The movie Primate is exactly what it sounds like, and it commits to that fully — which is both its greatest strength and a clear signal about whether this is for you. Director Johannes Roberts, who made the 47 Meters Down films and the Resident Evil reboot, is working in his wheelhouse here: isolated location, escalating threat, a group of people whose options narrow with each passing scene. In this case, the threat is a chimpanzee on a tropical getaway that has turned violently dangerous, and the film does not flinch from the reality that chimps are genuinely terrifying in ways CGI sharks often aren’t.
It’s a lean 89 minutes with no interest in being elevated horror — this is creature feature filmmaking that wants to make you tense and deliver on its premise, and by those metrics it does its job. If you go in expecting something more, you’ll be frustrated. If you go in knowing exactly what you signed up for, it’s a solid watch. Available on VOD including Prime Video and Fandango at Home.