You could easily mistake "Longlegs" for "just another serial killer flick", said Tom Shone in The Sunday Times. But, in fact, it is something far rarer: "a horror film that gives you a bona fide case of the heeby-jeebies".
Set in Oregon in the 1990s, it stars Maika Monroe as FBI agent Lee Harker, whose uncanny, almost supernatural, talent for rooting out murderers lands her with a special assignment: to track down an elusive suspect dubbed Longlegs (Nicolas Cage). His MO is to persuade previously respectable men to murder their own wives and children, and then to kill themselves.
The idea that drives "Longlegs", an idea "shared by only the very best horror films", is a thoroughly terrifying one – "that true horror does not reside in something outside menacing us, but the thoughts we can't control bubbling up inside of us".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In the first half, we only get "cropped glimpses" of him – but "brace yourself for his strangely motherly set of lips", his "hideous wig", his habit of "gradually screaming", and his penchant for "nonsense rhymes".
-
Political cartoons for November 23Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include a Thanksgiving horn of plenty, the naughty list, and more
-
How will climate change affect the UK?The Explainer Met Office projections show the UK getting substantially warmer and wetter – with more extreme weather events
-
Crossword: November 23, 2025The daily crossword from The Week
-
6 optimal digital nomad destinations: Pack your laptop, your visa and a sense of adventureThe Week Recommends See the world — but do it in a conscientious manner
-
Nick Clegg picks his favourite booksThe Week Recommends The former deputy prime minister shares works by J.M. Coetzee, Marcel Theroux and Conrad Russell
-
Park Avenue: New York family drama with a ‘staggeringly good’ castThe Week Recommends Fiona Shaw and Katherine Waterston have a ‘combative chemistry’ as a mother and daughter at a crossroads
-
Jay Kelly: ‘deeply mischievous’ Hollywood satire starring George ClooneyThe Week Recommends Noah Baumbach’s smartly scripted Hollywood satire is packed with industry in-jokes
-
Motherland: a ‘brilliantly executed’ feminist history of modern RussiaThe Week Recommends Moscow-born journalist Julia Ioffe examines the women of her country over the past century
-
The 9 best dark comedy TV shows of all timeThe Week Recommends From workplace satire to family dysfunction, nothing is sacred for these renowned, boundary-pushing comedies
-
Music reviews: Rosalía and Mavis Staplesfeature “Lux” and “Sad and Beautiful World”
-
7 gifts that will have your Thanksgiving host blushing with gratitudeThe Week Recommends Brighten their holiday with a thoughtful present
