DeathB4Dinosaur’s review published on Letterboxd:
Longlegs is a near perfect addition in the canon of creepy serial killer hunt movies, behind Silence of the Lambs, Seven and Zodiac. It’s not really a straight horror movie, more a mix of religious horror with a psycho thriller.
The main performers, Maika Monroe and Nicholas Cage, are absolutely fantastic. Maika’s performance is that of a young FBI agent that has a lot of childhood trauma, which made her a little odd and emotionally stunted in her adult life. She carries the whole movie and is an absolute blast to watch and spend time with.
Nic Cage plays the mysterious killer she is after and while he is mostly handled in the off screen by reputation and whispers about him, he gets the first scene of the movie, which absolutely startled me and most of the scene stealing moments later on as well. It’s an appropriately insane performance, for an insane character and Nic’s weird acting style is absolutely perfect. While I feel calls of him entering Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix Joker levels of brilliance are a bit too far, he does go very much into that direction and every time he is on screen I absolutely got more and more uneasy, the longer he remained there. Great stuff!
The writing is really good as well, as the film does a nice balance between what you expect/want from a movie like this and what you do not expect, which keeps the audience on their toes, even when I am not 100% sure all turns the story takes are the best way it could have been handled. I cannot be sure after one viewing, so maybe those things will click better with me on a rewatch.
Overall Director Osgood Perkins is the absolute star here, as he makes every frame absolutely ooze with creeping dread. For example when lead actress Maika Monroe is in the center frame, doing something like studying some notes, there is almost always an open door behind her, that just shows pitch black darkness. That little idea, in Perkins hands, made me absolutely terrified. He and his production team also nail the 90 aesthetic of the film, not only in set design, clothes etc, but also in the way the movie moves and flows. Very reminiscent of 90s era thrillers, but not in a dumb on the nose way, like Maxxxine shoved its own 80sness down the viewers throats. Perkins directs subdued, leaves room for the scenes to breathe, but also does some drastic, shocking things by framing and blocking in a certain way. Really masterful stuff.
A absolute must watch for anyone who is into these type of movies, but probably a hard pass for anyone who cannot handle things of a darker nature, like this. I feel Silence and Seven are a great barometer if you will enjoy this one or not.
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