18 Jul REVIEW – ‘Longlegs’ is the kind of film that will haunt you for an eternity
You’ve likely heard a lot of extremely hyperbolic buzz surrounding writer/director Osgood Perkins‘ atmospheric thriller Longlegs. Some have called it the scariest film of the decade. Others have said it’s the 21st century’s version of The Silence of the Lambs. And some have even called for it to dominate next year’s Academy Award nominations. Hype can be a terrible thing. Thankfully (or, at least in my opinion), this is one film that lives up to its reputation.
Deeply unsettling with a slow-burning aura of dread hovering over practically every single frame, Longlegs is the kind of film that will haunt you for an eternity. Not because it’s filled with endless jump scares or ghastly imagery (though, they are both absolutely present). Rather, it’s chilling in a way that crawls under our skin courtesy of Perkins’ masterful blend of supernatural and psychological horror and one genuinely frightening performance from Nicolas Cage.
Set in the early 1990s, the film centres on no-nonsense FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe), an introverted recent recruit whose uncanny ability to see things others miss rouses the attention of veteran Agent Carter (Blair Underwood). After a series of tests suggest Lee may have clairvoyant abilities, Carter assigns her to a decades-spanning unsolved case involving an elusive serial killer known only as Longlegs (Cage).
For numerous years, a series of brutal murder-suicides has plagued Oregon and baffled the FBI. Each incident involves a seemingly harmless father viciously murdering his wife and children before taking his own life. At the scene of each crime lay a cryptic letter featuring undecipherable Satanic symbols, all signed by “Longlegs.” The handwriting never belongs to any of the victims and there’s no forensic evidence of anyone else being involved in the deaths.
As Lee gets to work on the case, she starts to find connections between the families and decodes the symbols in an attempt to ascertain when Longlegs may strike next. But when Lee begins experiencing flashbacks to a traumatic incident in her childhood, she realises she may have a personal connection to Longlegs. And the only person who might hold the answers is her disturbed mother, Ruth (Alicia Witt).
If you like your horrors and thrillers with constant chaos and bloody mayhem right from the get-go, Longlegs is not for you. It’s a film that requires patience. The payoff is entirely worth the effort. After a truly unnerving opening scene shot in tight 4:3 aspect ratio like a vintage home movie, Perkins methodically takes his time with taut pacing as he carefully turns up a palpable rising feeling of terror that you can’t seem to shake. Every scene teems with existential anxiety; the kind that elicits goosebumps from the anticipation of what may come as much as the action in front of your eyes.
Ingeniously written by Perkins, the screenplay will draw inescapable comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs, especially once Lee and Longlegs come face-to-face in the claustrophobia of a police station interview room. But Perkins is the son of screen legend Anthony Perkins (aka Norman Bates in Psycho) who led a double life as a closeted queer man; something Perkins’ wife, Berry Berenson naturally hid from her two sons. His death from AIDS-related causes in 1992 finally laid his secrets bare to the world. It’s obvious this script is at least partly inspired by his own complicated upbringing, particularly the notion of a parent keeping a shocking truth from their child.
It’s difficult to discuss how Longlegs explores childhood and generational trauma without venturing into spoiler territory, especially given this film’s marketing has been purposely ambiguous. Witt’s Ruth is ultimately a hugely important character in this narrative, but her character arc is one best discovered for yourself. For all that will be made of Cage’s performance and the film’s disturbing moments, Perkins is shrewdly exploring the fractured way the brain locks away historical pain and the complexities of when the mind is forced to slowly unpack that repressed trauma.
At the centre of everything is the wildly talented Monroe in a quietly compelling performance as a young woman teetering on the periphery of an unspeakable evil force. You can tell Monroe has taken great influence from Jodie Foster’s Oscar-winning turn as Clarice Starling. Both are playing female rookie FBI agents thrust into a dark case involving an eccentric serial killer. Both characters suffer from pain in their childhoods. Both are exceptionally intelligent and gifted at their jobs. But Monroe wisely makes Lee her own unique creation filled with a fascinating mix of fear and determination. Frankly, you can’t take your damn eyes off her.
And then there’s the fully committed Cage, who, naturally, is the perfect choice to play a scenery-chewing menace like Longlegs. Something like a nightmarish blend of Tiny Tim, Heath Ledger’s Joker, and an aging 80s glam rocker, Cage is a staggeringly disconcerting sight. Perkins is wise not to fully reveal Longlegs to his audience until a good 40 minutes into the film. When we finally do get a look at him, Cage is practically unrecognisable under heavy prosthetics, long straggly silver hair, and pasty white skin with a high-pitched song-like cadence and a foreboding demeanour that always appears to be on the brink of cracking. It’s one of the most impressively original villain creations you’ll ever see. And one you won’t soon forget.
There will be many who feel let down by Longlegs. What Perkins has crafted is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea. And it suffers from a few plot holes and narrative conveniences that hold it back from true perfection. Fear is subjective and slow-burn style cinema can frustrate. If you hate it, that’s entirely valid. Personally, I loved every minute of this truly creepy and terrifying experience that gave me legitimate body chills numerous times.
The more I think about Longlegs, the more it claws into my brain. It’s honestly hard to shake several moments and images that are ingrained into my psyche, especially during the third act. Perkins is a force to be reckoned with and I cannot see what he does next. It establishes Monroe as a new scream queen and reminds of us the immense skill of the ever-reliable Cage. This is undoubtedly the best horror movie of 2024 and one of the greatest of recent times.
Distributor: Neon
Cast: Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Nicolas Cage, Michelle Choi-Lee, Dakota Daulby, Lauren Acala, Kiernan Shipka
Director: Osgood Perkins
Producers: Dan Kagan, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Nicolas Cage, Dave Caplan, Chris Ferguson
Screenplay: Osgood Perkins
Cinematography: Andrés Arochi Tinajero
Production Design: Danny Vermette
Costume Design: Mica Kayde
Editors: Greg Ng, Graham Fortin
Music: Zilgi
Running Time: 101 minutes
Release Date: 18th July 2024 (Australia)