This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
🎄🎬Ren🎬🎄’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
the moment I watched the trailer for this that was just titled “ every year there is another” I was intrigued, but yet disturbed. After seeing the film and thinking about that trailer again, it all just comes together. I know people say the films marketing is better than the actual film, but I definitely disagree with that. The marketing is great no doubt about it, but the way the film shows its themes of evil is absolutely genius. It combined with the style so well. The art form of cinema have always been trying to portray pure evil ever since the art form started, it’s always been something audiences have been intrigued by. Audiences will always be intrigued when the villain is just coldhearted and does not care about life. It sounds twisted, but we’ve all been invested in it. Like think about how much the world was invested by Norman Bates. Not a character you’re supposed to look up to, but yet everybody who saw psycho was interested by his character. We wanted to know more. I think longlegs is another character. Lots of audiences were invested by. His character is terrifying, but also kind of funny. Nicolas Cage does such an interesting approach to this character that no other actor could’ve done. We see longlegs without many colors it seems weird. It seems like he’s not even a human. He strikes out to us so much that we get intrigued in his character and from his first scene in the very beginning when we’re in young Lee’s perspective just makes the audience feel uncomfortable. That continues during the whole film whether it’s daddy and mommy unmake me or the scene where he kills himself in front of Harker, where he just says “hail Satan” it’s just actually unsettling and I know a lot of people don’t find the film scary but I think the way it does the horror. All elements is very different and that’s why it works for me. The color red is used a lot, but I think it represents something a little more. It shows this evil through the devil in a visual way, and it’s really done well whether it’s the snakes that they cut to or longlegs sitting in his bed. The choice of lighting in this film was absolutely genius. When I think of it, this film is one of the most interesting ways of looking at evil and evil is one of the biggest themes. But it doesn’t do it in a typical way it finds a new and unique way of saying, and it clearly has a voice for that reason alone. As it uses stuff like birthdays to show something twisted and it doesn’t do it in a typical way it finds a new way. The way they show the child’s perspective was really really interesting by changing the aspect ratio it gives a whole new layer of complexity to analysis. Showing the emotional effects that something like this can have on a child. It feels like a memory for many reasons and the decision to make it that way it was done. It feels natural and it flows into the film and I think it wasn’t like that the film wouldn’t work as well. It makes Carrie Anne Camera story all the more haunting and I think that’s the scene with the best cinematography but that’s also, the contender for the most disturbing scene in the film for me. it shows how far this evil will go and it’s just terrifying and it makes you feel so much like I can see a lot of people just being speechless after that scene it’s really done in a masterful way. It’s a smart film just like Lee it knows what to do and the look at the film feels like it has a style and it takes risks and those risks pay off. The scenes that are dark make the audience kind of uncomfortable like they’re a kid again afraid that there’s something in the closet. But yet this lighting works for the film, especially in the first scene where Lee is at her house. Lee is such an interesting main character who has connections to longlegs, which makes it all the more interesting to see everything unfold. She’s also a character that can be seen as on the spectrum and it is a very good representation of being on the spectrum is like. Which makes her all the more of an interesting character. Autistic characters always get messed up, and I talked about this a lot and my second analysis of whiplash. It’s really interesting to see her passion and her job, but it also shows you the emotional effects of a job like this can have on someone. It does it in such an interesting way and it’s not obnoxious and it’s not going up to the camera and slapping you in the face and telling you this is what we’re trying to do. No it’s more than that. We hear about her childhood and I could just more invested into the character. Her relationship to her mother is one of the most interesting part of the film. From the moment we see her talking on the phone with her and then we hear “ are you still saying your prayers” this line becomes so important in the film and it’s monumental in the film. This scene works the cinematography is interesting in this scene and it’s just kind of overall uncomfortable looking. It’s the way the film shows darkness that gets me. That scene also becomes important because it shows that she doesn’t actually really care about prayers. She turned to evil she turned to the devil and we experience all of this build up I’ll come together when we see her true colors. Just like long legs her character is lacking in color. They talked about it in the interview after the film, but I also kind of noticed it when I was watching it and it was such a interesting decision for symbolism that pays off. Almost every every single performance is doing something new but unlike other films, it actually all blends in with each other. I noticed the criticism that people are talking about the daughter of Carter saying that her performance was not well done, but I couldn’t disagree more. I think that scene was an important scene and showed a lot about Lee. That scene wasn’t there to get rid of some of the subtlety. Her Almost psychic abilities could be seen as so much by the audience. The film gave us an interesting main character to connect to, and I feel like the film will not work the same at the main character wasn’t interesting. Seems like longlegs talking to her and killing himself would not work as well if we had a boring main character. It’s the risks that the film takes that makes it work so well. Everything about her and long legs character makes for something that you get invested in. And showing stuff like birthdays, makes it more creepy, but yet adds another layer to the film. The scene where Lee Harker is putting all the evidence together is number one done in such an interesting way, but yeah, can also be seen in so many different ways. She’s putting all of this together, but yet we’re also thinking about what’s happening and an audience are shocked. it also gives a whole new meaning to the every year there’s another trailer. But yet this scene also shows Lee’s genius. This scene shows so much and it’s a pretty much perfect example of how to do all of these different ideas all at once, but yeah, it does not feel convoluted at all. Longlegs is a film that does a lot, but yet does not feel convoluted. It’s themes are expressed in a new way whether it’s the dolls or the color red. It will always do something unique. The film uses cinema to provoke many emotions on the audience and it works. I will always love this film. It does something so unique with a story like this. It’s something that I’m so glad glad was able to be made and seeing the success. It just makes me happy. Art should. always make you feel emotions and this film succeeds at that.
