Horror darling Maika Monroe of It Follows, The Guest, and Longlegs fame, to name a few, adds another unforgettable performance to her filmography that’s sure to further endear her to genre fans. Winifred Notty, the title character of period horror comedy Victorian Psycho, is a role like no other. The peculiar antiheroine operates on rage and death, and Monroe embraces the eccentric governess with fearless bravado.
Victorian Psycho introduces Winifred Notty in 1858, as she travels to the sprawling Ensor House for her new role as governess to Mr. and Mrs. Pounds’ (Jason Isaacs and Ruth Wilson, respectively) children, Drusilla (Evie Templeton) and Andrew (Jacobi Jupe). Neither the Pounds nor their robust staff, including the children’s naive nurse Ms. Lamb (Thomasin McKenzie), seems to connect that their new hire’s previous job ended in catastrophe for her wards. Nor that her arrival coincides with a series of strange events and staff disappearances.
But something is very wrong with Winifred Notty.
Director Zachary Wigon (Sanctuary), working from an adapted screenplay by the novel’s author, Virginia Feito (Mrs. March), breaks his bloodthirsty satire into digestible chapters, the first of which introduces Winifred as the story’s narrator as she deceptively declares herself to the audience as the sanest person she’s ever met. That’s shortly before she consumes a collected trophy from a previous job: a severed ear.
From there, Victorian Psycho draws clear parallels and inspiration from Bret Easton Ellis’ popular horror satire novel as an unreliable narrator wreaks havoc upon the rich. Unlike Patrick Bateman, though, Winifred Notty’s murderous compulsions are real. Winifred has a hidden agenda at the Ensor House, one she resolutely attempts to keep hidden even as she fights to repress her dark side while avoiding the jealous wrath of Mrs. Pounds.
Monroe latches onto Winifred’s inner duality and conflict with aplomb. Winifred is the type who tries and frequently fails her social normality tests, just as often as she’s prone to impulsive violence. Monroe’s gleefully macabre mischievousness transforms the sociopath into a quirky, unpredictable monster that’s almost too easy to root for. That’s especially the case anytime Monroe’s Winifred gets caught in the icy crosshairs of Wilson’s effective Mrs. Pounds; it’s this imbalanced power dynamic that propels the lean 90-minute runtime toward its bloody finale and reinforces the unsubtle eat-the-rich themes.
Also helping is the snappy editing by Dustin Chow and Lance Edmands, along with cinematographer Nico Aguilar’s stylish camerawork, which enhances the quick-witted humor and propulsive pacing. Victorian Psycho looks like a stately gothic period horror movie, but with the rapid fire attitude and personality of a contemporary feminine psychopath.
Less effective is the film’s climax. Victorian Psycho‘s steady build toward its promised bloodbath instead gets constrained by source novel deviations and a reluctance to unleash an unrepentant Winifred in full psychopathic glory. Instead, Winifred’s slaughter comes visually hampered by a conscience, one that feels at odds with the delightfully macabre character that’s won viewers over by the third act. It feels like a pulled punch, considering how much tongue-in-cheek fun Victorian Psycho has with unshackling its leading lady from the stuffy societal norms of the Victorian era.
It likely doesn’t help that Victorian Psycho is as straightforward and streamlined as Feito’s novel. There’s not a lot of thematic meat on its bones, making the flaws more noticeable. Still, what it lacks in depth, Wigon’s latest more than compensates for with infectious style, wry amusement, and a tour de force performance by Monroe as a fully unleashed sociopath who manages to charm despite her affinity for cruel violence.
Carnage becomes pretty dang delightful in Monroe’s capable hands. Victorian Psycho operates on familiar slay grounds, but it’s an absolute blast thanks to its zany style and deranged sense of fun.
Victorian Psycho made its world premiere at Cannes and releases in theaters on September 25.
