“Longlegs: Deadly Bond” embraces the macabre in disturbing supernatural horror

Longlegs: Deadly Bond hits Brazilian cinemas this Wednesday, August 28th, with the reputation of being one of the scariest films of the 21st century. However, the hype surrounding the novelty, which serves more for marketing than for the experience itself, only makes it easier to break the expectations of those most anxious to see the novelty starring Nicolas Cage (The Dream Man).

For those who are hoping to watch an investigative feature film with touches of true crime or a good terrifying thriller, it’s good to be prepared for a different reality. The film even flirts with premises of persecution serial killersas The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Zodiac (2007), but surprises by incorporating supernatural and occult elements into a story that seems to stick to realism for much of its run.

The feature film, written and directed by Osgood Perkins (The Envoy of Evil), even brings an aura comparable to that of Rosemary’s Baby (1968), with the difference that, in the classic by Roman Polanskievil does not present itself — although it is also always lurking — until the final moments of the production.

In the film, the FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroeof Evil Chain) is summoned to reopen a cold case of a serial killer called Longlegs (Nicolas Cage). As you uncover clues, Harker finds herself confronted with an unexpected personal connection to the killer, which launches her into a race against time to prevent more deaths.

If the synopsis is based on the FBI investigation panorama, preview and interviews already gave hints that things could go in a “the other side”. In a conversation with theLetterboxd, Perkins was asked about his favorite horror films and, among the options, were works that flirt with the supernatural, such as Panther Blood (1942), Hour of the Wolf (1968), Possession (1981) and An American Werewolf in London (1981).

At the time, I even wondered why he hadn’t mentioned it. Psychosis (1960), classic by Alfred Hitchcockin which his father, Anthony Perkinsgives life to one of the most famous killers in cinema, Norman Bates.

However, the feature film itself Hitchcock gives us the answer: he is a terror that does not escape reality and, perhaps for this reason, he is so frightening. They are ordinary people, living routine situations faced with an ordinary killer.

The career of Perkins also helps you understand your choices — not just your favorite horror movies, but also the technical choices presented in Longlegs: Deadly Bond. When you learn about the filmmaker’s filmography, you realize how fascinated he is by the macabre and the construction of a good setting, something that is even more intensified in this new release.

For example, your first job, The Envoy of Evil already elucidated this appreciation of Perkins by the satanic. In his next work, The Last Chapteralso called The Beautiful Creaturethe filmmaker was concerned with the setting, another aspect of his newest film.

However, if his previous films were more suggestive, in the new one evil definitely takes shape, even if it is sneaky and much less explicit. Probably, LonglessIt is the director’s feature film that comes closest to something he has always dealt with since the beginning of his career: the desire to show that evil not only exists, but is also capable of entering our homes through the front door.

Even though we are far from these events, the way in which Perkins plans his plans and the plans of the killer Longlegslived brilliantly and eccentrically by Nicolas Cagewhich is a mere intermediary of something even greater.

I have my reservations about the twist in the third act — which explains the Brazilian subtitle —, more because of the way it is done, with the help of flashbacksthan for what it actually represents. On the other hand, I like how Perkins embraces the macabre in the final moments, breaking the expectations I mentioned in the first paragraph.

On the more technical side of the direction, the photography, composed of icy tones in the external environments and surrounded by shadows in the internal environments, is enough to give us chills. She also sees a need to use and abuse angles in which our eyes are invited to look for something in the scene.

Depth of field is another artifice that Perkins applies to involve us in a dark and uncomfortable environment. In fact, much of this discomfort is presented to the audience through the character of Maika Monroean FBI agent who never seems at ease on screen — and the technical aspects already mentioned in this review corroborate this.

The best of Longlegs: Deadly Bond it’s like it has this facet of A24’s post-modern horror — for some, post-horror — but it never goes round and round the script to show itself fascinated by the art direction and photography aspects themselves and not present something concrete.

It’s a short film, with no time to waste. The script may have its problems, such as some elements that escape investigation, but Longlegs becomes sinister in the face of a genre that, every now and then, seeks explanations in the past traumas of its protagonists and that here only wants to be disturbingly satanic.

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