Longlegs

Generally, I am not a fan of true crime. I will listen to the occasional podcast about a famous bank robbery, but some of my friends watch mini-series about serial killers, or bizarre murders involving families and love triangles. Often, the most chilling aspects of such cases are the lack of criminal history by the assailant. It leaves viewers with the feeling that no one is safe and no one is trustworthy. In the case of a string of connected crimes, an even more spooky element is the notion that the alleged killers may have not been in complete control of their actions. Some find this content fascinating but I prefer to get adequate sleep every night. Nonetheless, Neon’s newest horror thriller Longlegs dives into all of these elements of true crime through the eyes of a young law enforcement agent carrying a huge burden.

Maika Monroe (It Follows) stars as rookie FBI Special Agent Lee Harker, who has an uncanny intuition even for her profession. Her first day in the field, she locates and brings in a violent suspect, putting her on the radar of Agent Carter (Blair Underwood). He assigns Lee to work a case involving a string of ritualistic killings, seemingly murder-suicides committed by the husband/father of each family and influenced by Satanic teachings. Despite no sign of forced entry, every crime scene consists of a letter in coded language signed by someone named Longlegs (Nicholas Cage). Lee must track down Longlegs and find the common thread in the continued murders before they persist.

Director Oz Perkins (formerly Osgood) reincorporates the dark, grisly atmospheres created in his past movies, such as his A24 debut The Blackcoat’s Daughter. This one, however, plays much like a crime procedural. Lee exhibits a largely stoic and uptight demeanor, most clearly demonstrated in an early scene where she meets Agent Carter’s family. She initially resists and, once coaxed by Carter, enters his house but does not engage in any pleasantries. As she talks alone with his daughter, the audience receives a moment of vulnerability when the daughter asks, “Is it scary, being a lady FBI agent?” Lee responds yes without elaborating, but it is enough to explain her disposition; she is new, intimidated, and likely holding on to trauma that may have propelled her to this field in the first place. 

Perkins films Lee close up and in the dead center of the camera several times when she is at or approaching a crime scene. Few times in the film does Lee share the frame with anyone, even when she is not alone. This stylistic choice heightens the sense of fear and uncertainty that she feels, as she frequently has no backup when she is in danger. In addition to fear, the centered close-ups serve as a reflection of the pressure that she is under. Having been switched onto the case due to her clairvoyance, she has an immediate realization that lives are solely in her hands. Not only does Lee feel a sense of dread and being trapped, but she also has no one else to rely on.

As with many thrillers that have occult influence, Longlegs has a couple of bloody and disturbing moments. The film, however, does well to pick its spots to scare or gross out the audience. A mistake some films make is to overdo the gore to the point that it becomes absurd and laughable, but Longlegs spaces out its gruesome scenes in order to stay in the pocket. The best compliment to pay to a thriller such as this is to laud its ability to go against the rhythm of scares that the average horror movie falls into. If you watch enough movies in the genre, you can predict when the jump scares, screams or spikes in music will happen. Instead, Longlegs manages to catch its audience off guard several times. It waits for the moment that the viewer relaxes to bring a random loud noise or sudden act of violence, compounded with Lee’s close-ups to make her feel trapped. If she has nowhere to run, then neither do we.

As is always the case, the effectiveness of any crime thriller hinges on how scary the bad guy is. Cage as the devil-worshiping antagonist is more than convincing. Satanic characters in media tend to go one of two ways, either well put together and dressed to the nines or complete messes. Sometimes you can look at them and go, “I bet that guy worships the devil.” One such example is the minor character Declan from the series Banshee, who has literal horns inserted into his head. While Longlegs is not quite that on the nose (no pun intended if you’ve seen the film already), he appears very uncouth and deranged, randomly shouts and pants loudly as he talks. Despite his disposition, he has the skill to hand-craft dolls that play a part in his brain-washing schemes. The fact that he can build such influential toys as well as write coded messages that only Lee can crack makes him all the more chilling of a villain. 

Some may compare Longlegs to the 1995 David Fincher favorite Se7en, due to the religious influence in the antagonist’s crimes. Longlegs feels far less composed than John Doe, played by Kevin Spacey, yet they may be two sides of the same coin. The killers in other similar films like Zodiac or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may be diabolical and unsettling, but none of them feel as though they are serving some higher power. The conviction with which Doe and Longlegs carry out their acts adds the effect of feeling like they cannot be talked down or stopped, and if their own lives are taken, their influence can still lead to future violence. If you like true crime, Longlegs may serve you well; if not, you can still appreciate a well-executed thriller (and maybe turn your head before a certain character bangs his own off a table).