In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree. A film by Osgood Perkins, starring Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Michelle Choi-Lee, Dakota Daulby, and Nicolas Cage.

Since 1966, a series of mysterious murder cases have emerged in which family members were killed by the father. Afterward, the father committed suicide, leaving behind a letter with strange cryptograms signed “LONGLEGS.” This has led to the rise of an elusive serial killer that the FBI is trying to track down, even though no one knows what this killer looks like or how they managed to enter the victims’ homes and leave without a trace.

In 1990s, FBI Agents Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) and Fisk (Dakota Daulby) are assigned to investigate a neighborhood identified as a potential target. Their job is to knock on doors and ask the residents if they’ve seen the suspect, a middle-aged Caucasian man. Harker and Fisk have been warned to be cautious, as the suspect is likely armed and dangerous.

Harker possesses some unexplained psychic powers and senses the presence of the suspect nearby. She tells Fisk that the man they’re looking for is in the house number 3525 and suggests they call for backup. However, Fisk dismisses her hunch and decides to knock on the door instead. As the door opens, he is shot in the head by an unseen assailant. Harker cautiously enters the house and successfully apprehends the suspect.

After her supervisor, Agent Carter (Blair Underwood), learns about Harker’s psychic gift, she puts Harker through a series of tests. Carter then decides to bring Harker on board to help with the perplexing LONGLEGS case, hoping she can track down and identify the elusive serial killer responsible for the deaths of ten families over the past 30 years.

At her secluded house outside of town, Harker hears knocking on her front door in the middle of the night. She then spots a shadowy figure standing in the woods and decides to step outside, but the figure has already disappeared. As she turns around, she becomes frightened when she sees someone walking inside her house. Harker rushes back in, only to find a mysterious envelop with her name written on it placed on her desk.

On the envelope, there’s a warning that reads, “DO NOT OPEN UNTIL JANUARY 14th.” However, Harker’s curiosity is piqued, and she decides to open it, as the letter could potentially contain the clues she needs. Inside the envelope, she finds a birthday card, and on the back is a handwritten cryptogram with the familiar signature “LONGLEGS” at the bottom. Fear grips her when she notices that the ink isn’t completely dry, suggesting it was just recently signed and that the killer could still be nearby.

Suddenly, it’s super easy — barely an inconvenience — that Harker is able to decode the cryptogram using the included cipher taken from the Bible’s Revelation 13:1 (The Beast Rising from the Sea) on the card.

The decoded text reveals a message warning Harker not to tell anyone how she obtained the card and threatening to kill her mother if she does.

Written and directed by American filmmaker Osgood Perkins, LONGLEGS starts off strong with a psychological thriller premise about a highly intuitive FBI agent, Lee Harker, whose special gift has led her to assist in solving unsolved serial murder cases spanning over decades.

In each case, the victims are believed to have been brutally killed by a family member. At every crime scene, there is a letter written in Satanic code, signed “LONGLEGS,” but the handwriting does not belong to any of the family members, suggesting that LONGLEGS is the real killer. These letters have become the most puzzling aspect for the FBI, as there is no physical evidence of LONGLEGS ever having set foot at these crime scenes.

I really like the unsettling atmosphere and chilling cinematography of the 70s and 90s, which build up the narrative and evoke the vibes of David Fincher’s Zodiac and Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs. As the story progresses, the film gradually reveals that the protagonist, Agent Lee Harker (portrayed by Maika Monroe, who delivers a wonderful performance), not only possesses psychic powers but also shares a mysterious connection with the supposed serial killer LONGLEGS (portrayed by Nicolas Cage).

However, Perkins’ screenplay misleads us by intentionally omitting or obscuring crucial information about the protagonist’s past and her relationship with her mother. This choice makes the revelation in the film’s final act feel unbelievable and ultimately fails to deliver a truly horrific experience (as it shifts from thriller to supernatural horror) or to be as brilliant as its intriguing premise and the social hype surrounding the film’s marketing.

LONGLEGS was theatrically released in the United States on 12 July 2024 by Neon. With a production budget of under $10 million, the film went on to gross over $100 million worldwide ($73 million domestically), making it the highest-grossing independent film of the year.