Do you still say your prayers?”
Now, we all know that there is never a shortage of horror flicks that try to invade our senses and psyche every year. Countless additions to the genre and its subgenres release every year for us to enjoy in the darkness of the theater or slumped in our couches at home. But for a genre – and a very beloved genre at that – that is so abundant, it is very rare to find a film that is able to really set itself apart from the, let’s be honest, mediocrity and predictability of the rest. It’s hard to find a film that possesses a kind of penetrative power to genuinely disturb its audience on multiple levels. But that is the kind of power that Osgood Perkins’s Longlegs possesses.
And right from the opening seconds of this slow-burn, mystery thriller flick, Perkins has you on your toes. A pre-teen girl (Lauren Acala), wondering the harsh, snow-clad surroundings of her house stumbles upon a stranger and the titular character (played by none other than the terrifyingly committed Nicolas Cage) as he is giddy with excitement at her nearing birthday. He too, is pale and clad in white, but his face is mostly concealed from us. The girl’s mother comes to her rescue, trying to ward off the strange and unpredictable man as he attempts to passionately assure them of his friendliness.
Cut to about twenty-or-so years in the future, we learn that this same man, Longlegs, is the subject of a decades-long FBI investigation for his suspected connection to numerous murder-suicides of families all around Oregon. And freshly added to this puzzling serial-killer case is the young, budding FBI agent, Lee Harker (modern-day scream queen Maika Monroe), who’s intuition about the case is perhaps…a little too impressive.
With a morbidly fascinating serial-killer story brought to life with precise and ominous visuals, Perkins is firing on all cylinders with this anxiety-inducing film. The use of the ever-harsh environments and negative space within the framing help to create a totally disturbing and haunting mood. There is an overarching sense of incredible dread that permeates the entire film, with the paranoia that something, whether it is real or not, is always lurking in the background or just around the corner. You find your eyes wandering around in the frames, with the dreadful anticipation that something evil is or will soon be there. And all that, complimented by a creepy sound design, takes the unsettling visuals to an even greater level.
Then of course, we have across the board excellent performances led by the frankly underrated Monroe as the quiet, direct, intuitive, and obsessive Agent Harker. Monroe inhabits Harker’s quirks, neurodivergences, and paranoia exceptionally with a perfectly executed subtle performance that makes the moments of genuine fear she experiences that much more powerful. And for anyone out there who is not on the Cage Train, well it’s about damn time you get on it. His performance as the titular role is yet another example of Cage’s exceptional talent as a performer, especially for eccentric characters. The screen time for him is minimal, but boy does he make the most out of it, delivering the most terrifying and memorable moments of the film. It is a truly unnerving performance.
It being a serial-killer film, does it have some of the same tropes from other films of the like? Yes, of course. But the film excels in so many other ways, that any tropes are not a fault in the slightest. And trust me, it has its fair share of surprises in store for you. It is just a wonderfully crafted work of horror. And dare I say, Longlegs is one of the best original modern horror films to come out in a while that truly disturbs you to your core. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll be obsessing over it for a while.
Longlegs is now playing in theaters.
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 101 mins
Director: Oz Perkins
Writer: Oz Perkins
Cast: Maika Monroe; Nicolas Cage; Blair Underwood
Genre: Horror
Tagline: Wonderful Surprises Await You All.
Memorable Movie Quote: "I know you're not afraid of a little dark. Because you *are* the dark."
Theatrical Distributor: Neon
Official Site:
Release Date: July 12, 2024
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.
