Who Dies in The Monkey? Ending Explained

The horror feature The Monkey debuted in US theaters on February 21, 2025, and people are wondering what happens in the movie and who dies. Osgood Perkins (Longlegs) directed the movie and penned the script based on the namesake 1980 short story by Stephen King. The plot revolves around identical twins Hal and Bill (Theo James). Haunted and traumatized by their childhood experiences, the boys encounter the source of their horror, a drum-playing toy monkey, years later.

Here is everything that happens at the end of The Monkey.

What happened at the end of The Monkey?

The Monkey establishes quite early how starkly different the twins’ personalities are. Hal is kind and meek, whereas Bill appears to be brutal and cruel. Even during their childhood, their relationship is far from ideal. Hal suffers extreme bullying at his twin’s hands. After realizing that the toy monkey can kill people, Hal tries to use it to kill Bill but instead ends up causing the death of their mother, Lois.

Years later, Bill figures out that his twin is responsible for Lois’ death and plots revenge. He eventually regains the monkey with the help of a local young man named Ricky and lures Hal back into the town. After Hal arrives with his estranged son Petey, Bill tries to kill the former with the monkey, but as the movie establishes time and again, the seemingly cursed object doesn’t necessarily fulfill wishes. Instead, it causes a widespread catastrophe, killing many people around the twins.

Ultimately, a confrontation happens between Hal and Bill, and they reconcile, but Bill dies a gruesome death soon after. As the movie ends, Hal sees an individual riding a pale horse, likely a reference to the Pale Horseman / Death from biblical literature. The father and son mend their relationship and leave town. Bill keeps the monkey, but as he and Petey leave, several cheerleaders are killed, indicating that the effects of the Monkey are still there.

Everyone who dies in The Monkey’s gruesome ending

Numerous people die in the course of The Monkey. Most prominent among them are Bill and Hal’s babysitter, Lois, the twins’ aunt Ida and uncle Chip, Ricky, and Bill. Although the movie doesn’t make it explicitly clear, it’s possible that the twins’ father, who disappears at the start of the movie, might have died because of the monkey as well.