The Gothic horror film Victorian Psycho, led by Maika Monroe, has unveiled its first trailer, and it’s still as enticing as ever.
Since breaking out in It Follows in 2014, Maika Monroe has carved out a path largely in genre fare, especially horror and psychological thrillers. We’ve seen her star in Netflix’s Tau, as well as Greta (with Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Grace Moretz), The Voyeur, the remake of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Reminders of Him on Paramount+, or the series The Stranger— not to mention Longlegs, the Osgood Perkins film with Nicolas Cage as a serial killer that generated plenty of buzz in 2024.
This last title will also get a sequel, to which she won’t be returning. Instead, she’ll reunite with one of its producers, Dan Kagan, for another horror film, Victorian Psycho, which has been eyeing audiences since its late-2024 announcement. Initially, Margaret Qualley was set to share the screen with Thomasin McKenzie, before ultimately ceding the spot to Maika Monroe, who will thus return to her sweet spot after a detour into romantic drama with Reminders of Him.
And the trailer won’t dampen the excitement.
AMERICAN VICTORIAN PSYCHO
Victorian Pyscho is the third feature from director Zachary Wigon (Sanctuary, The Heart Machine), written by Virginia Feito (adapted from her eponymous novel). As the title suggests, the story unfolds in England during the Victorian era, in 1858, following Winifred Notty, an eccentric young governess who arrives at the Gothic Ensor House. She’s tasked with teaching the children manners and educating them about their family history, all while concealing her psychotic tendencies.
It’s on the raucous track Throw Yourself to the Sword by the punk rock group Die Spitz that these notorious psychotic tendencies reveal themselves. The trailer even leans more into the frenzied madness of this anti-heroine than into a proper introduction to the plot.
We do get a sense, at least, of a trashy, unsettling period piece, punctuated by occasional tonal shifts that skirt comedy. Moreover, the direction appears as wild and kinetic as its lead, a far cry from the taciturn calm of Longlegs.
The rest of the cast includes Thomasin McKenzie (Last Night in Soho, The Testament of Ann Lee), who is expected to play a housemaid at the manor, as well as Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter, The OA), Ruth Wilson (The Affair), and the young Jacobi Jupe, seen recently in Hamnet. At present, no release date has been announced, only a window: Fall 2026. The film is being showcased at the Cannes Film Festival, in the Un Certain Regard section.
