matt 🐢’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
It would seem experiencing Longlegs without expectations and as little context as possible is the way to go. This film captured my attention with its initial, bone-chilling trailer. The ambiguity of its contents with the disturbing sound design made it one of the creepier horror trailers I’ve seen in recent times, and it became one that I would actually avert my eyes during (because I didn’t want to be spoiled guys, not cause I’m a big baby I swear). The end result is not what I expected; instead of a spine-tingling horror filled with frights, it was instead a superbly executed psychological thriller that buries itself deep into your psyche until you’re squirming in your seat.
Maika Monroe plays the intuitive FBI agent Lee Harker. It’s pretty clear early on that she suffers from some form of childhood trauma. As many horror films of the modern era do, Longlegs grounds its frights in trauma. But the way Osgood Perkins writes the script does it in a way that doesn’t feel trite or unoriginal. The story is a certified slow burn that takes its time establishing its unsettling atmosphere and the occult occurrences happening in Oregon.
It’s no surprise that Nic Cage is the titular serial killer. It must be nice to be a character actor like Cage and have all these directors coming to him with these scripts written specifically for him. The film leans into the idiosyncrasies of his talent, which I felt cheapened some of the thrills because I just couldn’t help but laugh at his patented goofiness. Cage does pull out some truly terrifying moments in the latter half as the climax comes into full view. And there were a handful of moments that I was violently clutching my hands together because the tension was unbearably well built.
The most pleasant surprise of Longlegs was slowly realizing where the story was headed. If occult being a descriptor in the plot wasn’t a giveaway, then I’m possibly a little slow or didn’t think about it deeply enough. Thats why going into this picture with little to no context is superb. I was swept away in this unnerving murder mystery with no idea as to where we were headed. The trajectory that the story takes allowed me to be more forgiving of the times where Cage’s performance felt a little out of place. But there is a somewhat trite twist in the third act that somewhat cheapens the thrills that came before. It only lessened the overall experience slightly as it left me wishing the script had been written as creatively in its climax as it was getting there.
Longlegs is one of this years best horror films. I’d still rank I Saw the TV Glow higher because that film has truly stuck with me all this time and the sheer levels of uncomfortably are unmatched even by Perkins’ work here. Undoubtedly the man has crafted an incredible atmospheric thriller that seeps through the screen into your soul and drags you into a world of pure evil. The creepy factor is off the charts, even if it is kind of off-put by Nic Cage’s casting, but he does dig into something morbid the more screen time he gets. Very glad I found time to see this with a friend—we had a blast sitting in the very front and looking straight up at some good ole devil worship.
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