Maki Sparkle ✨’s review published on Letterboxd:
“OooOoooOooh! There she is, the almost birthday-girl.”
97%🔋Forgive me if this review is scattered, I’m still in a state of shock and disbelief at what I witnessed. That sounds hyperbolic but believe me when I say this film bore into my psyche like a drill powered by a malevolent evil. Longlegs is most certainly the scariest film I’ve seen the last 10 years, it operates on a very primal and raw level that will drain you of all your joy.
It’s a serial killer horror film for the ages, a crime procedural that flips it on its head, and a jolting excursion into steep realms of darkness that swirl with a poisonous dread. The entire film is a piano wire being pulled and pulled to such extremes that the wire becomes invisible and snaps, coils around your throat and will leave you helpless.
While the movie does mingle with supernatural elements I was completely shell shocked at how Osgood Perkins uses this plot device and turns into something organic that almost becomes believable. For so much imagery of the devil and outbursts of satanism the movie grounds itself with such force it will crush you under its hopelessness. I’m still trying to recover and shake Cobble (Longlegs) from my mind.
It’s very hard to make me cry not due to sadness but out of fear and despair. I think the last time a movie effectively did this was mother!, but there’s something to be said about how the film amalgamates the unholy and wicked to create a valance that will leave the audience disturbed.
I saw the movie with my sister Lex 🩷 who is 4 years younger than I, I was not expecting her to like it as much as she did and we both agreed that there was an uncomfortable miasma that takes you over. It left us on edge and not fully prepared for what we were in store for. Before I delve into the climactic ending, it absolutely worked nightmares (I mean that in the best way possible!) for both of us.
A mother’s love. It’s dynamically and scarily portrayed here to jaw dropping results. I do believe that particular love is a force of nature, one so powerful that your child’s well being will blur all lines. What will you do for your kid? How far reaching is your love for a being that is literally a part of you. All of this is answered in spectacular fashion during the end and left me reeling. I’m still so fucking shocked at how perfect everything wrapped itself up. It seems like it won’t stick the landing but by the end you can’t help but put up a 10 score card. It’s genius work.
The acting my god. I’ll only speak on Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage but they both give towering performances that will survive the test of time. Monroe plays Harker with a stoic yet fearful but still full of drive. She’s such a Capricorn and she employs so many levels to her performance that I guarantee this will make her star shine harder than ever. Now, Nicolas Cage. Idk how I can give that performance any justice. It’s one of the most disturbing, frightful, kooky serial killer performances I’ve ever seen. He pours nightmare fuel atop it and lights a match and leaves you squirming. I’m afraid to go to sleep tonight. Yall thought joker performances were good? Tuhhh, that’s light work to what Cage did here. Absolutely up there with Anothony Hopkins, Hannibal Lecter. 100%
The devil walks this earth. It’s apparent to me now that maybe satan is at work and has made splashes throughout history. Dahmer, Zodiac, Bundy, Gacy, all of these men had one thing in common. A lack of conscience and no empathy. An endless abyss of pure evil lurked within these men. Longlegs takes this and spins it so wildly that your hearts bpm will rise, your fears will spike and you will realize that the film is questioning wether satan is a pathway to commiting unspeakable deeds and does he help? It’s wild that a film made me ask that but lord if it’s not such a fucking new and refreshing take on the worshipping of a fallen angel.
Moving on and closing it up, the crafts in this film are top notch. The sound design is supreme, it ratchets up the anxiety to unforeseen levels. The way it’s shot is crisp, every frame is a hellscape. My sister said it felt classic and I agree. It did change aspect ratios but it only serves the purpose of the movie. Production design is important as well, there’s much to be studied and a lot you could overlook. The score is adequately creepy and there are a couple nice jams thrown in along with some scraps of very dry humor.
Oh before I finish, the film opens up with a jolt and will have you in its ominous grasp from there forward. There’s a doozy of set piece that I’ll just call The Interrogation, every cog was operating in tandem during this crucial scene. The moments preceding instill a major unease, the moment I speak of is terrifying ( I was in a state of major distress) and the way it caps itself off left me breathless and trembling. Finally, those final 5 minutes are gasp inducing and devastating in equal measure. I was broken. Suffice to say, I loved this film so so much.
“I’m a friend, of a friend, of a friend.”
