Horror Hour with the Hannas: A Horror Movie Review Comedy Podcast · The Hanna’s

Primate (2025) - "Matt goes Bananas"

·55 min·5 clips

An Oscar-winning deaf actor stars in a killer chimp movie, but the marketing hid his achievement.

This episode features hosts Hannah and Matt Hanna reviewing the 2025 horror film *Primate*. The hosts are known for their comedy podcast *The Final Girl* and provide a spoiler-free segment before a detailed analysis. They discuss the film's director Johannes Roberts and co-writer Ernest Riera, along with cast members Johnny Sequoia, Jessica Alexander, and Troy Kotsur. The hosts highlight that Kotsur, a deaf Academy Award winner for *CODA*, plays a deaf father in the film, though his involvement was not heavily marketed. A key plot point involves a family pet chimpanzee named Ben contracting rabies in Hawaii, a state with no natural rabies cases. The film's chimpanzee effects are primarily practical, with actor Miguel Torres Umba performing in a suit alongside puppetry and animatronics. One surprising fact is that Kotsur requested the prop of a mutilated corpse be hidden until filming to elicit a genuine reaction. Johnny Sequoia performed most of her own stunts after a month of training. The hosts note the film employs a John Carpenter-inspired synth score and creative sound design, particularly in scenes leveraging the father's deafness. Matt expresses strong dislike for the film, criticizing its screenplay, pacing, and what he perceives as inconsistent tone. Hannah defends the movie as a fun, straightforward slasher with effective practical gore and kills. They debate whether the film's character relationships and narrative threads are adequately developed or simply filler. The hosts compare *Primate* to other animal attack films like *Jaws*, *Crawl*, and *Nope*, which they solicited from listeners. Matt found the film's slasher structure repetitive and boring, while Hannah appreciated its adherence to genre expectations. The tone is conversational and debate-driven, with the hosts frequently joking and teasing each other's opinions. Listeners who enjoy lighthearted, opinionated movie reviews and debates about horror tropes would appreciate this episode. Those seeking in-depth, analytical film criticism or who are sensitive to spoilers might prefer to skip.

As heard by us

A spoiler-free horror review that lands on a split verdict, with the hosts weighing whether Primate feels tightly made or oddly hollow.

The episode stays spoiler-free and frames Primate as 2026's first big theatrical horror release before settling into a split verdict on Johannes Roberts' film.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

A spoiler-free horror hang that ends in a blunt, funny takedown.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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