Horror Review: Longlegs

🪦Spoiler-Free Ratings and Review🪦

Story

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Scares

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Gore

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Overall Enjoyment

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Longlegs (2024) is the kind of movie everyone needs to see at least once, in order to form their own opinion of it. My following “spoiler” commentary will only be my personal thoughts on the storyline, and I find myself thinking about whether I actually liked it or not. Truthfully, it seems like my opinion on that changes every time I think back on this movie. Longlegs follows the story of FBI agent Lee Harper as she follows the trail of supposed serial killer, Longlegs. If you’re a fan of movies like SE7EN, Fallen, or even the original Saw, you will love the crime drama angle this movie takes. Or if you’re simply a fan of Nicolas Cage acting like a freak. Longlegs is currently on Hulu and has an R-rating, though not a ridiculous amount of gore, there’s just the right about to make you squirm. 

🩸🩸🩸SPOILER WARNING🩸🩸🩸

This movie made me wish I had watched it on my birthday. While not the most compelling villain, Longlegs himself was a memorable character and was completely unrecognizable from Nick Cage. The best part of this movie in my opinion, was the main character. I’ve seen a lot of divide from other people reviewing this movie, about whether they found Lee to be annoying and dull, or whether they were compelled by her narrative. I fall towards the latter. Quite frankly, as a neurodivergent individual, I see myself in Lee. Whether it was the intention of the filmmakers or not, Lee Harper can be read as a very interesting take on a likely autistic character. Her ESP can be read as a metaphor for neurodivergence, and I honestly think that was the most interesting character choice made, intentionally or not. Along with that, this movie was very enjoyable to just look at. Beautiful filmography, and genuinely creepy settings peppered with religious imagery was a treat. My only major complaint is the mother. Her character was muddy and it was hard to figure out why she even bothered helping Longlegs. Sure, she wanted her daughter to grow up, but by the end of the movie, she herself is trying to kill Lee. Maybe it was religious guilt, but she has several lines where she says she doesn’t believe praying works. The mother just becomes the classic 2010s Disney twist villain, and it doesn’t work in her favor. I would have changed this by, once Longlegs kills himself, I think Lee should have become Longlegs’ new conduit. She could have delivered the dolls, and perhaps it could have been revealed that Longlegs had made hundreds, just waiting to be delivered to families who would then all perish. Just an idea, but I think it’s an ending that could have made a better twist than the satanist mother.