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Primate

 In some ways, "Primate" is a missed opportunity. The setup is so great. A family of idiots in Hawaii keeps a pet chimp. The chimp gets Rabies-via-mongoose--then goes on a killing spree.


This could be a chance for intriguing character development. Trapped in a swimming pool, the humans could have a kind of popularity contest. Who should brave the proximity of the chimp in order to retrieve a cell phone from the house? (The chimp won't enter the pool, so the pool is a type of panic room.) Secrets could be revealed; bargains could be attempted. This could be like the final episode of "Succession"; I had issues with that hour, but I loved when Shiv dragged out the memory of a certain corpse to discredit her own brother.

Unfortunately, "Primate" has almost no interest in its humans. The main star is the chimp, Ben. He demonstrates creativity by inserting two fingers into a human mouth--then detaching half the face from the rest of the body. He terrorizes one woman by repeatedly unlocking her car door. The woman thinks she has won this battle--but Ben just "pops the trunk" and becomes a murderous backseat driver. In another virtuosic move, Ben swings from the outdoor "twinkle lights," hovers above one particular friend, and then "liberates" this friend from a piece of her own scalp.

This isn't what it could have been--but, clearly, it's still very, very good. Let's see more from this screenwriter.
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