“Longlegs” is the most deeply unsettling horror movie I’ve seen in a decade

A dark, suffocating serial killer thriller that feels like The Silence of the Lambs on a bad acid trip. Maika Monroe is phenomenal, but Nicolas Cage delivers a performance so terrifying it will physically make your stomach hurt.

• Year: 2024

• Genre: Horror / Psychological Thriller

• Vibe: Suffocating dread

I’m a huge horror fan. I’ve seen it all—the slashers, the demons, the haunted houses. Usually, I can watch a scary movie, eat my snacks, and go right to sleep. But Longlegs? This movie broke me. I walked out of the theater, got into my car, and just sat in silence for a solid ten minutes trying to process what I had just experienced.

An atmosphere you can choke on

Director Osgood Perkins didn’t just make a scary movie; he crafted an entire vibe of pure, unadulterated anxiety. From the weird aspect ratios to the washed-out color grading, everything about Longlegs feels wrong. You know that feeling when you walk into a room and immediately sense that something terrible happened there? That’s what watching this movie feels like for two hours straight.

The story follows FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe, who absolutely kills it) tracking down a satanic serial killer known only as Longlegs. The investigation feels so realistic and gritty, which makes the supernatural, culty elements hit so much harder.

Nicolas Cage is unhinged

We have to talk about Nicolas Cage. The marketing for this movie was genius because they barely showed his face in the trailers. When you finally see him... bro. It is deeply upsetting. He’s not playing a cool, calculating villain. He’s playing something pathetic, chaotic, and deeply evil. His voice, his mannerisms, the way he breathes—it’s going to be burned into my brain forever.

A message from the author: Don't watch this alone

I’m dead serious. If you get spooked easily, do not watch this alone in your apartment at night. It doesn’t rely on loud noises jumping out at you. Instead, it places terrifying things in the background and waits for you to notice them. It’s the kind of horror that makes you want to double-check the locks on your front door. It’s brilliant, it’s nasty, and it’s easily one of the best horror movies of the 2020s.