Longlegs Review
Words by Alex Secilmis 22 July 2024
Words by Alex Secilmis 22 July 2024
Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage, two horror veterans, both expand their already considerable range in a stellar pair of performances. Monroe makes FBI agent Lee Harker, a woman of few words, endlessly watchable by wearing her stunted emotions on her sleeve. Cage’s performance as Longlegs, meanwhile, is as crazy as you’ve heard and as you’d expect. For a lifelong chameleon, here Cage treats us to one of his most enticing transformations. Also, thank goodness Alicia Witt (the legend from Urban Legend) is back in a big screen horror film.
The serial-killer thriller is carried by the strength of its heightened atmosphere. Director Oz Perkins, cinematographer Andres Arochi, and production designer Danny Vermette have realised a world removed from our own: in muted tones and brimming with evil. With the film’s music, composed by Zilgi, we have an example of the modern horror score that doubles as sound design.
I think Longlegs earning titles like “scariest movie of the last decade” is a result of the rise of blockbuster Blumhouse horror (which I still love!) that often prioritises the function of “monster as metaphor” over the basics of visualising the uncanny. By excelling at the latter, the film is plenty scary in its exceptional first two acts, but its ending wraps the story up in a very tight bow. Cage said himself of his limited screen time speaking to The New Yorker: “You don’t want to see that the shark is made of rubber, you know?” Unfortunately, Longlegs is another horror victim of over-explanation and a somewhat predictable twist. It’s the kind of film I wish had ended 20 minutes earlier.
That said, it’s a must-see. Also, if you’re hot for Harker, go watch Monroe in Chloe Okuno’s Watcher (2022), one of the best horror films of the decade.