Is Maika Monroe the first feminist scream queen?

Horror has not traditionally been a genre known for its feminist bonafides. From the "final girl" trope to the very concept of the scream queen, horror films have rarely strayed outside of genre conventions long enough to challenge male-centric narratives and conventions. 

But actress Maika Monroe, the star of the new viral marketing hit "Longlegs," is carving a unique Hollywood career path. Unlike many stars who put the critically unloved horror universe behind them when they hit it big, the California-born Monroe is an avowed fan of the genre, and she continues to choose roles that critique gender hierarchies, violence against women and male privilege. In doing so, she has perhaps become Hollywood's first feminist scream queen. 

Monroe and the rise of feminist horror

Monroe's breakout turn came in the cult horror hit "It Follows." Marketed as yet another teens-in-jeopardy slasher, the director David Robert Mitchell's film was actually a sly coming-of-age meditation on how hard it is to shake the trauma of sexual assault. She plays Jay, a high school student whose date ties her to a chair after they sleep together in a car and tells her that he has made her the target of a demon — one that can take the form of any person. To get rid of it, she has to give it to someone else by sleeping with them, and if the demon kills her victim, it will come back after her. The movie was "unsettling and deservedly celebrated," said Roger Ebert critic Simon Abrams. 

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In the little-known 2017 apocalypse thriller "Bokeh," Monroe played Jenai, who wakes up with her boyfriend Riley (Matt O'Leary) on a trip to Iceland to discover that everyone on Earth has vanished. This quiet character study sees Riley more or less ecstatic about having the run of the world to themselves and incapable of noticing or responding to Jenai's emotional cues about missing her home and family. Monroe's performance caused critics to dub her a "breakout actress" who is "destined for a significant career if she keeps believing in such ambitious, sharp scripts," said Roger Ebert's Nick Allen. 

From undertones to overtones

The feminist undertones were less subtle in other projects. In 2020's "The Stranger" — originally a 13-part series for the ill-fated short-form streamer Quibi that was recut in 2024 into a feature film by Hulu — Monroe plays Clara, a rideshare driver who picks up a killer (Dane DeHaan). Though she escapes the initial encounter, he continues to pursue her. She has trouble convincing anyone, from her employer to the police, that the threat is real. Monroe is "well-suited to this kind of role without feeling limited by," said Variety's Michael Nordine. 

Similarly, in director Chloe Okuno's widely praised 2022 horror film "Watcher," Monroe plays Julia, who moves to the Romanian capital of Bucharest so her husband Francis (Karl Glusman) can take a high-paying job. A serial killer is on the loose there, and Monroe becomes convinced that she's being stalked; Francis and virtually everyone else in the film treat her fears first with condescending indulgence and then dismissive gaslighting. The film was a "cathartic expression of feminist rage," said Collider's Molly Kusilka. The "atmospheres of utter terror in public places" highlight "the unfortunate fear and paranoia that often comes with navigating them as a woman," said Kusilka. 

"Longlegs," in theaters now, is receiving accolades as one of the scariest movies in years. "Longlegs" is "impressively scary stuff," said The Atlantic's David Sims. Monroe plays Lee Harker, an FBI agent on the tail of a serial killer, and the film addresses head-on the danger of being a woman hunting a serial killer who murders women. Asked by a child if it's scary being a "lady FBI agent," Lee replies "Yes." Monroe also said that she found the script's feminist themes "very intriguing," which contributed to her decision to take the role.  She's "the queen of modern horror," said GQ's Jesse Hassenger. And she's got more to come with "They Follow," currently in pre-production, the sequel to her 2014 breakout film.