Longlegs is a 2024 American horrorthriller film written and directed by Osgood Perkins and starring Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, and Nicolas Cage. It follows an FBI agent in the 1990s who is tasked with tracking down an occultist serial killer responsible for murdering multiple families throughout Oregon. Cage served as a producer on the film through his Saturn Films production company.
Longlegs was released in the United States by Neon on July 12, 2024. It received positive reviews and grossed $128 million worldwide on a budget of less than $10 million,[5] becoming Neon's highest-grossing film domestically, the highest-grossing independent film of the year, and Perkins's highest-grossing film.[6]
Plot
In 1974 Oregon, a young girl with a Polaroid camera follows a mysterious voice and encounters an erratic man in pale makeup.
20 years later, FBI agent Lee Harker is assigned by her supervisor, William Carter, to a case involving a series of murder–suicides in Oregon. Each case consists of a father killing his family then himself, leaving behind a letter with Satanic coding signed "Longlegs," whose handwriting belongs to none of the family members. Lee exhibits possible clairvoyance and manages to decode Longlegs's letters.
Further investigation leads Lee to discover that each family had a 9-year-old daughter born on the 14th day of the month. The murders all occurred within six days before or after said birthday, and their respective dates form an occult triangle symbol on a calendar, with one date missing. While at home talking on the phone to her mother, Ruth, Lee receives a coded birthday card from Longlegs, warning her that revealing its source will lead to her mother's murder.
Following a clue, Lee and William discover a doll containing a high-energy metal orb inside its head. After visiting a mental hospital to question Carrie Anne Camera, the sole survivor of Longlegs' murders who was visited previously by someone using Lee's name, William suspects Lee has a connection to Longlegs. Discovering that Ruth had filed a police report of an intruder approaching Lee the day before her 9th birthday, William instructs Lee to visit her. Ruth directs Lee to her childhood belongings, where she finds a Polaroid revealing Longlegs to be the man who had visited a young Lee on her birthday in the opening sequence.
Lee submits the photo, leading to Longlegs' arrest. Realizing the missing calendar date is that day, Lee fears an unknown accomplice of Longlegs will carry out the murder. In the interrogation room, Longlegs claims to serve "the man downstairs" and hints at Ruth's involvement in the murders before taking his own life by repeatedly bashing his head into the table. Lee is soon informed that Carrie has also died by suicide.
Agent Browning drives Lee to Ruth's home. Browning waits in the car outside while Lee searches the house, but Ruth approaches the car and fatally shoots Browning before destroying a doll resembling a young Lee, causing Lee to lose consciousness. In a vision, Lee learns that when Lee was a child, Longlegs had threatened to kill her unless Ruth did his bidding. Desperate to save her daughter's life, Ruth agreed. Longlegs has since lived in the Harker basement, creating Satanic dolls that Ruth, posing as a nun, delivered to households, causing the patriarchs to commit familicide. Lee's doll blocked her memories of Longlegs while influencing her with his magic.
Lee awakens in the basement and answers the phone, where a demonic voice warns her about William's daughter Ruby's 9th birthday party, scheduled for that day. Lee rushes to save the Carters, whose deaths would complete Longlegs' triangle. She finds Ruth has already delivered the doll and possessed the family. After William murders his wife, Anna, Lee fatally shoots him to protect Ruby. Ruth lunges at Ruby with a dagger, forcing Lee to kill her. Lee tries to destroy the doll, but her gun does not fire as she tells Ruby to leave.
The film was announced in November 2022, with Osgood Perkins as writer and director.[8] He drew inspiration from several sources; the plot device of the evil dolls that cause fathers to murder their families was loosely inspired by the killing of JonBenét Ramsey: "The murder took place approaching Christmas, and one present that the parents had gotten for JonBenét was a life-size replica doll of herself, wearing one of her pageant dresses. It was in a cardboard box in the basement, 15 feet from where she was killed, and there was something so insane about that, I'd cataloged it away."[9]
Perkins told People magazine that the film was inspired by his mother's treatment towards his father Anthony Perkins's sexuality, shielding the public and the Perkins children from knowledge of his homosexual relationships. Oz Perkins was quoted, saying, "Your mother can protect you from a truth that she thinks is unsavory... And then you just build out a crazy movie around that.”[10]
Dave Caplan's C2 Motion Picture Group financed the film for under $10 million.[5]Principal photography was scheduled to take place in Vancouver from January 16 to February 23, 2023.[12][14]
Music
The film's soundtrack was conceived by Zilgi, a pseudonym for Elvis Perkins (the brother of the film's director),[15] credited as composer of the score compositions on the digital soundtrack album.[16] There were contributing tracks by sound designer Eugenio Battagila and Melody Carrillo with Elizabeth Wight. The soundtrack was released on July12, 2024, on streaming platforms and on vinyl.[17]
Marketing
Billboard in Los Angeles containing a phone number to listen to pre-recorded messages
Neon used guerrilla marketing tactics similar to those that led to the box office success of The Blair Witch Project (1999), building speculation through clips, images, and coded messages that used symbology created for the film and concealed Cage's look as Longlegs.[18] Eleven promotional videos were uploaded to YouTube leading up to release, the first appearing in January 2024, which did not mention the film's title until February; together, the videos accumulated 30 million views.[5][19][20] A trailer was attached to every horror film released in theaters since January 2024.[5]
