Longlegs: Nicolas Cage's Most Disturbing Performance Yet
Oz Perkins crafts an unsettling satanic procedural where Nicolas Cage delivers a performance so unnerving it burrows into your nightmares.
Oz Perkins knows something that most horror directors have forgotten: the unseen is always more terrifying than the revealed. With Longlegs, he weaponizes this principle to devastating effect.
Nicolas Cage as the eponymous Longlegs has crafted something genuinely new—a character who is somehow both pathetic and profoundly threatening. His high-pitched voice, grotesque makeup, and inexplicable mannerisms suggest a creature that has forgotten how to be human.
Maika Monroe solidifies her position as modern horror's reigning scream queen, though here she plays the hunter rather than the hunted. Her FBI agent Lee Harker possesses an almost supernatural intuition for evil.
With over $100 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing independent film of 2024, Longlegs proves audiences crave horror that respects their intelligence.
Pros
- + Nicolas Cage's career-best unsettling performance
- + Exceptionally creepy atmosphere throughout
- + Clever subversion of procedural tropes
Cons
- - May not be as scary as marketing suggested
- - Third act revelations somewhat predictable
Verdict
A masterclass in sustained dread that proves horror can still surprise us.