Longlegs

Every year there seems to be an indie-produced horror film hidden around the corner waiting to pop onto the scene with a pop-culture splash that rivals even the biggest blockbusters. We’ve seen it happen with Hereditary, Barbarian, The Lighthouse, but this year it comes in the form of a horror film less interested in making you jump out of your seat than in making you writhe for the entirety of its 101-minute runtime. As you watch this nightmare-inducing crime-thriller unfold, you won’t find yourself screaming in terror or hiding your eyes from this film. Rather, you will become increasingly unsettled and uncomfortable in your seat yet unable to look away all the while. Oz Perkins’s Longlegs is a tour de force in creating this atmosphere and continuously raises the bar throughout the entire runtime of this film.

The film is completely uninterested in using the present-day horror film model of overusing jump-scares and loud sudden sound effects to build suspense and fear. Instead, sharp usage of the camera and a balanced but thick sound design aid in its construction of a nightmarish tone. Between close up shots of Nicolas Cage’s torso hiding our antagonist’s face and panning to wide angle shots leading us to believe something is around the corner when nothing is there, the usage of camera movement and visuals are vital in building this film’s twisted narrative. That’s not to say the film doesn’t use jump-scares either, it absolutely does! But the difference is that Perkins uses them sparingly and with exact precision to aid in its use of intensifying the atmosphere and propelling forward the narrative.

Nicolas Cage as the titular character Longlegs is just spell-binding. As an acting legend, Cage has a long history of iconic characters, but this one right here might be his most magnetic and entrancing performance yet. Caked in pounds of prosthetics and make-up, he is at the same time hilarious and terrifying to behold. He’s actually used very sparingly in the film, but it’s for the better: too much of his character would have ruined Longlegs’s air of mystery and uncertainty.

The ending of this film will definitely divide many people, as it takes a somewhat paranormal route despite the rest of the film taking its plot much more seriously. However, I didn’t find this to be an issue because the film clearly wants you to be frightened by this world rather than these characters. By the end, Longlegs becomes a genre Frankenstein of thriller, crime, and horror, but it is so in its own lane that comparing it to any films in those genres is difficult and even unfair! The main takeaway I had from Longlegs was how impressive the level of commitment of the entire cast and crew was. It is an absolute feast of a film for horror fans, casual moviegoers, and cinephiles alike.

9/10