In the recent surge of new-wave horror exploding on the film scene, no one could have predicted the excellence that is Nicolas Cage in Longlegs.
Halfway between Zodiac (2007) and Barbarian (2022), this film is an amalgamation of the best horror-thrillers you’ve seen yet.
Directed by Osgood Perkins, Longlegs follows the hunt for a cold-blooded killer (Cage), who never leaves a trail of evidence at the scene. Spanning a serial career of 20 years, the case, which once ran cold, heats up as FBI agent Lee Harper (Maika Monroe) comes into frame. Upon taking the position, she finds herself not just professionally involved, but also personally drawn to the horrors that surround these murders.
This magnetism hangs around the film like nitrate smoke. It is a cunning and clever murder-mystery that continues to build throughout. Longlegs is genuinely horrifying, with a brilliant ad campaign that never once showed the horror of Nicolas Cage’s transformation. The film follows suit, as his disguise is clouded by anonymity that only lifts two-thirds into the film. It is clever and places the audience with Lee, both her and us are in the dark, but whilst she can do something about it, we are left helpless to squirm in our cinema seats.
The process of watching is only strengthened by the close-to-perfect technical elements of this film. The editing, by Greg Ng and Graham Fortin, is some of the most enigmatic and effective editing since Everything, Everywhere All at Once (2022). Both fresh and challenging, only at the film’s conclusion does the genius of it truly come together. This process only heightens Cage’s outstanding work within the role.
Challenging all audience expectations of him, long gone are the days of National Treasure (2004) as he excels in the blurring between disturbing and camp. Embodying the non-human appears so effortless in a career-defining performance, as he is not just playing a character, but he himself appears entrapped under the film’s satanic cloud.
This is a blood churning, heart racing, adrenaline pumping film. Not for the weak, and certainly not for the squeamish. It is, by all standards, an immaculate reinvention of the horror murder-mystery that truly leaves you speechless. It not only has its own legs to stand on in bringing something new to the table, but it manages to run circles around its audience whilst at it.
Fun Fact:
Many of Longlegs’ encrypted messages contain misspellings and poor grammar after being decoded. This is an homage to the Zodiac Killer, who was also known for his coded messages containing typos, which often made it more difficult to decode his message.
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