Jennifer Gregory’s review published on Letterboxd:
This movie begins with a sense of dread that never goes away. Instead it grows and spreads like a fog inserting itself into every corner of the film. By the time Maika and Blair go traipsing into the old barn at night with flashlights, we’re not rolling our eyes because surely they could discover more in daylight, but rather we’re bleakly resigned that this is just how things get done in this movie.
The film is not out and out scary but it is ominous, weird, and disquieting throughout. There were some jump scares and tense moments. I thought the script was excellent. The acting is solid with Maika as the standout. She is definitely the new horror queen so hand her the crown.
The cinematography is well done. The film is unrelentingly dark; the lighting flickers subtly in almost every scene; you are always on the alert for shadows to move, or trying to figure out the purpose of mountains of stuff. Speaking of those mountains the production design is stunningly complex. Wood paneling has never looked so ominous and the sheer amount of objects in this film must have been overwhelming to pull off.
The music is dependably creepy as is the painful silence of this film. Many scenes are filmed with no background music which makes you hyper aware of what’s being said. The Silence of the Lambs is a huge palpable influence on this film. The multiple scenes with Maika pursuing an unseen person while breathing and panting heavily seemed like déjà vu. An early scene has her pushing through plastic sheeting hanging down on everything. The rural old houses; the obvious otherness of Lee; and even some of the costumes all act as mini lighthouses beaming out footage from Silence.
Finally, Nicolas Cage is very good. He’s not the distracting presence I thought he would be. Oz Perkins has a good intuition as to when to let Cage embrace the weirdness and when to rein him in. I really liked this movie. We saw it in Buffalo while on vacation. If you like Long Legs, I highly recommend The Blackcoat’s Daughter, another excellent film by Perkins.
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