When we think about legendary Scream Queens from the world of horror, it’s usually iconic final girls or empowered assassins who jump to mind – women like Jamie Lee Curtis and Sarah Michelle Gellar most associated with an iconic role despite a multitude of successful genre titles in their extensive catalog. While these beloved actresses will always be part of the horror landscape, newer Scream Queens have begun to diversify. Anya Taylor-Joy and Mia Goth have both broken their horror bones in a variety of outstanding genre films and continue to surprise us with unexpected roles. But of the many young actresses vying for Modern Scream Queen status, one woman rises to the top of the list.
For the past decade, Maikia Monroe has been reinventing the horror genre and her own cinematic legacy one complex role at a time. The California girl who once dreamed of a career as a professional kite-surfer, excels in the juxtaposition of vulnerability and strength and often plays meek characters who eventually find empowerment. Though every horror fan has their favorite Maika Monroe performance, the star is known for more than a single role or particular subgenre. This month sees the accomplished actress tackle the police procedural in Longlegs, a psychological thriller with a satanic core. Already being praised as her best performance to date, Monroe draws from a long list of relatable heroines that have made her one of the genre’s most beloved and versatile Scream Queens.
It Follows (2014)
Monroe made her film debut alongside genre royalty with a background role in the 2012 Piper Laurie vehicle Bad Blood. Having taken the job on a whim, Monroe turned her eyes from the sea to the screen and fell in love with the transformational power of acting. Two years later, she would become an overnight star with the lead in David Robert Mitchell’s harrowing It Follows. Regarded as a stand-out film of the new millennium, this terrifying tale falls somewhere between a rape-revenge narrative and a haunting creature feature. Monroe is Jay, a woman plagued by a sexually transmitted ghost that follows wherever she goes. With the ability to look like anyone and everyone, this shape-shifting entity pursues her relentlessly one step at a time, hellbent on tearing her body apart. The only way to survive is either to endlessly run or pass the curse on by sleeping with someone else. Monroe’s vulnerable performance in a challenging role allowed survivors of sexual assault to see their pain reflected onscreen while displaying the lasting effects of emotional trauma. Though intentionally ordinary in her quiet relatability, Jay’s strength lies in finding the courage to connect with other people rather than succumbing to the darkness of isolation and shame.
The Guest (2014)
That same year, Monroe starred in The Guest, an action horror film from Adam Wingard. The film follows David (Dan Stevens), an discharged soldier who visits the family of his fallen friend. Despite a jaw-dropping performance from the talented Stevens, Monroe steals the show as Anna, a restless twenty-year-old trying to move on with her life. Though initially suspicious, she warms up to the dashing soldier after a fight with her boyfriend. But a call to the local recruitment center reveals that the mysterious guest staying in the next room is not who he claims to be. With his secret revealed, David unleashes his violent power on anyone who tries to stand in his way and the rebellious Anna must do what she can to save what’s left of her fractured family. The Guest is known for its fun action sequences including a bloody battle in a Halloween funhouse, but under this action-packed surface lies a touching story about trauma and loss with Monroe’s Anna shouldering much of the emotional burden. These dual breakout performances not only made Monroe one of the most sought-after actresses in horror, but allowed her to avoid the dreaded pitfalls of typecasting. With two strong characters who find empowerment through different paths, Monroe displayed her unique ability to capture the audience’s heart no matter what situation she finds herself in.
Greta (2018)
After a series of mainstream fare including the blockbuster sequel Independence Day: Resurgence, the sci-fi nightmare Tau, and Michelle Schumacher’s imaginative drama I’m Not Here, Maika returned to the world of horror with a pair of bizarre films that defy classification. In Neil Jordan’s Greta, she stars alongside French icon Isabelle Huppert and Chloë Grace Moretz – arguably a scream queen in her own right. Monroe plays Erica, the best friend of a woman targeted by a sadistic female stalker. At first blush, Greta (Huppert) appears to be a harmless older woman in need of companionship, but her burgeoning friendship with Erica’s roommate Frances (Moretz) soon takes a horrific turn. The film is a unique blend of buddy comedy, chick flick, and psychological thriller that sees Monroe elevate what could easily be a stereotypical role. More than a cinematic device to amplify the terror, Erica becomes an avenger who will stop at nothing to rescue her friend – even if it means stepping into the fire herself.
