CINEMA REVIEW: LONGLEGS (2024)
Directed by Osgood Perkins
Written by Osgood Perkins
Produced by Dan Kagan, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Nicolas Cage, Dave Caplan, Chris Ferguson etc.
Main Cast: Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Nicolas Cage, etc.
Cinematography by Andrés Arochi
*** THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS ***
As a no-budget filmmaker I have often written and produced scripts which arguably had plots and concepts that were under-served by the lack of funds. The low budget meant one’s production values suffered on screen and did not allow the requisite number of shoot days to do the finished script justice. I felt similar vibes watching Longlegs (2024), as filmmaker Osgood Perkins attempts a FBI procedural thriller on less-than-$10 million dollars. The sparseness of the production and minimal cast kind of works in its’ favour, as Perkins goes for an ultra-violent-Twin-Peaks-meets-economy-Fincher vibe, ultimately ending up with a incredibly strange brew indeed.
Maika Monroe is FBI agent, Lee Harker, investigating a series of inexplicable murder-suicides during the 1990’s. In terms of structure the breadcrumb plotting is not the films’ strength but it does allow the director to hang a whole load of janky peculiarities on the screen. Harker’s keen empathy and apparent sixth-sense bring her ever closer to a suspect who goes by the name of ‘Longlegs’. Yet, the killer is not related to a spider, but rather reminded me of Noel Fielding meets the monster from parodic film-within-a-TV-show, Doctor and the Pencil. Surprisingly, and you will not believe this, the weirdo killer, Longlegs, is portrayed weirdly by Nicolas Cage, who revels in the wig and prosthetics and is, did I say already, the height of weirdness.
Osgood Perkins directed one of the dullest horror films I have ever seen in the experimental, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016). But Longlegs (2024) is a massive improvement with some chilling and suspenseful scenes, and a decent lead performance from Agent Starling-alike, Maika Monroe. Similar to Carol Morley’s Out of Blue (2018), this is an arthouse director taking on genre filmmaking without enough cash and getting it deliberately wrong. Overall, with a very strong first half, Longlegs (2024), latterly takes some insane plot turns involving Faustian pacts, parental abuse, religious mania, hypnosis and voodoo sci-fi concepts which don’t really meld but remain thematically fascinating. Cage portraying Noel Fielding as an oddball killer, as well as many fantastic on-screen deaths, definitely give this cult cinematic stew strong and curious limbs.
The Cinema Fix presents 
An excellent review. “Longlegs” is definitely a film that I’m looking forward to watching soon. I am a huge fan of movies that capture the lives of serial killers, and this definitely falls into that category. I also like Nicholas Cage, who has surprised me in a pleasant way over the years. I adored his turn as a washed up chef in “Pig”. So, I will definitely check this film out when I find the time. Thanks for the recommendation.
Here’s why I loved “Pig”:
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Thanks for reading. Pig was an interesting film I thought.
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