Longlegs (2024): review

Longlegs (2024) combines a dark crime story with psychological horror and the unease of a sinister fairy tale. Osgood Perkins builds a film whose atmosphere is often more disturbing than its explicit revelations.

Maika Monroe plays FBI agent Lee Harker, whose unusual intuition brings her into an investigation involving a series of killings and cryptic messages signed “Longlegs.” Her sensitivity to the world around her becomes both a professional strength and a source of unease.

Perkins, whose earlier work includes The Blackcoat's Daughter and I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, again creates a deeply oppressive mood. Harker recalls the socially uncomfortable investigators of other dark thrillers, but Monroe gives her a distinctive withdrawn intensity. The contrast between social discomfort and concentrated work makes her an effective centre for the story.

Sound is crucial. Eugenio Battaglia's work uses unsettling textures and exaggerated everyday noises to create a sense of being watched. Footsteps can feel unpleasantly close and loud. The soundtrack keeps the audience alert to spaces that appear empty.

Andres Arochi's cinematography strengthens that effect through distance and negative space. Framing Monroe with open areas around her makes isolation visible and leaves the viewer searching the image for a threat. The landscape and interiors belong to the same world of uncertainty.

Nicolas Cage brings a fascinating mixture of presence and menace to Longlegs. His performance and the character's disturbing appearance make him difficult to forget. The effect is not simply that of a conventional villain entering a crime story; he feels like an intrusion from a different kind of nightmare.

The film does have narrative weaknesses, and some scenes run longer than they need to. Even so, the cast, direction and intense atmosphere make Longlegs a compelling experience. Viewers drawn to dark detective stories and unnerving horror should find much to appreciate.