View the many primate photos of 2024, from Monkey Man to Better Man

2024 had a lot of great films of all stripes: science fiction! Action! Comedy! Animation! Thrillers! But there was one microgenre that had a particularly notable year: the primate film.

At least five films about primates or with a primate in the title hit theaters in 2024, and honestly, most of them were worth watching. So it’s up to us to capture the year in primate photos and play everyone’s favorite game: How primal is that image?

Where to watch: For digital rental/purchase on Apple TV, Fandango at Home

The photo: Ridley Scott’s belated sequel to one of his best-known films, Gladiator II brought a star-studded cast back to Rome with… mixed results.

The primate: Dundas. Dundas, a pet of Emperor Caracalla (Fred Hechinger), is eventually appointed (spoiler alert) first counselor by Caracalla, making him an extremely powerful politician in Rome.

How primary is that image? Not bad. Dundas is a surprising little thread Gladiator II attracts, but not for long, and not in a big way. He can’t compete with that either Gladiator II‘s murderous baboons. (According to Hechinger, Ridley Scott has a thing for monkeys.)

Where to watch: Prime Video

The photo: Dev Patel’s directorial debut is an interesting, if uneven, revenge thriller. But hopefully it will launch the beginning of the taekwondo black belt’s career as an action star, as well as his career as a feature film director.

The primate: There’s no literal primacy in this film, but Patel’s character Kid wears a monkey mask while participating in an underground fighting ring.

How primary is that image? Not too bad, but it comes out Gladiator II by having the “monkey” be (a) the star and (b) in the title of the film.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Where to watch: Netflix, Max

The photo: In the fifth film in the Monsterverse franchise, Kong teams up with Godzilla to battle fellow giant ape Skar King and the ice-breathing Titan Shimo.

The primate: Kong stands in the marquee, and the big man delivers (this time with a giant mechanical device strapped to his hand – all the better for hitting, folks). But there are even more primates: Antagonist Skar King is another giant ape, and Kong and the gang encounter many apes in the Hollow Earth.

How primary is that image? Terribly! The big guy has to share top billing with Godzilla (which is certainly an honor for anyone), but this is definitely the most primate-centric entry in the franchise yet.

Where to watch: In theaters

The photo: The greatest showman Director Michael Gracey’s biopic about Robbie Williams features the British pop singer as a CGI monkey. According to Williams that’s because they wanted the film to stand out from the relatively outdated genre of musician biopics, but the film also has some thematic resonance.

The primate: Robbie Williams. Williams isn’t a primate in real life, but the device is both an excellent technical showcase and a useful metaphor for the isolation and infantilization of being a pop star.

How primary is that image? Extreme. This movie almost always features a primate on screen, and it looks damn good. This was my personal favorite primate photo of the year.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

The photo: The fourth film in the consistently good reboot of Planet of the Apes is set many years after Apes take over Earth, and follows an unlikely partnership between a human girl and an ape.

The primate: Noa, the main character of the film, is our main primate. As a chimpanzee and heir to his clan, he teams up with Freya Allan’s Mae to save his clan and take down the ruthless bonobo leader Proximus Caesar.

How primary is that image? The most! You can’t get much more primal than an entire kingdom of monkeys. And as has been the case with the entire reboot franchise, the apes look fantastic: the legendary Wētā FX, best known for its work on the Lord of the Rings and Avatar films, also worked on this film. Godzilla x Kong And Better person. They know primates.