Longlegs is a 2024 American thriller horror film written and directed by Osgood Perkins and starring Maika Monroe, Alicia Witt, Blair Underwood, and Nicolas Cage.

20 years later, FBI agent Lee Harker, who exhibits possible clairvoyance, is assigned by her supervisor William Carter to a case involving a series of murder–suicides in Oregon.

Longlegs has since lived in the Harker basement, creating Satanic dolls that Ruth, posing as a nun, delivered to households, causing the patriarchs to commit familicide.

Lee awakens in the basement and answers the phone, where a demonic voice warns her about William's daughter Ruby's ninth birthday party scheduled for that day.

[5] He drew inspiration from several sources; the plot device of the evil dolls that cause fathers to murder their families was loosely inspired by the killing of JonBenét Ramsey: "The murder took place approaching Christmas, and one present that the parents had gotten for JonBenét was a life-size replica doll of herself, wearing one of her pageant dresses.

[14] Neon used guerilla marketing tactics similar to those that led to the box office success of The Blair Witch Project (1999), building speculation through clips, images, and coded messages that used symbology created for the film and concealed Cage's look as Longlegs.

[2] Additional content included a billboard (with no mention of the title) that featured a phone number for pre-recorded messages from the film's antagonist,[18] and a paid advertisement featuring a cipher that was published in the Seattle Times on June 14, a reference to the Zodiac Killer, that directed readers to an in-universe website detailing murders committed in the film.

[31][29] In the United States and Canada, Longlegs was released alongside Fly Me to the Moon, and was projected to gross $7–9 million from 2,510 theaters in its opening weekend.

The website's consensus reads: "Saturated in disquieting mood while leveraging a nightmarishly gonzo performance by Nicolas Cage, Longlegs is a satanic horror that effectively instills panic.

[46] David Rooney writing for The Hollywood Reporter praised the film, saying, "It might be argued that he stirs too many elements into the mix here—crime procedural, occult mystery, mind manipulation, Satanic worship, scary dolls, a Faustian bargain and a 'nun' not fit for any convent.

[47] Bob Strauss of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Most impressive is how Perkins blends psychological and supernatural horror in a manner not quite seen before.

[48] Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson expressed disappointment in the film, writing "Longlegs is stylish but vacuous, a prettily foreboding picture with nothing behind it.

[49] J. Hurtado of ScreenAnarchy declared Longlegs "a masterpiece; an unholy, horrifying confluence of high art and anxiety, a film in which every frame is a nightmare, and it's beautiful".

[53] A correspondent of LGBT magazine Them made note of how some audience members perceived the film's villain to be homophobic or transphobic due to the character's androgynous characteristics.

[54] A CNN opinion piece accused the film of transphobia, comparing Longlegs to Buffalo Bill, and emphasizing the horror genre's complicated history of LGBT themes.

[55] In a Reddit AMA interview with director Oz Perkins, a fan inquired if the writing of Longlegs was intended to be a negative portrayal of a transgender person.

[56] Director Guillermo Del Toro complimented the film, praising "[Perkins'] metronome, his meticulous composition and his uncanny sense of evil and impending doom."

Paul Schrader commented on the film on social media, questioning why directors like Perkins and Ti West were "confined to the horror genre ghetto.