It's been a while since I watched a movie more than once at the cinema. This weekend I had the pleasure of watching Longlegs on both Saturday and Sunday. It amused me that today is the 14th.
I went in not having watched the trailer and only knowing that Nicolas Cage was in this movie and that it was a thriller. I was mainly drawn in by the title. I've had a very strange past 72 hours, and after 10 days of having a pretty stressed out nervous system, I found it strange to feel such a sense of calm when I watched the movie. That's why I went to watch it again. Wondering if it would affect me the same way. On some level, yes. It's not what your average person would describe as a calming movie, in fact, I don't think anyone would really describe it as such. I'd been thinking about Will Graham's character from the Hannibal TV Series recently, so I was extremely delighted by Maika Monroe's character. She was just what I needed to see on screen. My thoughts on the film are completely biased because I'm in the process of heavily working on my third feature film. It's a very intuitive process that cannot really be put into words. It's very often an isolating experience. I loved the quietness of the film, and how Maika's character, Lee Harker, navigated the world of Longlegs. I thought the sound design was beautifully crisp, and heightened of course.
The film could have easily been a mediocre horror film, but the performances, cinematography, pacing, and editing transform this film into something much more elevated. It brought me back to the idea that highly intuitive/sensitive people are perhaps just doomed to live lives on the edge of society, whilst also helping humanity. It would be nice however to see a character like this find some sort of long term happiness in film/tv. Perhaps it would give some hope to the rest of us.
Nicolas Cage gives a brilliant performance as Longlegs, which I was really mesmerised by, as does Kieran Shipka, who is in the film briefly. There is a beautiful calm throughout the film and a sense of quiet, which will unnerve many. But it was just what I needed.
Note - I also just realised Maika Monroe was in It Follows (which I was not a fan of at all) and had sat right in front of her during a Q&A. Good to see her come so far and deliver what will be, one of my favourite performances of all time.