MovieGoer20’s review published on Letterboxd:
This was easily one of my most anticipated films of the year. The marketing for this movie was fantastic and the trailers were chilling to say the least. You definitely get a very vague idea of what the film is even about and it really felt like brilliant marketing that we honestly need more of. Nicolas Cage being a satanic serial killer was already enough to get me excited for this film but I potentially ready to be scarred for how much this movie started to get talked up. Being released by Neon definitely gave me hope too and I was still going in kind of blind since the marketing was that good. My expectations were definitely high and the wait was killing me but I finally got to check it out.
I do have to say that this movie definitely felt much more like a mystery first rather than straight up horror. It’s very clear that this movie was much more centered around the actual mystery more so than I expected. It’s also very clear that this movie took a lot of inspiration from other detective thrillers like Silence of the Lambs, Seven, and even a little bit of Zodiac mixed in there. It definitely felt like this movie stood out enough though as while the plot is reminiscent of those movies, it manages to take a few plot points of those movies and do some unique things with them. I would also say that this movie is much more of a slow burn than a lot of other detective stories like it. I could definitely see people getting bored in a lot of parts of this movie because they feel the mystery isn’t too exciting or thrilling but I definitely have to disagree because I found it to be pretty suspenseful and this was mainly due to the film’s sinister tone. The score of the film definitely helped as I thought that the music choices added to the uneasy feeling that the viewer will probably feel. It’s easily one of the most memorable scores in a horror film in recent memory for me and even the soundtrack during the credits while not chilling or that terrifying was really well done. The cinematography is also fantastic and some of the imagery captured here is extremely stunning and evil but in a good way. Throughout the whole movie there’s a sense of dread that you feel especially as more details come out about Longlegs and the details of his killings. This is still definitely a horror film though as this movie does have a couple of chilling scares that might catch people off guard. I initially thought that this movie would be very graphic but I can honestly say that it’s really not and there was really only one scene that was truly disturbing in my opinion involving a dead child’s body with maggots on it. As far as the performances go, the whole cast does a great job. Maika Monroe is a very compelling lead as our lead FBI agent on this case and her character’s development in particular was really well done. We see that her character seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to this case and it makes her that much more compelling. She definitely felt reminiscent of Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs in my opinion which made her character that much better. Even her conversations with her mother and their relationship were very interesting and you definitely get intrigued as to why they seem to be on the border of being estranged. She would’ve easily been able to carry the movie on her own but luckily most of the supporting cast like Blair Underwood and Alicia Witt lend their great acting chops very well to this movie as well. Then we have Nicolas Cage who is completely unhinged in this movie. The marketing was very smart to not show what Cage looked like so I already anticipated that he was going to be throwing his all into this. Even then though I was still mesmerized by Cage’s performance as he was absolutely chilling in this film. First of all the makeup on Cage is incredible so I could barely even tell it was him so I definitely have to applaud the makeup team for that. Cage might go over the top in a couple of scenes but the way he pulls this off to still come across as a psychopath satanic killer was fantastic. I’ll definitely never be able to hear anyone sing happy birthday the same way again that’s for sure and even him saying the word cuckoo was just over the top in a way that still was very impactful. I already mentioned that the actual detective story of solving what’s going on was quite interesting and I thought each reveal was very fitting whether it was about dolls or how Longlegs manages to get these horrific murders pulled off, it definitely ended up being a very gripping story and had me on edge for almost the whole runtime. I even thought the reveal in the final act was pulled off very well. I definitely thought it was kind of predictable but it was pulled off so well to the point that it didn’t bother me that much. I do have to say though that I wasn’t too crazy about this movie turning to the supernatural personally. I was personally hoping for it to stay fully human based and I think it would’ve elevated this movie’s quality even more. I also thought that the final scene just didn’t stick the landing. While I wouldn’t say it was exactly like Seven’s ending, I kind of felt like it was reminiscent of it. I personally think that it could’ve been pulled off better though and I get that it wasn’t meant to leave a good taste in your mouth but it kind of left me wanting more if I’m being honest and I probably would’ve given this an extra half star if it had.
Conclusion: I can’t say that this fully lived up to my expectations as I was a tad disappointed by the ending but the rest of the movie is so good that it easily makes up for it. I might like it more on a rewatch so who knows? This is still a very great film that features a great lead performance from Maika Monroe and a fantastic Nicolas Cage performance that I’m going to remember for a long time. I still very much highly recommend this film and you might actually like the ending more than I did. I’m definitely glad the fantastic marketing paid off though and I’m glad this did very well.
LE
