Movies
Maika Monroe Embraces Killer Instincts in Gothic ‘Victorian Psycho’ First Image
Maika Monroe is giving into her killer instincts in the first image and teaser poster from psychological horror-thriller Victorian Psycho, ahead of its premiere at the Cannes film festival.
Victorian Psycho releases in theaters on September 25, 2026.
Zachary Wigon (Sanctuary) is directing from a script by author Virginia Feito (Mrs. March), based on her novel of the same name. The book was released on February 4, 2025.
Maika Monroe stars in the adaptation as Winnifred Notty, an “eccentric young governess who arrives at the remote gothic manor known as Ensor House,” per the fest’s film synopsis. “As Winifred assimilates into life at Ensor House, staff members begin to inexplicably disappear, and the owners of the estate begin to wonder if there is something amiss about their new governess.”
It’s safe to say that Winnifred is very eccentric; Feito’s novel presents a period yuletide tale of killer horror centered around its governess’ quirks.
Monroe took over the role from Margaret Qualley. Wigon previously said of the cast update, “Maika’s intense screen presence has resonated with me over and over again throughout her history of complex performances. I’m absolutely thrilled for her to bring her unique style of psychological portraiture to the fascinatingly bizarre Winifred Notty.”
Thomasin McKenzie (Last Night in Soho), Jason Isaacs (Honey Bunch), Ruth Wilson, Amy De Bruhn, and “Hamnet” breakout Jacobi Jupe also star.
Victorian Psycho is produced by Dan Kagan (Longlegs) and Sebastien Raybaud (Greenland: Migration).
Two things that have proven to be pretty dependable at the box office in recent years are horror movies and Christopher Nolan movies. With Nolan’s The Odyssey absolutely dominating the box office this past weekend, many fans of Nolan’s work have been left hungry for a Nolan-directed horror movie. After all, The Odyssey does whet the appetite for Nolan nightmare fuel.
Christopher Nolan has brushed up against the horror genre in the past with 2002 thriller Insomnia, but does he have any interest in someday making a full-on horror movie?
Nolan tells the Empire Podcast in a new chat, “I’ve always been interested in doing a horror film.”
“But horror is most successful when the conceptual framework of whatever the story is is just so undeniable. I think there are very few really great horror movies,” Nolan continues.
So why hasn’t Christopher Nolan directed a horror movie yet?
He explains to Empire, “I’ve never clicked with a particular idea or concept that worked for me. I love the genre. Of all genres, it’s the most visceral. Where the direct response to the audience is the most important. That is to say, you’re trying to make people literally feel something in their bones about what’s going on on-screen.”
Nolan calls horror “a genre in which experimentation is demanded.” He explains, “I go to see a lot of horror films with my kids these days, and you’ll see things in the first half an hour, 45 minutes of any horror film that you’d never see in another genre. Risks that are taken. Dangerous approaches to things. Admittedly, a lot of movies can’t sustain that to the end. But in the horror genre, that kind of innovation is not just respected – it’s really demanded.”
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is now playing in theaters.
Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
You must be logged in to post a comment.