Photo courtesy of MHN staff
Kannille Washington ’28
Staff Writer
A crowd of nuns, foxes and fairies gathered in the Art Building on Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m. for a screening of the 2024 film “Longlegs,” hosted by the Mount Holyoke College Film Society.
Costumed Mount Holyoke students huddled outside Art 220, waiting for campus security to come and unlock the doors. Despite the wait, spirits were high as people shuffled in and friends picked out their seating arrangements.
As the movie opened with its credits, a discussion broke out over whether the lights should be dimmed. The talk eventually ceased and the room settled in darkness. The bright red screen elicited excitement as spectators giggled in anticipation.
The movie opens on a young girl in her house as a car approaches. The already chilly and stark white landscape creates a sharp contrast with the bright red of the credits. As Longlegs, played by Nicolas Cage, made his first appearance with an iconic jump scare, the room of students cooed the opening lines with him: “There she is, the almost birthday girl.”
FBI Agent Lee Harker — Maika Monroe — struggles with shock and grief over her last case as she is called into a new set of murders by her boss, Agent Carter —Blair Underwood—, on the belief that she has some special ability that can help them solve the mystery. Over the last 10 years, there had been 10 murders: all families, all committed by the fathers, with no sign of an outside force except letters. All written in code, all signed with one name: “LONGLEGS.”
As the movie slips back and forth in time, the camera style changes from our modern and clear vision to a hazier vintage film. The movie carries themes of religious and family trauma as Harker tries to understand what is happening to these families, and how her own history may be the answer.
Film Society co-president Victoria Faulkner ’25 said, “We’ve shown a lot of abstract, either thriller or horror films in the last month, ... so it helps introduce people to that genre.” The Film Society senator Zay Bryant ’27 advised, “I still have questions after seeing [Longlegs] three times, so watch it more than three times.”
Madeleine Diesl ’28 contributed fact-checking.