Longlegs – Movie Review (4/5)

LONGLEGS is a horror movie with a serial killer plot, starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage. Both are fantastic. The film has a touch of Silence of the Lambs and it’s coming out on digital now. Read our full Longlegs movie review here!

LONGLEGS is a serial killer horror movie coming out on digital now. The film has a touch of several iconic horror films about serial killers – especially Silence of the Lambs. Still, it is completely its own while paying tribute to the films that came before it.

The two crucial main characters of FBI agent and serial killer respectively are played by Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage. Both are absolutely fantastic, although Nicolas Cage is inherently the most memorable as the crazed killer. He is creepy and terrifyingly good.

Continue reading our Longlegs movie review below. The movie is coming out as a digital release on August 23, 2024.

Familiar yet completely unique

In short, Longlegs is about hunting down a serial killer, and we follow a young FBI agent who quickly decodes the strangely coded letters he has left behind. She realizes she has a special connection with this serial killer and does everything she can to stop him.

Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is considered “particularly intuitive”, as she can often sense things without any clues or actual leads. We also get to witness this firsthand as we are with her on her very first assignment.

Meanwhile, we also follow the killer who calls himself Longlegs (Nicolas Cage) as he leaves letters at his crime scenes. There is a multitude of references and tribute “shots” to Silence of the Lambs, where scenes are shot almost one-to-one.

Nevertheless, the story is unique in every way.

Whether it’s a story you like is another thing. This is a film that will likely divide audiences. A bit like the Danish horror movie Speak No Evil. However, without any further comparison as the two stories have nothing in common.

Nicolas Cage is full-on crazy

It’s hard not to be captivated (and scared) by Nicolas Cage as Longlegs. He plays the character as shrill and mad, yet perfectly capable of following through on his plans. It’s absolutely amazing (again!) to see Nicolas Cage (Renfield) at full whack in this film.

As with Silence of the Lambs, where Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter is extremely memorable – like when he talks about which wine to drink with a meal while practically salivating – Nicolas Cage is also hard to forget here.

However, there was a reason why Jodie Foster also won an Oscar for her performance in that same movie as Agent Clarice Starling. That’s why I need to emphasize the amazing performance of Maika Monroe (It Follows, Watcher) in Longlegs.

The filmmaker has said he was inspired by Lisbeth Salander‘s character for Agent Lee Harker, and you can easily see that. Not visually, as much, but more in her worldview and reaction patterns.

Maika Monroe carries the narrative and she is just as important for the movie as Nicolas Cage.

Watch Longlegs on Digital!

Osgood “Oz” Perkins is the director and screenwriter behind Longlegs. He’s previously made films such as I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House and The Blackcoat’s Daughter.

For me, Longlegs is definitely his strongest film, so I hope he continues this style.

However, I do also recognize that his style (in any of his movies) is very much a matter of taste. With this movie, the storytelling is deliciously stylish and the plot so fascinating that it has a wider appeal and impact.

Although we’re focusing on Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage in this review, there are several other key actors involved. I would especially like to highlight Blair Underwood as Agent Carter, Kiernan Shipka (Twisters) as a surviving victim, and a dazzling Alicia Witt as Agent Harker’s mother.

Osgood Perkins himself has called the film a kind of “horror mixtape”, where there is a lot of inspiration and tribute to what has shaped him as a filmmaker. Even before hearing this from him, I could easily see that come across in Longlegs.

And in all the right ways. However, as previously mentioned, his style probably won’t be for everyone. Still, I think everyone can agree that he succeeded in his wish to make the whole film feel like a nightmare.

Longlegs has a digital premiere on August 23, 2024.

Details

Director: Oz Perkins
Writer: Oz Perkins
Cast: Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Alicia Witt, Blair Underwood, Erin Boyes