Those waiting for the India release of The Monkey, the screen adaptation of Stephen King’s short story of the same name, can breathe a sigh of relief. The horror comedy has been cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) with an ‘A’ certificate, without any scene deletions. While concerns were raised about potential cuts since the CBFC took that route with the past few Hollywood releases, including The Brutalist and Babygirl, we have learnt that four expletives have been muted in the Theo James-starrer, leaving the movie otherwise intact for its theatrical release.

Directed by Osgood Perkins, The Monkey follows twin brothers who discover their father’s old toy monkey and realise it is linked to a series of mysterious deaths. As they grow older, the brothers are forced to confront their past when the toy resurfaces. Sources close to the board revealed that the members found the film to have a balanced tone of horror and dark comedy. “The film has intense horror elements, but the mix of dark humour offsets it, making it palatable for an adult audience. It didn’t warrant scene deletions, as the violence was not excessively graphic. The only modifications involved muting four instances of strong language,” a CBFC insider said.