Now my journey to Longlegs I am sure was similar to a lot of peoples following Neon’s absolutely astounding marketing campaign for this film that somehow accurately marketed a film that beyond the immediate draws of an FBI murder mystery is a lot of more indecipherable than one would first leap to. I watched for the first time the three previous films of Oz Perkins and adored his first, admired his second and was in between both emotions on his third – so pretty good odds that I would enjoy Longlegs in some regard. Naturally I was effected most in preparation by the clear visual homaging and inspiration in both the marketing materials and the film itself to one of my favourite films of all time (in fact specifically my second favourite) The Silence of the Lambs. All this was infused with the standard hyperbole of this being “the scariest film of the decade”, etc, etc, etc. After all that I watched the film and dare I say… I was left middling?
In my most disappointing film of the year so far Maxxxine, one director character discusses having a B movie with A ideas and Longlegs blends into that conversation for me, because without giving too much of the plot away, the eventual reveals of this movies narrative could very easily be transplanted into the most campy, shoddy late 80’s B movie imaginable – it just so happens to be being brought to the screen by Oz Perkins who is in my opinion nothing short of one of our best living visual horror filmmakers, who never fails to bring sublime artistry to his films no matter how grizzly the subject matter may be. Because for me on a narrative level, which does fall to Perkins aswell as sole screenwriter, this film builds with immense tension to an exciting premise followed by a lame and predictable ‘twist’, only to continue into a conclusion with little explanation, but also little satisfaction. Now… This is the part where I stop being negative and say that for the most part I actually highly enjoyed the film and would recommend it certainly to any fan of horror or fan of great film-making. However I can’t get around the fact that much of the narrative just simply did not work for me and does a narrative that doesn’t work for you that is directed by an excellent director and starring many great performers balance out into something good or something bad? Well for me, certainly something good, certainly something worth watching and commending at least.
Again much has
been said about how this film is in conversation with Silence of the Lambs, and
although that may begin as an intriguing focus point to begin with, the film
rather swiftly detours into something far more subliminal and far more
supernatural – which for the most part is where the film lost me. The
performances reflect this ulterior motivation, with each in their own turn
shifting with the films nature – ranging from Maika Monroe who is sensational here
as an incredibly severe and reserved agent, who works here on such a low register
that at times it could be seen as underacting (not that that’s even a thing if
we’re honest), pair that against the insanity and perverseness of Cage’s turn
as the titular Longlegs and you do have a wonderful blending of styles of
performance that work incredibly well together. On the periphery of these two
towering turns are the wonderful Blair Underwood and terrific Alicia Witt
aswell, whose roles both shift and adapt a lot more so that Monroe and Cage’s.
It’s a quartet of brilliant turns that certainly elevate the material that they
are delivering, especially when it comes to how both Cage and Witt can seriously
elevate two large exposition dumps we are forced through. Kiernan Shipka, a
Perkins alum, also appears for a fun cameo of sorts. There are many like Shipka
in fact, Perkins never misses a chance to put a great actor in a small role to
further the small details of the oddities of this world. It is tough then that
to be honest it is in the details that this film succeeds and falters most.
Overall a 7/10 that harbours within it many 10/10 moments, performances and elements of the screenplay and certainly the direction – but overall I have to admit that the narrative and the shifts and turns this film took did not work for me in the most part and ranged from the silly to the annoyingly predictable. Longlegs is perhaps the box office and general audience calling card that Perkins wished for, which is brilliant if that means this excellent filmmaker can keep making excellent films, but to say that this film is the one that broke through when in many ways it is less crowd pleasing than some of his previous efforts is brilliant if shocking news. Cage and Monroe and Perkins as a trio have made a film that does reach exceptional heights and on another watch maybe these parts will overshine the negatives, but on this initial viewing, I’m afraid they simply did not.
P.S. Will this movie get better for me on a second watch now that I know where the twists that disappointed me lie? It has happened before, but to be honest with you, the disappointments of both this and Maxxxine have indeed been a blow with them being week after week. Now this is a far superior film to Maxxxine, I think right nwo, but both are thwarted by the same overly predictable and lame ending reveal. So I am not rushing to see either anytime soon with regret, even if they do get better on a repeat watch.
-
Thomas Carruthers
0 Comments