Longlegs is a 2024 mystery horror film from Neon and Saturn Films. The film is written and directed by Osgood Perkins and stars Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, and Alicia Witt. This is a film that I can honestly say caught my eye a while back and really intrigued me, but I tried to stay away from a lot of the hype and trailers for this film because while they marketed it to the horror community very well, I thought too much hype may end up ruining it for me (as hype typically does with films) and I don’t think I was wrong. I saw comments regarding this film like “the best serial killer thriller since Silence of the Lambs” and “the scariest movie of the decade” and I don’t necessarily find either of those statements to be true after watching the film for myself. That’s not saying this wasn’t a well put together, shot, and acted movie either; just that the hype behind it was too much and if people bought into and invested into all that too heavily, I think they’re probably going to set themselves up for disappointment. This movie also wasn’t what I was expecting it to be so I should preface this by saying that, I think upon a rewatch of this movie where I understand what this film actually is and what they’re trying to do and not what I’m comparing it to try and live up to I will like it more and not judge it so harshly. I was expecting a serial killer and FBI agent kind of cat and mouse like The Silence of the Lambs for example, and this movie was partially that, but also added in elements of the supernatural, satanic cults, mind altering dolls, and things that I wasn’t really expecting or wanting from a movie like this. Again, not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing, just not what I had in mind or anticipated when I sat down to watch it.
I don’t just want to simply be dumping on this movie though because I still was enthralled throughout and got enjoyment out of it for sure. I saw this in a theater on opening night and I can honestly say that you could hear a pen drop in that room during the tense moments, everyone’s attention was fully kept through the entire run time as we attempted to put this weird, unsettling, and disturbing puzzle together piece by piece. That’s what this movie did very well at, creating this weird and dark atmosphere and then just holding you down in that throughout the movie without really letting you up to breathe and settle back in. Everything was ominously lit and even in the quieter moments they used a lot of wide shots and camera angles that allowed you to really take in the background of the scene and after seeing the amount of horror movies that I have, there was just something unsettling and off putting through nearly every frame in this film due to the camera work. I also think Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage both gave performances in this movie that people are either going to love or hate, I still haven’t fully decided how I feel about the performances in this film but I’m not necessarily mad at them. I think the actors themselves nailed their roles and did exactly what was asked of them for this film so I am not saying they gave bad performances or anything, I just don’t know if everyone will necessarily take to them. Maika Monroe was hard to figure out as Agent Lee Harker, she gave a mysterious vibe. She was very quiet, kept everyone (including us as viewers) at an arms distance, awkward to interact with, and overall, just hard to figure out what she was thinking or how she was feeling a lot of times. She was a deep thinker that was steps ahead of everyone most the time, but she didn’t show it on her face much, so she was kind of awkward and off putting to spend time with sometimes, even as a viewer. Nicolas Cage was just Nicolas Cage man, you’re either going to love him or you’re not. I will say this was one of the more full on creepy/weirdo characters that I’ve ever seen him play. From the makeup used to create the look of the character, to the voice he uses as Longlegs, to just the aura surrounding him when you see him on screen, he gives off unsettling vibes. Yet he still has his couple signature moments of Nicolas Cage weaved in here as well where he comes off very over the top and I personally found humor in those moments, some people may be creeped out by them, and others may be turned off by them. It’s really just how you receive over the top Nicolas Cage acting at the end of the day.
This movie almost felt like to me that it didn’t need all these extra supernatural and satanic elements placed into it though to make it a good and creepy story at the end of the day. It felt like we could have leaned more into Nicolas Cage’s character and performance and the creepiness behind him. Flesh him out some more and give him a bit more depth and still be able to tie in Lee Harker personally to the case as she tries to track down this madman and piece together how her and her family tie into the killings without all the extra elements. That’s probably partially because I was expecting a more standard procedural serial killer type movie going in and another reason why I think this may be even more enjoyable upon a rewatch for me, but a lot of the added elements with the dolls and religion and satanism just inflated and kind of muddled the plot for me some. That makes me sound stupid (and I very well could be) but this was the kind of movie that left you with just as many questions as you were given answers, the whole movie was kind of like trying to think “okay, so how is this going to tie into the killings?” and then the last 15 minutes or so you’re hit with all the answers but still not necessarily given everything. It felt almost as if we rushed towards the end when the rest of the movie was paced at a much slower and thought-provoking speed, and I don’t think that’s because this movie had bad pacing by any means either. I think that was the kind of breakneck pace they wanted to wrap the movie on, just spike it to ten in the last act and leave everyone with that “holy shit!” reaction as the credits rolled and that’s a totally fine and reasonable way to end a movie (especially a horror movie) but it left me scratching my head and wondering “wtf, but what about?” more than anything as the credits rolled. Again, this is probably just the type of film that you catch more of and understand more as you rewatch it, I know I sound like a broken record when I keep saying that, but I just really feel like this will definitely raise itself a few notches for me as I give it another go later this year as Halloween approaches, for multiple reasons. I’d say don’t buy into all the crazy hype, temper your expectations, go into this one with an open mind, and you’ll probably have a great time with this movie. It was artistically and intelligently made and shot and is a solid and creepy mystery horror film that will likely be on people’s best of horror lists at the end of the year.
