In Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs, demonic works are a full-time job. The devil is everywhere and nowhere — inescapable but often unseen. One minute, he’s colluding with Nicolas Cage to kill small children, and the next, he’s stalking Maika Monroe’s Agent Lee Harker at the library.
Did you notice just how often he shows up? (Warning: spoilers ahead.) It’s clear from the beginning of Longlegs that Lee Harker has some kind of supernatural connection to the “Longlegs” serial killer case, but it takes a minute to figure out what that might be. The closer she gets to untangling the truth, the more we realize just how closely the devil has been watching her.
Frame after frame, you can see him lingering in the background. According to Perkins, these dark cameos are a wink at the idea of Satanic subliminal messaging — a constant reminder of how present the devil has been in Lee’s day-to-day life, especially as she begins “snuggling up against the revelation.” As seriously as some folks have taken Longlegs , Perkins emphasizes that it’s also meant to be playful.
“You’re with a bunch of people who are kind of grooving on making a crazy movie, and you try to find intelligent, sophisticated, and kind of artful ways to make it groovier,” Perkins tells Vulture . Seeing the devil pop up everywhere is part of the fun. Below, you’ll find a detailed guide to every time the dark lord pops up on screen.
A shadowy figure lurks in the back left corner of the frame while.