By Seth Lukas Hynes
Longlegs
Starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage
Rated MA15+
4.5/5
Longlegs is a supremely suspenseful horror-thriller written and directed by Osgood Perkins (son of Psycho star Anthony Perkins).
Set during the nineties, Longlegs follows FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) as she tracks down a serial killer known as Longlegs (Nicolas Cage).
Monroe is a low-key yet captivating lead as Harker, delivering a focused, solitary, slightly awkward persona that some viewers may read as autistic; as an autistic person myself, I really appreciated Harker’s characterisation.
Harker is also reminiscent of Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs, with Longlegs paying further tribute to Seven and Exorcist III.
Cage plays deranged like no other actor, and conveys such bizarre, squirmingly unpleasant menace without ever technically harming anyone.
Longlegs features dim, moody cinematography and rich, haunting sound design, and draws incredible tension from the shadowy environments; you feel a clenching panic whenever Lee has her back to a doorway.
The intriguing, superbly-paced plot steadily weaves together hints of Lee’s hidden past, Satanic ritual and the present-day murders, and the unfolding investigation balances a satisfying sense of discovery with a rising dread.
“Show, don’t tell” is a common, arguably overused rule in storytelling, and heavy exposition can indicate laziness or a writer’s lack of faith in their audience.
Perkins proves a master of show and tell, providing thorough detail where needed and shockingly executing (pun intended) the telling.
Like Late Night With The Devil, Longlegs is a deeply suspenseful throwback movie that nails the nineties setting without fixating on the small details, but Longlegs is a more subdued slow-burn than the extravagant former film.
Possibly the most chilling, compelling and cleverly-written horror film of the year so far, Longlegs is playing in most Victorian cinemas.