Villains (2019)
The following year, Monroe would star as an outlaw with a heart of gold in an equally nebulous film opposite one of Hollywood’s reigning Scream Kings. Villains, a dark comedy horror from Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, pairs Monroe with Bill Skarsgård on the heels of his successful reimagining of Pennywise the Dancing Clown in Andy Muschietti’s It. With the cops on their tail, bank robbers Ruth (Monroe) and Mickey (Skarsgård) break into an unassuming home only to find a horrific secret lurking in the basement. Criminals become victims as the house’s owners take the couple hostage and create a nightmare version of suburban utopia. George (Jeffrey Donovan) and Gloria (Kyra Sedgwick) are a bizarre pair determined to have a picture perfect life but their polished personas hide a deep well of murderous insanity. Monroe navigates this bizarre setup and proves not only to be the audience’s conduit, but the heart and soul of this chaotic film. Without her steady hand and grounded performance, we could easily become lost in the wild and weird turns of this outlandish horror comedy.
Watcher (2022)
Monroe next made waves in the genre sphere with Watcher, a psychological horror film from Chloe Okuno. This haunting story follows Julia (Monroe), an American actress who moves to Bucharest when her husband Francis (Karl Glusman)is transferred for work. Still learning the language, Julia spends her days wandering aimlessly through the streets and staring out the picture window of her lonely apartment. She soon spies another solitary soul who seems to be watching her with disturbing intensity. Meanwhile, a killer known as the Spider haunts the city, severing the heads of vulnerable women. When Julia reports her stalker, she’s met with dismissal from the police and scorn from her distracted husband. She’s left alone to defend herself against a vicious killer in a strange city with no help in sight. In many ways a spiritual successor to It Follows, Watcher is a chilly tale of relentless terror that explores the dangers of loneliness and isolation. Monroe commands the screen in a quiet, but intense performance that builds to a shocking conclusion and cathartic release.
Significant Other (2022)
The same year would see Monroe reunite with Berk and Olsen in Significant Other, a sci-fi horror tale following a doomed couple on a weekend hike. Monroe is once again paired with an actor fresh off his own breakout role as co-star Jake Lacy had just captured attention as the unlikeable lead in HBO’s hit series The White Lotus. But Monroe’s part in the story is arguably more challenging as Ruth, a young woman terrified of romantic commitment. After rejecting a marriage proposal from the charming Harry (Lacy), Ruth notices something strange about her partner’s demeanor. Confused and alone, Ruth leaves the trail and discovers the lair of a shape-shifting entity from another world. This ambitious role allows Monroe to stretch her legs as varying versions of the same conflicted character. Part survival horror, part alien invasion, part Marriage Story, Monroe once again helms a film that resists genre classification. With her trademark vulnerability, she delivers a complex performance that asks the audience to decide who Ruth really is while challenging us to ask the same question of ourselves.
God Is a Bullet (2023)
Though Monroe has starred in a number of diverse horror features, she specializes in empathetic heroines who fight back against oppressive darkness. Rarely has she played a villainous or unlikeable character in a genre film. But that all changed with Nick Cassavetes’ God Is a Bullet, a bleak story concerned with the murderous crimes of a satanic cult. Monroe is Case, an off-putting survivor who bristles at vulnerable human connection. Having recently left the sinister family, Case is now left to deal with the trauma of her own childhood abduction and a decade of sex trafficking and physical abuse. Though ostensibly the protagonist, Case is covered in black tattoos and resists acts of kindness with cutting insults and anti-religious diatribes. In an intense performance, Monroe wrestles with the terror of letting down her guard and shows relatable vulnerability amidst overt strength. But the talented actress still manages to capture our hearts though her character is doggedly trying to push everyone away.
Longlegs (2024)
Ten years after her breakout role, Monroe is poised to deliver her best performance to date in Oz Perkins’ Longlegs, a harrowing police procedural thriller-turned occult horror film already being hailed as the scariest of the year. Starring opposite Nicolas Cage (also turning in a career-redefining performance) Monroe is Lee Harker, a young FBI agent with suspected psychic abilities. Assigned to a disturbing cold case, Harker begins to search for the titular serial killer (Cage), a satanic murderer with terrifying influence. Her stunning performance evokes the sensitive power of Jodie Foster’s oscar-winning turn in The Silence of the Lambs, a role that turned the veteran actress into a genre icon. Monroe pulls in elements of her own previous roles as the grounded, but relatable heroine of Perkins’ pitch black film, demonstrating an uncanny ability to channel the audience’s fear. With a number of eclectic roles under her belt, Longlegs proves there’s nothing the talented actress can’t do. Already horror’s reigning Scream Queen just twelve years into her career, there’s no doubt we’ll be screaming along with Maika Monroe in diverse and thrilling films for decades to come.
Longlegs arrives in theaters tomorrow. Get tickets now!
The upcoming serial killer horror movie marks the return of director Osgood Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Gretel & Hansel). Nicolas Cage stars alongside Maika Monroe, with Monroe playing an FBI agent and Cage playing a serial killer.
In the film, “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.
The film is rated “R” for “Bloody violence, disturbing images and some language.”
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