The hype around Longlegs, a new crime thriller starring Nicolas Cage, continues to build with the help of a brilliant marketing campaign and stellar early reviews. The latest example of the former comes in a minute-plus teaser trailer that details star Maika Monroe's literal heart-pounding experience in seeing Cage in character as the serial killer Longlegs for the first time.
The trailer says the scene it features is the fateful meeting between Monroe's FBI agent and Cage's Longlegs. The trailer also indicates that this was the first that the actress saw Cage in his full character makeup. As they have with all of the promotional materials to date, Neon (the company releasing the movie) did not share what Cage looks like in the trailer, instead blocking him out with either the slate or adding a black box over his face. But the visuals are less important in the trailer than the audio, which includes what they say is Monroe's actual heartbeat during filming.
Monroe is no stranger to acting in creepy scenes, as she has starred in movies like It Follows and Watcher, but apparently Cage's appearance and performance as Longlegs took things to another level. The trailer says that Monroe has a resting heart rate of 76 beats per minute (BPM), but, as audiences can hear with the pounding, her rate ratcheted up to 170 BPM while shooting the scene.
"When I walked in and saw Nicolas Cage for the first time as Longlegs, that was a visceral experience I'll never forget," Monroe is quoted in the trailer. Watch the trailer below to see (and hear) exactly what we’re talking about:
Trailers like this have helped Longlegs create a groundswell around its release, exclusively in movie theaters worldwide on July 12. Also doing a lot of work is the strong word of mouth, as the 2024 new movie has a "Fresh" Rotten Tomatoes score of 97% as of publication, with multiple critics comparing it to classic crime thrillers like The Silence of the Lambs and Zodiac.
Written and directed by Osgood Perkins, here is the official synopsis of the movie from Neon:
"In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree."
