Longlegs is a special movie to me. I was luck to have caught this movie within a week of its release, forcing myself the entire media cycle to avoid any information about this film - I will attempt to do as little as possible to spoil the movie, but describe why I enjoyed it so much. Maika Monroe, who leads Longlegs as FBI Agent Lee Harker, does a fantastic job of playing the audience's surrogate; she is trying to investigate the seemingly connected murders occurring in the 1990s revolving around an apparent serial killer who kills without leaving traces behind, except coded letters signed "Longlegs". From the get go, the audience is aware of Nic Cage's Longlegs, a pale, white-haired individual who does nothing to hide his strangeness with others, so it is only a matter of time until it is revealed what the intentions of this man are.
The direction of this movie is incredibly chilling. From the first scene, I knew that this movie would have a special style. Long and seemingly unnecessary shots are dotted throughout the film, training the audience to look at every stretch of screen for what could be hidden. Flashback scenes are contained within an aspect ratio of 1:1, connecting to the use of handheld film cameras that self-developed on film, while modern scenes are treated with a normal aspect ratio. There was certain care and planning that Osgood Perkins took while crafting the script and putting his vision onto film; this was certainly a passion project that took skill to execute properly. Longlegs will be a film that I cannot recommend to many other people in my life, but if common horror and thriller elements are not usual detractors for you, then this could unnerve and move you with its simplicity in a similar way that it did for me.
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