Casey Chong on the essential Maika Monroe performances…
One of the most promising young actresses working today, the Santa Barbara-born Maika Monroe is often synonymous with the horror genre, thanks in no small part to her breakthrough performance in It Follows. But she isn’t the type who is pigeonholed as a strictly horror movie actress, as proven with her diverse acting roles that showcases her range from playing a rebellious teenager in The Guest to a shrewd but socially awkward FBI agent in Longlegs, and a shady nanny in the modern re-imagining of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Coinciding with the release of her latest film In Cold Light [read our review here], here are eight of Maika Monroe’s best performances…
It Follows (2014)
This is the movie that became a career-defining role for Maika Monroe, who’d already delivered a standout performance in The Guest. She plays Jay, who finds herself being targeted by the unseen entity after having sex with her boyfriend (Jake Weary). She anchors the movie well, where it’s hard not to root for her character’s ordeal facing the fear of the unknown who affects her both emotionally and psychologically.
Her first-rate performance aside, writer-director David Robert Mitchell evokes a frightening sense of dread and paranoia in his supernatural-heavy story, while reflecting the concept of the titular entity as an allegory for STDs, mortality, and the disillusionment of entering adulthood. He also favors more atmospheric tension that slowly creeps up on you rather than cheap jump-scare tactics. Coupled with Disasterpeace’s eerily synth-heavy score, It Follows easily ranks as one of the best supernatural horror films in the modern era.
The Guest (2014)
2014 was a groundbreaking year for Maika Monroe, with her two films, The Guest and It Follows, making her an indie darling and a scream queen in the genre cinema. Although The Guest is led by Dan Stevens’ titular mysterious character, whose seemingly soft-spoken personality lies a dark and chilling nature, Monroe’s character as the rebellious Anna brings a substantial depth to her performance.
Anna may seem vulnerable at first, and despite her initial attraction to Dan’s character, she is far from a typical high-school teenager who gets easily swooned by his magnetic charm. This is particularly evident once she begins to suspect his identity as a so-called best friend of her late eldest brother, who served together in the army. The movie itself is an effective blend of gritty action thriller and slasher horror, thanks to Adam Wingard’s astute direction in combining different genres.
Longlegs (2024)
You gotta give it to Neon for doing a hell of a job with the studio’s ingenious marketing campaign. Overhyped? In a way, yes, but it’s hard to deny writer-director Osgood Perkins’ inspiration from the popular 1990s thrillers seen in The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en is given a deliberately structured, dread-inducing mix of police procedural, murder mystery and occult horror.
While the highlight comes from Nicolas Cage’s disturbingly unhinged turn as the enigmatic and creepy serial killer, Maika Monroe manages to hold her own as the rookie FBI agent assigned to the case. She even embodies some of the distinct characteristics seen in Jodie Foster’s award-winning performance as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, but with a half-psychic twist. She brings vulnerability and depth to her character arc, whose underlying fear and uncertainty grows increasingly palpable as the story delves deeper into the investigation right until the macabre finale.
Watcher (2022)
Paranoia runs deep in Chloe Okuno’s excellent debut feature Watcher, which effectively blends Hitchcockian psychological thriller territory that emphasizing on the deliberate slow-burn approach to building up a gradual sense of unease and tension. The story follows Julia (Maika Monroe) and her husband, Francis (Karl Glusman), moving from New York to Bucharest, Romania. While he’s frequently coming home from work, she is left all alone in the apartment. She barely has any friends ever since they moved to a different country, allowing Okuno to put Monroe’s character through the wringer by placing her in a foreign environment that begins to overwhelm her from the inside out.
Not only we see her having tough time speaking Romanian, unlike her more fluent husband, she also suspects someone is watching her from across the building. Okuno does a good job keeping us wondering whether there’s actually a watcher watching her or she might be imagining things due to her loneliness. Monroe’s performance brings a level of subtlety without resorting to histrionics as she successfully balances her character’s vulnerability with layered emotional descents from fear, isolation, and frustration.
