Longlegs Will Test The Box Office Value Of A Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score
The film centers on an FBI agent hunting a serial killer, only to uncover a series of occult clues that she must solve to put this brutal murder spree to an end. Maika Monroe (“It Follows”) and Nicolas Cage (“Pig”) star. Perkins, whose previous credits include “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” and “Gretel & Hansel,” also wrote the screenplay.
NEON has marketed the hell out of “Longlegs,” launching one heck of a campaign to sell what Perkins is cooking. At the same time, the studio has opted, in some ways, for a less-is-more approach. Most notably, it has avoided fully revealing Cage’s wild look in the film in favor of only briefly teasing it in trailers. It also hasn’t revealed too much about the story, instead opting to let mystery and the intensely creepy vibe do the talking. NEON is clearly betting on intrigue to do the heavy lifting here, combined with, hopefully, early word of mouth buzz. For now, the latter part is off to a very good start.
As of this writing, “Longlegs” boasts an unblemished 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That will certainly change but it’s no less impressive for the time being. /Film’s Bill Bria called it the most terrifying horror movie of the year in his perfect review. The hope is that audiences get on board as well. The fear is that it could be a situation where critics love it and general moviegoers aren’t as smitten. Think “Uncut Gems” (91% critic score/52% audience rating) or “It Comes at Night” (88% critic score/44% audience rating). Even if that does happen, though, “Longlegs” may yet become one of those “you must see it to believe it” situations.
“Longlegs” hits theaters on July 12, 2024.
