Movie Review: 'Longlegs' Nicolas Cage at his Most Disturbing

Longlegs (2024)

Directed by Osgood Perkins

Written by Osgood Perkins

Starring Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Alicia Witt, Blair Underwood

Release Date July 12th, 2024

Published July 12th, 2024

Longlegs stars Maika Monroe as FBI Agent Lee Harker. Relatively new to the FBI, one of Harker's first field experiences was seeing her partner murdered right in front of her. This came immediately after she had advised her partner that the man they were looking for, a dangerous serial murderer, was in a house she'd seemingly identified at random. Is she psychic? Is this a premonition? How did she manage to pick the one house out of a cookie cutter neighborhood, as the one where the killer was staying?

Harker's premonition and her subsequent capture of the killer, brings Harker to the attention of FBI Boss, Carter, played by Blair Underwood. Carter is after an even more dangerous and unpredictable killer who has claimed the name Longlegs in his seemingly nonsensical letters to law enforcement. Longlegs has been tormenting the FBI since the late 1960's, annihilating entire families without even stepping foot inside the family home. The film is set in the early to mid-90s, for context.

Carter hopes that whatever gift Harker has, even if she isn't psychic, that she might be able to bring something fresh to this stalled investigation. And she immediately pays off by solving Longlegs' cypher that has been part of all of the murders to this point. Somehow, Longlegs immediately knows that Harker is now on his case and, in a scene of stomach churning suspense, he comes to her home to drop off a birthday card.

Birthdays have a role to play in Longlegs as well but I will leave you to discover that for yourself. Longlegs has the feel of Hereditary crossed with The Silence of the Lambs. It's set apart from those superior films by director Osgood Perkins who may be inspired by those films but has his own unique visual style that makes his work distinct and striking. Most notably, Perkins has a tremendous eye for architecture. His scene compositions are remarkable, striking, and set a tone for the tense, confined, and breathtaking horror set pieces he's crafting.

Of course, the draw of Longlegs is Nicolas Cage as the titular killer. Cage is a living meme, a man who can compel an audience with his choice of hairstyle, a glint in his eye, or a histrionic yelp. Here, Cage is fully unhinged and off the hook. Cage plays Longlegs like an aging rock star but not one of the good ones. Imagine a cross between Gary Glitter and Jimmy Savile, but somehow even more evil. This won't make sense until you see Longlegs, but part of me wants to see Nicolas Cage star in a biopic of legendary musician and oddball Tiny Tim.

Maika Monroe on the other hand, calls to mind a bit of Jody Foster in The Silence of the Lambs and a little of Florence Pugh in Midsommar. She's capable and professional but deeply, horrifically, haunted. There is something in Lee's past that may or may not link her directly to Longlegs but you will need to see the movie for more on that. Alicia Witt plays Monroe's equally haunted mother, a woman tormented by the past and the sacrifices she made to make Lee's life possible.

Longlegs is not a beginner horror movie. This is for seasoned veterans of the genre only. You need to have seen some things before you see Longlegs. I am a veteran of hundreds of hundreds of horror movies and I came out of Longlegs slightly unwell. I had to watch Legally Blonde afterwards as a palate cleanser. Then, I remembered that director Osgood Perkins is in Legally Blonde and was brought right back to Longlegs, for a moment anyway. Bottom line, this is a really strong horror movie. This is disturbing stuff. This is the kind of movie that gets in your head and lingers a little too long.

My drive home from seeing Longlegs felt like it lasted too long. I felt as if I needed to rid myself of it when it was over. And I am someone who really likes this movie. It's so effective that I might not ever watch it again. The gut twisting, breath catching suspense scenes combined with Cage's unnerving performance left me frazzled and shook. The movie is gorgeous to look at, brilliant in the visual construction of each frame. And yet, I am not sure I will ever watch Longlegs again because I found it to be so effective.

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