Josh’s review published on Letterboxd:
"Daddy, that gross guy is back again!"
Lee Harker, a new FBI agent, has been assigned to a case involving an occult serial killer known under the pseudonym Longlegs, whose responsible for a series of mass murders spread throughout several decades. With Lee going through different clues and coded messages, she uses her own craft of tying together the loose ends and discovers a personal connection to the Longlegs killer.
Longlegs is the newest film from writer/director Osgood Perkins and has been the subject of a several months long marketing campaign that involved short cryptic videos, teaser trailers, posters, websites, and old school promotion like billboards and phone numbers while simultaneously keeping the films plot and story as vague as possible. It would be an understatement to say this has been my most anticipated movie of 2024 and not only do I think it met and exceeded my expectations, but I also think this is Osgood Perkins best film to date, delivering nothing but dread and creepiness throughout and hitting you hard in the stomach when you don't expect it, with its multi chapter storytelling and aspect ratio shifts that indicate backlogged exposition, it feels like a tension building thrill ride with the occasional sprite of laughter to ease things.
Maika Monroe once again delivers another powerhouse of a performance as our protagonist Lee Harker, with her determination and willingness to decipher clues lead by the Longlegs killer to letting her guard down when it comes to remembering her past connections, she's soft spoken but tough as they come and you're rooting for her to get to the bottom of things. An unrecognizable Nicolas Cage delivers one of his best performances of his current film run as the titular Longlegs killer, sporting a nightmarish sunken pasty face complexion, curly hair, weird attire, and quizzical freakouts that range from screaming to singing, you can also add Longlegs to Nicolas Cage's long list of Cage Kino style performances that are destined to be memed, but make no mistake he is absolutely evil and putrid, his voice and demeanor will be stuck in your head and his eventual meeting with Lee Harker makes for one of the best scenes in the movie. Rounding out the awesome supporting cast is Blair Underwood as agent Carter, Alicia Witt as Lee's religious mother Ruth, Kiernan Shipka in a scene stealing role as lone survivor Carrie Anne Camera and Michelle Choi-Lee as agent Browning.
I'd say Longlegs is worthy of the hype and praise it's been getting, it just feels evil and twisted throughout and just when think things reach a fever pitch you're blindsided with a kidney punch that will stick to you. Incredible work from Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage and some very stomach turning imagery and moments, especially towards that climax. I wish I could give it seven stars.
