When a young girl asks Maika Monroe’s character Lee Harker if it’s “scary being a lady FBI agent” in Longlegs, she succinctly replies, “Yes, it is.” The new horror sensation from Osgood Perkins follows Lee’s tireless investigation into the return of a mysterious serial killer who leaves a trail of ciphers (Nicolas Cage), while she’s also processing the terror from a trauma she thought she’d suppressed. Monroe, though, may as well be fearless.
Since her 2014 breakout roles in It Follows and The Guest, two indie hits that became contemporary classic horror movies and helped to pioneer the “elevated horror” genre, the California-native has been a bonafide scream queen. ( Before that, she was one of the sole young women to pursue a career in the extreme sport of kiteboarding.) But in the 10 years since becoming one of the most captivating performers in horror,, Monroe’s largely remained an indie darling with an eye for emerging, visionary directors purposefully choosing complex roles that toy with the concept of the final girl.
