(REVIEW) We Need To Talk About "LONGLEGS" (2024)
NEON
Hubris can be a funny thing when it comes to filmmaking. Sometimes, hubris produces masterworks from deranged artists whose sycophancy and ego often guard potent creativity. One of the failures of film criticism, and we are guilty of this as much as anyone else, is the need to compare things. Our brains are wired for it as they seek patterns to make sense of unstructured information, and naturally, when we watch movies we begin to relate elements in part or whole to other, more familiar films. This is not inherently bad, but it is a clear example of how our unconscious bias shows up in seemingly innocuous ways. Because we are comparing a new piece of art to a previous one, we are imbuing our criticism of the former into the latter. So if we compare Friday The 13th to Halloween in 1980, our relationship with “Halloween” will impact our reception of “Friday the 13th”. Again, this is without judgment so much as it is a fallacy of how we humans are. We are fickle, reactionary, and sometimes stubborn, but we can also be open and welcoming, experimental and innovative. This brings us back to “hubris”, and Oz Perkins’ newest film from NEON, Longlegs. A movie with some of the best marketing the genre has ever seen, and some bold claims that signal a classic in the making. Is this horror hubris, or well-deserved praise?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.
NEON
HOW IS IT?
“My access point for Longlegs was Silence of the Lambs. I was like, ‘Well, there hasn’t been one of those in a bit. That’s about as perfect as it gets. Everybody enjoys that. Let’s just start with that. I’ll lay that in.’” - Oz Perkins via Deadline
There hasn’t been one of those in a bit. It’s hard to not read this, even within the context of the rest of the interview, and wonder how Oz Perkins would be ignorant of over 2 decades of thrillers that have replicated the formula of Jonathan Demme’s Academy Award-winning film. We can’t be sure what Perkins means here, and it could be read many of ways including suggestions that it is of the same caliber, that is merely inspiration, that there have been no good thrillers since this one and therefore “Longlegs” would be that film? Perkins would go on in that interview to say that he doesn’t “seek out” new horror movies and finds true crime “abhorrent”, and yet, “Longlegs” is inspired by a film that is both a horror movie that lifts from a novel lifting from fictionalized true crime. Perhaps this could explain some of why “Longlegs” is so drab and disjointed, putting eggs into baskets it has no intention of using while aspiring to be something deep when it merely scratches the surface of possibility and creativity for what great horror thrillers can do.
“Longlegs” sees Maika Monroe as trauma-stricken FBI Agent Lee Harker who hunts serial killers, in this case, this one calling themselves “Longlegs”. Off the bat it is alluded to that Agent Harker is “different”, but how is very murky. Implications of psychic abilities, or just repressed trauma turned into hyper-empathy, but it doesn’t matter because the character is never really developed enough for it to matter. The characterization of them as somehow a mentalist falls flat, largely because Monroe’s performance is so unemotional. Surely this must’ve been the intent, and it reaches a point where the character's shock at the events unfolding around her almost feels too late and disingenuous due to how little the character reacts to anything before that. The same goes for Nicolas Cage in the now not-so-secret role of the titular “Longlegs”. While we won’t be going into spoilers in this review, it is safe to say that his inclusion is both the best and silliest thing about “Longlegs”. His character comes off as Tiny Tim with Craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, and even when he is doing his creepy best you can’t help but know that it’s Nic Cage under all that makeup. But again, the time spent with this character is so minimal as is about everything else in the film, which is mostly a series of “fetch quests” with overlong takes and moody music. If the intent was to replicate a gritty procedural movie, it stands to reason there should be some actual “procedure” in the movie, instead of just things happening and time passing.
NEON
The conflicting thing is that “Longlegs” is a very technically attractive film. The production design of the non-descript 90s Americana is vague, but still, an interesting backdrop punctuated with pronounced photos of a certain past President to wink the audience into knowing the time and place. The cinematography by Andres Arochi is pure cinema, and the sound design is effective for the most part save for when it veers into unintelligible parody. Perhaps the best way to sum up how we see “Longlegs” is that it is a simple story told in an overly complex way that intends to obscure the obvious for the sake of the aesthetic. In doing so, it focuses more on style than substance, which is almost the antithesis of a good thriller. For a film being lauded for its “creepiness” and “evil”, there is very little on-screen that can account for that. Most of the kills happen offscreen, the most horrendous violence is referred to, not even implied, and none of the shocks pay off due to strange pacing and storytelling. But it looks and sounds good doing it.
This review represents one point of view, and we do not claim to have a greater/lesser opinion than anyone. Everyone should enjoy what they like, no matter what anyone else says.
NEON
LAST RITES
“Longlegs” is a victim of its hubris by raising expectations to exceedingly high levels without having enough substance to bring great, disjointed ideas together. While technically a solid piece of filmmaking, it struggles to captivate for more than a handful of moments.
THE GORY DETAILS
Directed By
Written By
Starring
Where can you watch it?
“Longlegs” is out in theaters now from NEON!
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