Director Oz Perkins’ 2024 psychological horror film, “Longlegs,” left me longing for a better film. 

The film does some things well: the foreshadowing, build-up, and cinematography are well done, haunting, and provide everything you would expect from a psychological horror. 

But Longlegs as a character isn’t scary, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s Nicholas Cage’s performance, which teeters on absurdity, or perhaps it’s the film’s obsession with atmosphere at the expense of coherence. Either way, “Longlegs” feels like it’s suffocating under its own ambition.

Perkins knows how to build tension, and the film’s first half is unsettling in all the right ways. The muted color palette, droning score, with way more Gregorian chants than I expected, and quiet unease of every frame make you feel like you’re trapped inside a fever dream. 

There’s an artistry here that can’t be denied; Perkins has the eye of someone who wants to make meaningful horror. But this film does not do it for me. 

By the time the viewer knows the entire story, the film feels almost over, and it’s unsatisfying. The pacing drags, the story spirals, and by the time it tries to explain itself, the fear has already drained out.

Maika Monroe, as FBI Agent Lee Harker, is one of the few bright spots. Her performance is understated but magnetic; she carries the weight of a woman haunted by things she can’t name.

If the film had trusted her quiet intensity instead of leaning on Cage’s over-the-top theatrics, it might have found the emotional core it needed. Cage’s portrayal of the titular killer is … something. It’s campy and cartoonish, like he’s performing in a different movie altogether. His exaggerated delivery breaks the spell that the film works so hard to cast.

I genuinely laughed the first time he was shown to us, the viewers. And not in a good way, like it was intentional for me to giggle. It felt wrong, weird, and just odd, but not scary. 

That’s what makes “Longlegs” frustrating: it’s almost great. It’s beautifully shot, conceptually intriguing, and filled with eerie potential. 

Yet it never quite connects. It wants to be both a gothic art piece and a terrifying thriller, but it doesn’t fully commit to either. The result is a film that looks scary, sounds scary, but never truly feels scary.

By the end, you’re left with the sense that you’ve seen something interesting, not impactful. “Longlegs” is an artful exercise in dread that mistakes mood for meaning, a film that’s better at haunting your eyes than your mind. As a vivid nightmare sufferer, I slept soundly after this film. 

I strongly agree with Brian Tallerico’s review, which credits the film’s first scene for setting the stage properly, and I felt the same way; the first scene is truly the only one that caught my attention. The rest of the film, I spent just wondering when it would end.  

The anticipation and marketing cannot save this movie. I expected more, and I’m genuinely disappointed that I wasted time watching this movie not once, but twice for this review. Maika Monroe is the only thing that made it worth it. 

Rating: 2.5 Longlegs out of 5