Set in the quiet small towns of Oregon in the 1990s, a string of families are found killed in their homes. (The mother, the father, and all the children.) These grisly murders provide no clues pointing to who's causing them except for a letter written in a secret code and signed with the name, Longlegs. That's the name of this horror/thriller, Longlegs....and it is intense! Actress Maika Monroe (Watcher, 2022) plays a young FBI agent trying to solve these murders while using her intermittent psychic skills without letter her mounting fear distract her.
With this description, it's easy to compare Longlegs to other dark, serial killer mysteries like The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Seven (1995), and Zodiac (2007). But Longlegs remains unique, because it includes elements of the supernatural through quiet premonitions, distant whispers, and biblical mysticism. These supernatural moments could so easily come across as cheap, excessive, or juvenile. Instead, they make this film even spookier. There were multiple times watching this in the movie theater when I genuinely felt frightened and I jumped in my seat.
The editing and timing are so long-suffering, and so gently composed, that the jolting moments of violence are just as effective of the more muted moments of psychological unease. Sustaining this gradual crescendo of dread, murder, and memory makes Longlegs brilliant. It successfully slithered its way into my brain, and it stayed there for days afterward.
Director/writer Osgood Perkins is experienced in this genre having directed the highly stylized horror films, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016) and Gretel & Hansel (2020). The look of Longlegs also expresses a distinct, consistent, visual style but one that appears more realistic and relatable, taking viewers through an empty barn, a sparse house covered in plastic sheeting, and the wood-paneled walls of offices...all set against dreary overcast weather.
Although this film is captivating, it isn't an adrenaline-fueled cat-and-mouse hunt with heart-pounding music. Viewers will need to be more patient than that. Because it's both a tangible search for a killer and an accidental exploration of evil forces, Longlegs is both a physical and spiritual battle uncovering a perverse bond forged between humanity and religion.
Maika Monroe's awkward, restrained performance is an expert emotional balancing act between logic and terror as she discovers clues pointing to satanic cult rituals and her childhood home. Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario, 2023) is memorably creepy with a face so unsettling it will stay in your head for weeks. (I can't describe too much about his performance, because I don't want to give anything away.)
Watch out, A24! You're not the only hot film studio releasing exciting things right now. The NEON studio has just released one of the best films I've seen so far this year.
