Despite a long history at the multiplex, there are not many great serial killer flicks. For every classic like David Fincher’s Seven, there are numerous collectors, spiders that came along, and run-of-the-mill weirdos with de-facto secret basements, which tend to be, at best, mediocre. It’s a great relief then that Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs, which stars Maika Monroe and Nicholas Cage, is the real deal—studied, atmospheric, and genuinely disturbing. In fact, this cinematic chiller is so effective that it deserves comparison not just to Jonathan Demme’s Oscar-winning The Silence of the Lambs but Remedy Entertainment’s recent survival-horror masterpiece Alan Wake II. True skill isn’t just merely seeing talent within one medium but many. Longlegs is such an achievement.
For the record, I’m categorizing a serial killer film as typically having dual narratives: the FBI agent (or some other form of law enforcement) and the killer. Ti West’s fun X trilogy or any other slasher doesn’t count. Also, before we dive in, anyone hoping this was Perkins’ leap into Arachnophia-type thrills will be disappointed as there’s a lack of eight-legged creepy crawlies. The monster who calls himself Longlegs is very much human… Well, sort of.
See Also: ‘Longlegs’ Interview: Director Osgood Perkins on Crafting Dark Worlds and The Electric Guitar That Is Nicolas Cage
Like Alan Wake II or any episode of Netflix’s Mindhunters, there’s plenty of time spent looking at the murder board. Longlegs’ murder spree goes back to the 70s, and boy, he loves his codes. By the time FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is on the case, it’s the Clinton era. A quick, creepy opening in the 70s teases Longlegs (Cage) with off-kilter compositions. We can’t see his face. That will have to wait. For now, Harper and her supervisor Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) must unravel just how Longlegs can even be responsible for multiple murders. His trick is he’s never present when a random head of the household decides to chop up his family. Meanwhile, Harker has received a letter from Longlegs specifically asking it not to be opened until January 14, which is her birthday. That date is very much tied to the murders too. Harker knows this. How? We’re not sure, but there is a connection. To be fair, there is usually a connection between killer and hero. Take the Joker guy and the dude dressed as a Bat, for instance.
This might be a good time to bring up Longlegs, played by an unrecognizable-looking or hearing Nicholas Cage. At 101 minutes, the bulk of Cage’s performance is obscured. Whether by the framing or him pitting his hands in front of his face. I was a tad concerned when the trailer for the film felt like the optics of this killer could be trans or non-binary. While we all love The Silence of the Lambs, there’s no denying in 2024, we’re past a character stating a person isn’t trans, while the visuals seem to exploit a kind of visual too often used to make gender issues villainous or sinister. Cage’s character does seem to wear make-up. Maybe? And there’s the high voice too. So, even if the FBI always refers to Longlegs as “him,” the visuals did raise eyebrows, at least in the trailers. Thankfully, no, Longlegs is not Buffalo Bill. If anything, I think he’s like a middle-aged version of a glam rocker. Fitting, as the film opens with a quote from T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy”.
Since his remarkably restrained (until it isn’t) debut, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, nearly a decade ago, Perkins has showcased a rich talent for dark atmosphere. That film occurred over a week at a snowy (mostly) empty girl’s boarding school. Last year’s Oscar-nominated The Holdovers by Alexander Payne took the same setting and even the same theme, the longing to belong for jokes and sentiment. Perkins’ film took the feeling of belonging to a more sinister conclusion. No, seriously, you don’t belong here or anywhere… The sense of being separated from loved ones, or even just an everyday life, runs at the heart of Perkins’ work. The deeper one goes, what’s un-earthed is a world where no one quite fits. The trick for Lee and Longlegs is that they know this truth long before the rest of an almost sleeping society, which is both an asset and a curse.
As a result, kids and teens can be “seers” to the skewed reality in his films. Keirnan Shipka (Totally Killer), who starred in The Blackcoat’s Daughter, delivers one helluva monologue as one of the only known survivors of Longlegs, a young woman named Carrie Anne Camera. Now living in an institution, her meeting with Harker is unsettling as Carrie talks about the end of all things as matter-factly as possible. It’s hard at that point not to remember that this tale begins with a young girl innocently snooping on an out-of-place station wagon that’s pulled up to her snowbound house.
As disturbing as the film is, Perkins injects a small but needed dose of humor. Beyond just Cage’s performance, occasionally, a specific cut or music choice provokes laughs both bold and subtle. Monroe has to be the more strait-laced of the dual leads. As committed as we are to her discovering the truth not just about Longlegs but her own past, moments of levity work well. Additionally, Alicia Witt has a small but pivotal role as Harker’s mother. Witt’s playful weirdness against Monroe’s epic restraint is a terrific balancing act of discomfort with just enough humor.
Longlegs is a masterclass in mood, suspense, and the absurd. No doubt the titular character’s obsession with codes and clues will find a home of its own in the years to come. It’s fitting, as this is a film about how isolated we’ve all become, and it offers a tantalizing sense of icky belonging. Will you accept Longlegs’ invitation?
Longlegs opens in theaters July 12, 2024.
