LONGLEGS (2024) | Film Review
Release Date: July 12, 2024
Distributed By: NEON
Director(s): Osgood Perkins
Writer(s): Osgood Perkins
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt
Before I touch up on the cast, screenplay, cinematography, and more, I just want to talk about how fantastic a title LONGLEGS is. Reason being, we've reached a point with intellectual properties where, in the horror genre, single individual focus is at an all-time high, and I think the reason for that being is that we went so long with films that had killers, stalkers, monsters, etc. that were dangerous as a PROP but not as an actual entity. It's an object to be afraid of solely built for the reason of provoking fear with no merit otherwise.
As horror has evolved, we've come to bring more emphasis on the hows and whys of the deranged at hand, building a narrative around them rather than using a character as a disposable object here and there for the sake of ramping things up intermittently and sporadically throughout. Titles and characters like Slenderman, Bendy and the Ink Machine, Choo-choo Charles, Poppy Playtime, Hello Neighbor, Terrifier (Art), Nintendo's mysterious new "Emio", Pearl, MEGAN, and more have all garnered mass amounts of attention and become incredibly popular over the years due to their focus, naming, and framing on the actual source of the unease and twisted psyche over the expendable characters running away and/or trying to survive from a death sentence. LONGLEGS is an easy to remember yet oddly eerie naming scheme that so perfectly encapsulates everything the film is about as well as the character in charge as the course of events are centered around them in their world, with everyone else outside (the FBI) to come and play their satanic game.
LONGLEGS is a gripping film that brings you into Oregon through a series of connected murders hidden behind cryptic messaging that is wonderfully gifted by Nicolas Cage in one of his best and most exciting performances. I truly believe that lately Nicolas Cage in his golden era - despite many famous films in the past - thanks to the attractive projects he's been picking as of late where he can really be comfortable while continuing to challenge himself artistically with PIG, Dream Scenario, TUWOMT, Willy's Wonderland, Color out of Space, etc..
From the moment the film begins to roll it's instantly made aware that the viewer is in for a treat. The cinematography is a dead giveaway that the film will not only captivate through each passing frame but will hypnotize as the 4:3 polaroid-esque format of its 70s period slowly rides into decades later where the LONGLEGS hunt really begins following Maika Monroe's FBI perspective. Methodical and carefully, the pacing of the film makes it an easy to follow yet still intriguing trek through what exactly is happening and the reasoning for each and every murder taking place. How is it all connected, if at all? Why are they called LONGLEGS? What drives them? How can they be everywhere and nowhere at once? So many questions cycle the mind as a viewer just as it does the federal agents trying to put the pieces together. Maika Monroe, in particular, playing the role of Lee Harkens, does a fantastic job at playing the agent unaware of her own talent yet socially inept and slightly unstable and almost perpetually guilty, much to the degree of Hugh Dancy in Hannibal as Will Graham.
I've seen some (limiting myself to very few as to not influence any decisions or feelings towards the film) reviews state that there is an excess of exposition but, truthfully, it's this exact exposition that kept me so attentive throughout. It wasn't a matter of reveal after reveal with big shock after big shock. It made each moment feel deserved and rewarding as the film was deconstructing itself, almost as if doing an escape room, figuring out riddles and puzzles bit by bit before you finally get the key to leave and win.
LONGLEGS certainly isn't "the scariest film ever" but it will undoubtedly be seen as one of the most unsettling. If you're an avid horror film goer like I am, chances are LONGLEGS won't really shock you all that much, but the way it gets into your mind is what I absolutely loved about it. Here I am, almost a whole eight hours later since I first watched it in theaters as I write this, having let it gestate before finding the right words to put down to convey my thoughts on the film. Normally eight hours after watching I wouldn't have much to say, if anything at all, if the film was another run-of-the-mill attraction, but it's instead found itself on one of the standouts of 2024 and one of my personal favorites now in Nicolas Cage's filmography. LONGLEGS won't be for everyone, but if you're a fan of the craft - and even more so of Horror - you'll realize how much of a great film this is from an artistic standpoint to help continue to push the genre forward, a genre that continuously gets disdain for its shallowness and cheap thrills as if it's meant to just be a quick filler to get you by 90-120 minutes, something akin to the fast food of cinema. LONGLEGS is fine wine, however. A true blend of fine ingredients that make the genre so great when done well, but also one that will likely be more appreciated by those with a finer palette for the art form.
