dripping down the poster like blood and the barely identifiable silhouette of a primate. A decently improved choice. (#5, C) That tagline probably needs to go but it’s the only splash of “color” the design gets and the end result is something meant to suggest shadowy control but ends up feeling simplistic and underwhelming.

Trailer Rating: C+ / C

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Review: (#1, C+) As far as teasers go, this is a solid effort. It’s static as a single voice contacts 911 but it creates a unique tension and generates just enough curiosity that when the full trailer releases, it will at least get some eyeballs. The use of brief cutaways for added effect was good but too infrequently employed.

(#2, C) Whatever mystery that was created by the teaser trailer is absolutely lost in this trailer that throws in far too many scenes without creating a sense of tension. It looks like a paint-by-numbers horror film where the serial killer is a chimpanzee.