Nicolas Cage's Longlegs ending explained: director unravels the shocking finale

Virgin Radio

15 Jul 2024, 15:20

Osgood Perkins reveals the meaning behind the devilish twist in the year's most spine-chilling serial killer flick, Longlegs.

The man behind the year’s most talked-about serial killer horror, Longlegs, has just revealed the bone-chilling meaning behind the movie’s hair-raising finale.

Director Osgood Perkins spilled all the spooky details in a new interview, and let's just say, if you thought the film was terrifying, wait until you hear what he has to say!

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Set in the 1990s, Longlegs follows FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) as she tracks down a series of gruesome murders linked to a killer known only as Longlegs, played by the legendary Nicolas Cage.

The film, dubbed the best serial killer flick since The Silence of the Lambs, had viewers gripping their popcorn and losing sleep.

If you’re a fan of cult classics and the sinister vibes of the satanic panic, this one’s right up your alley!

Spoilers ahead!

The movie’s ending is a mind-bending twist of epic proportions.

Agent Harker finds herself unable to shoot a devil-possessed doll while trying to save the daughter of her colleague Carter (Blair Underwood).

Oh, and did we mention she ends up shooting Carter dead after he murders his wife? Talk about a plot twist!

“That was always the ending. The ending was meant to be tragic,” Perkins told Variety.

“The devil wins again on a small scale. One of the fun things about using the devil as your villain is that the devil never really goes for world domination.”

Perkins dives deeper into the devilish fun, adding: “The devil always feels like, ‘I’ll just f*** with this person, I’ll wreck this family, I’ll mess this kid up, I’ll torment this priest.’ It’s never like, ‘I’m going to eat the Vatican.’

"It never gets to that point for me with the devil. The devil is a little more amusing and playful than that.”

Perkins’ inspiration for the ending? None other than the iconic Se7en.

“We were consciously aware of our references and we wanted to create a pop art piece. As many times as we could crib or steal a move from one of the great serial killer movies, we wanted to do it. That’s just Se7en.”

He explains: “I think Kevin Spacey has three or four scenes, right? He gives himself up, he’s in the thing and then he’s in the car and there’s the end.

"He’s always present, which we had with Cage too, like there’s a presence of this thing, but once you get to the guy, it’s almost anticlimactic.”

Nicolas Cage’s portrayal of the eerie Longlegs left the cast and crew gobsmacked.

Cage's co-lead in the film, Maika Monroe, during an exclusive chat with Virgin Radio, revealed: “It was insane, it was incredible. Just from an actor's standpoint, to watch him in this performance was surreal.

"Obviously, I grew up watching his movies and he’s an icon. We know his voice, we know his mannerisms, we all know what he looks like.”

Maika continued: “It was just so incredible to see him in this role, because he is completely and utterly unrecognisable.

"There's not an ounce of the Nic Cage that we all know in this. It was so cool to be acting opposite him, with him two feet away from me. It was one of those moments I'll never forget.”

The devilish delight didn’t just spook audiences; it also raked in the big bucks! Neon, the production company behind Longlegs, celebrated their most successful box office opening weekend ever.

The film, with a budget of $3m (£2.3m), is set to make a whopping $23m (£17.7m) in the US alone. Neon’s previous hits include I, Tonya, Triangle of Sadness, and the Oscar-winning Parasite.

Longlegs is out in cinemas now.