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (2025)
Remaking a popular 1992 nanny-from-hell thriller of the same name seems like a desperate cash-in attempt at first. Not to mention anyone who plays Rebecca De Mornay’s memorable antagonist role is bound to have an uphill task. And yet, Maika Monroe manages to step up the challenge and succeeds in her role as Polly, a live-in nanny who is hired to babysit the couple’s (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Raúl Castillo) kids at home.
The best thing here is that Monroe doesn’t try to outdo or copy De Mornay’s acting style, opting instead to make Polly entirely her own. She brings a deceptively sinister turn to her character with enough depth and nuance without succumbing to an over-the-top villain approach. It also helps that her manipulative portrayal perfectly contrasts with Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s grounded turn as a career-minded mother who later discovers the dark truth about Polly. Their captivating dynamic drives this surprisingly above-average thriller, while kudos also go to Michelle Garza Cervera’s confident direction in taking The Hand That Rocks the Cradle into a few subversive paths before culminating in a visceral third act.
Villains (2019)
This little-seen pitch-black crime comedy from co-directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen marks a departure for Maika Monroe, playing a criminal for a change. A small-time, wannabe thief, to be exact, with Bill Skarsgård playing her partner in crime. The story may sound like it’s treading on the familiar ground: A young crime couple just robs a gas station and manages to get away, only to find their car ironically runs out of gas. Lucky for them, they manage to stumble upon a somewhat isolated house in the woods. Well, they break into the house, and what happens next is something unexpected: There’s a little girl chained to the leg in the basement.
And that is not all, their subsequent encounter with the homeowner couple (Jeffrey Donovan, Kyra Sedgwick), who are far from regular folks. Let’s just say the movie leads to the dark and twisted consequences, blending comedy with horror and psychological thriller while bringing a fresh perspective to the otherwise typical home invasion genre. Monroe and Skarsgård share great on-screen chemistry in Villains, one of the few highlights that made this movie such an engrossing watch.
Significant Other (2022)
Maika Monroe reunites with Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, but instead of another crime comedy, Significant Other is a sci-fi horror with most of the screen time focusing on the two-hander performances, played by the actress and her co-star, Jake Lacy. The story seems like a straightforward genre fare: A young couple goes on a hiking trip, and during the earlier stretch, it plays like a drama that deals with their relationship.
Halfway through the movie, it morphs into a creepy horror territory before the disturbing sci-fi angle gradually takes over. Monroe particularly excels in her role as a reluctant girlfriend who begins to sense something is wrong as the movie progresses. Her character’s anxiety-prone nature stemmed from her past, which is subtly reflected in the underlying themes of fear and paranoia that make the added sci-fi horror elements significantly – no pun intended – palpable.
Greta (2018)
A solid throwback to the (fill in the blank) from hell subgenre which populated the 1990s era, director and co-writer Neil Jordan brings out the best in his principal cast, including Isabelle Huppert’s unhinged turn as the titular lonely widow who grows increasingly obsessed with the young waitress, played by Chloë Grace Moretz as Frances. Their initial friendship takes a sinister turn after the latter discovers something is not right about Greta.
Maika Monroe, meanwhile, is a supporting character in this psychological thriller. At the hands of a lesser director, her role as Frances’s best friend and roommate, Erica, might be reduced to a token character. And yet, Monroe manages to make the most of her screen time, elevating her Erica role with a mix of perseverance and spunkiness. She’s no pushover either, even dealing with someone as disturbing as Greta. This is especially true during the climactic third act, making good use of her street smarts to get the better of the latter. She also contrasts well with Moretz’s naïve yet sympathetic Frances, while the bond of their friendship, seen in these two young actresses’ on-screen chemistry, is undeniable.
What are your favourite Maika Monroe movies? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Casey Chong
