‘Longlegs’ Review: Nicolas Cage Delivers a Skin-Crawling Performance in This Atmospheric but Flawed Chiller

In recent years, we’ve been inundated with a stream of lackluster horror films. The disappointing reboot attempt of The Exorcist with The Exorcist: Believer and even Blumhouse’s missteps with titles like Imaginary have left horror fans yearning for something special.

Enter director Oz Perkins with the highly anticipated Longlegs, a film expertly marketed by teasing fleeting shots of Nicolas Cage’s demented killer and showcasing star Maika Monroe’s intense reaction to her first in-character encounter with Cage, where her heart rate soared to 170 bpm. The marketing campaign has paid off, with distributor Neon poised to break its own box office records. The film has successfully got bums on seats, but does it live up to the hype? I can tell you, it came tantalizingly close to fulfilling its promise.

This might be the hardest review I’ll write this year because I can’t emphasize enough how much I loved the first two acts of this film. From the opening scene, where Cage’s sinister interaction with a little girl set an excruciatingly creepy tone, I felt I was watching something truly special. The sense of dread is palpable, the atmosphere incredibly dark, and the film is riddled with anxiety. The sound design is excellent, and Cage delivers the darkest, most unhinged performance of his career. For two-thirds of the film, it maintained this intense pace. However, it’s ultimately flawed by its disappointing reveal. Films like this balance on a knife-edge, and the utterly disturbing first two acts are let down by a final act that borders on the silly.

Maika Monroe plays Lee Harker, a rookie FBI agent assigned to a perplexing case in Oregon that has confounded authorities for decades. In a chilling pattern, a dozen families have been murdered, each time by the father, accompanied by cryptic messages hinting at a puppeteer figure named Longlegs. Lee’s boss, played by Blair Underwood, sums it up succinctly: “He murders them, but not in person.” Unraveling this occult mystery falls to Lee, who has proven herself unusually intuitive — almost psychic — in her ability to make quick deductions. For instance, she astutely identifies the exact house in an identikit cul-de-sac where a recent slaughter occurred.

Monroe embodies Harker, a formidable investigator exuding a distinct presence — her face marked with anxious expression, her gaze slightly distant, and an underlying social awkwardness that paints her as a tortured soul. These traits establish her as the investigation’s greatest asset, while Monroe’s portrayal sustains a constant sense of vigilance, pulling the audience deeply into her character’s turbulent world.

‘Longlegs’ will undoubtedly occupy your thoughts for hours after viewing.

Nicolas Cage as ‘Longlegs’ is nothing short of traumatizing. For the first half of the movie, we catch only fleeting glimpses of his profile: his ominous mouth and chin, framed by a scraggly mop of curly hair, this deliberately heightens the audience’s fear. Cage’s performance is unhinged, enhanced by a child-like voice that adds to the overall terror, it’s remarkable and profoundly disturbing.

Oz Perkins has often favored style over substance in his films, and for most of this movie, I thought he had succeeded in balancing both aspects effectively. However, my hopes were dashed by the reveal towards the end. Longlegs could have been a masterpiece if it wasn’t for the clumsy final act. Perkins throws a myriad of elements into the mix — from Satanism to the supernatural to eerie dolls — but when they finally converge, it left me feeling disappointed and underwhelmed.

Longlegs also surprises with its minimal use of gore and jump scares. Despite being touted as the scariest film in years, it didn’t rely heavily on traditional scares—and I was okay with that. What truly captivated me was the pervasive sense of dread, the haunting atmosphere, and the exceptional acting. The lack of gore didn’t detract from the experience; in fact, it enhanced the film’s unsettling nature. It’s undoubtedly one of the creepiest films in recent memory, leaving a lasting feeling of unease that lingers long after the credits roll. Whether you love it or hate it, Longlegs will undoubtedly occupy your thoughts for hours after viewing.

Longlegs is now playing cinemas.

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