Additional content included a billboard (with no mention of the title) that featured a phone number for pre-recorded messages from the film's antagonist,[21] and a paid advertisement featuring a cipher that was published in the Seattle Times on June 14, a reference to the Zodiac Killer, that directed readers to an in-universe website detailing murders committed in the film.[22] The week of the film's release, Neon released a clip allegedly of Monroe's heartrate when she first saw Cage's character.[23] Following the film's theatrical premiere, Neon released another promotional spot highlighting hidden appearances of the devil that recur in the backgrounds of the film.[24] According to Perkins, there are 15 appearances of the devil in the film which are not readily noticeable.[25]
Perkins credited Neon for the film's marketing, saying the studio "asked me early on, 'Do we have your permission to kind of go nuts?' And I said, 'What else are we doing here? Go for it. Do your thing.'"[26] The film's total marketing budget was under $10 million, focusing on using digital content over traditional television ads.[5]
Longlegs held several special screenings across the United States throughout July 8–13, 2024.[30] This also included a 'parent-free' RSVP screening at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Brooklyn, New York on July 12, 2024.[5] It was released in North America and the United Kingdom on July 12, 2024.[12][31]Longlegs was released on VOD on August 23, 2024. The 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD was released on September 24, 2024.[4][32]
Reception
Box office
Longlegs grossed $74.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $53.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $128million.[3][4]Deadline Hollywood calculated the film made a net profit of $48million.[2]
In the United States and Canada, Longlegs was released alongside Fly Me to the Moon, and was projected to gross $7–9 million from 2,510 theaters in its opening weekend.[33] After making $10 million on its first day (including $3 million from Thursday night previews, both records for Neon), weekend estimates were raised to $20–23 million.[34] It went on to debut to $22.4 million, finishing second at the box-office behind holdover Despicable Me 4.[35] The opening marked the best opening weekend for Neon and the biggest total for an original 2024 horror film. It was Monroe's best domestic opening as lead (excluding 2016's Independence Day: Resurgence, for which she was billed) and Cage's first live-action film to open above $20 million since Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 2012.[5] In its second weekend, the film made $12 million, a drop of 46.6% to finish in fourth.[36][37] In its third weekend, it became Neon's highest-grossing film after surpassing their earnings for 2019's Parasite ($53.37 million) and added $6.8 million.[38][39] On August 16, 2024, the film had surpassed $100 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing independent film of the year to date.[6]
The film premiered to critical acclaim.[a]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 311 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10.The website's consensus reads: "Saturated in disquieting mood while leveraging a nightmarishly gonzo performance by Nicolas Cage, Longlegs is a satanic horror that effectively instills panic."[45]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[46]
David Rooney writing for The Hollywood Reporter praised the film, saying, "It might be argued that he stirs too many elements into the mix here—crime procedural, occult mystery, mind manipulation, Satanic worship, scary dolls, a Faustian bargain and a 'nun' not fit for any convent. But Longlegs is [Perkins'] most fully realized and relentlessly effective film to date".[47] Bob Strauss of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Most impressive is how Perkins blends psychological and supernatural horror in a manner not quite seen before. Longlegs is a conjuring of dark, poetic cinema where the devil is definitely in the details".[48]Vanity Fair'sRichard Lawson expressed disappointment in the film, writing "Longlegs is stylish but vacuous, a prettily foreboding picture with nothing behind it. As Hannibal Lecter might say, it's a well scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste".[49]
J. Hurtado of ScreenAnarchy declared Longlegs "a masterpiece; an unholy, horrifying confluence of high art and anxiety, a film in which every frame is a nightmare, and it's beautiful".[50] Writing for Bloody Disgusting, Meagan Navarro praised Longlegs' performances and atmosphere, concluding, "Longlegs is as stylish as it is timeless, dripping with claustrophobic dread and rot."[51] Bill Bria of /Film called Longlegs "the most terrifying horror movie of 2024," noting the film's "rock n' roll spirit".[52]
Audience reception
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale. Those polled by PostTrak gave it a 70% overall positive score, with an average 3 out of 5 stars.[5]
In a Reddit AMA interview with director Oz Perkins, a fan inquired if the writing of Longlegs was intended to be a negative portrayal of a transgender person. Perkins responded by denouncing anti-trans behavior, but did not specifically elaborate about any element of the film.[55]
Director Guillermo Del Toro complimented the film, praising "[Perkins'] metronome, his meticulous composition and his uncanny sense of evil and impending doom." Paul Schrader commented on the film on social media, questioning why directors like Perkins and Ti West were "confined to the horror genre ghetto."[56]
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