LONGLEGS (2024) MOVIE REVIEW
Osgood Perkins has crafted the feel-bad-movie of the summer, a serial killer procedural so evil and innately twisted that it will leave you reeling in the film’s closing and horrific final act.
by Nate Lemann
Osgood Perkins set out to make a serial killer procedural thriller unlike anything we’ve ever seen before and boy did the talented director ace the assignment. After a truly chilling opening prologue, we are introduced to a seemingly familiar format for the genre: we meet rookie FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) working in the field to hunt down a serial killer. Monroe would seemingly present as the Clarice Starling-type, the babe in the very dark woods, but that is where you can end the comparison to the famed Jodie Foster performance: Lee lacks the confidence and moxy that Foster so effortlessly exuded. Instead, Harker is anything but confident and self-assured. While she has some otherworldly “intuition” about serial killers, Harker is a self-doubting and quite an awkward wreak, going so far as to make her feel like an alien who fell to earth and was handed an FBI windbreaker.
After a first case that ends in horrific fashion, Harker’s boss Agent Carter (an excellent Blair Underwood) recognizes her “talent” and brings her in on a case the agency has never been able to crack: across the Pacific Northwest has been a string of killings, dating back two decades (the film is set in the early-90s for more comparison to the Demme masterpiece). What initially appeared to be horrific “family destroyer” killings (look up at your risk), have the odd element of coded messages left from a killer who calls himself “Longlegs”. How is this killer connected to these seemingly straight-forward murder-suicide cases? Is he somehow influencing his victims to commit these horrific acts? That is what Carter has brought Lee in to try and piece together. As Lee gets further embedded into the case, the plot begins to turn into something altogether original and more terrifying than you can expect.
I will refrain from spoiling anymore of the plot, as NEON has done an excellent job selling the vibe rather than the true story. You are best to go in knowing very little, even forgoing a full head-on look at Cage as the titular killer. What Perkins does so well, aside from his amazing composition skillsets he’s shown on his prior projects, is create a tone and atmospheric dread that is more disturbing than horrifying. This imbues the film with such an evil spirit and twisted feeling that keeps you unsettled throughout the whole picture, never letting up for you to catch your breath.
The performances are all pretty spectacular: Monroe, while initially off-putting with her awkward and wincey performance, lets more layers peel away as she makes more connections to the killer than she was hoping for. She has become a modern scream queen and this may be her best performance to date. Underwood, as mentioned before, is great in the Jack Crawford-type role, giving the character more edge and flaws, setting up a reckoning scene that needs to be watched to be believed. There are some additional performances by a few surprise actresses who will really haunt you but are better left to be seen before discussing.
That leads us to the "Cage" of it all. A lot of your ultimate opinion on this film will come down to your patience for the wildly varying quality of his acting performances. Make no mistake: he goes full “Cage” in this and if you can find yourself on the same wavelength with it, it will be a performance that will haunt your nightmares. If you can’t, this may not be the movie for you. What I will say about his role is that it isn’t a mastermind serial killer performance; Cage and Perkins wisely make this killer out to be very human and, at times, even pathetic. That said, you never feel uncomfortable when Cage is onscreen, always feeling the intense threat that this peculiar monster represents.
Ultimately, while “Longlegs” is not the game-changing hit in the vain of “The Silence of the Lambs” that NEON wants you to believe, it is one of best serial killer thrillers we've had in years, with an ending so twisted and chilling, it will haunt you for days to come. Check it out in an immersive theater going experience if you can.
FINAL RATING: 4/5 Stars (Wicked serial killer fable that will stay with you long after the credits roll)
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