Longlegs in 350 Words or Less

I haven't quite gotten a handle on what it is I feel is missing from writer-director (and son of Anthony) Oz Perkins' movies, but something is missing from Oz Perkins' movies. Something that's keeping them from being the classics they get awful close to being for me. He feels like the horror version of Xavier Dolan -- infintesimally close to being just right, but there is some little spark that's missing that stops the chain reaction from domino'ing into its big boom. All four of his movies -- The Blackcoat's Daughter, I am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, Gretel & Hansel, and now this weekend Longlegs -- fit this description to a tee for me. I like all four of them. They all have great mood and killer atsmophere and some memorable performances. This certainly isn't a record to scoff at -- he's somebody to be appreciated, and I keep going into his films thinking this will be the one. But they keep not being the one. 

Longlegs has all the good stuff, but it's just missing that spark again that makes it feel singular. It's not even (entirely) the Nicolas Cage factor -- you might know I'm not a huge fan of Cage, especially when he goes big, and he is certainly going very big here. But the film keeps him at bay for most of it, yanking back his effortful chomping like a rabid dog on a chain. While the film's using him judiciously it's good and effective. It does finally let the dog off its chain and I groaned some, but I don't place my issues with Longlegs squarely on that. To be honest this is a brief review because I haven't entirely nailed down my issues -- I'll see the film again once it's out on streaming and perhaps have more to say then. I just very much want people to temper their expectations. The comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs are thuddingly obvious while also doing Longlegs no favors at all. It's fine. It ain't no Silence of the Lambs.