Maika Monroe is returning to the genre she helped redefine, but this time she's trading the FBI badge of Longlegs for the corset of a 19th-century governess. A new look at Victorian Psycho has arrived, confirming the film will premiere at Cannes this month before hitting theaters on September 24, 2026. This isn't just another period piece; it is a high-stakes adaptation of Virginia Feito's novel, backed by Anton, Traffic, and Anonymous Content, and it demands to be taken seriously.
THE GOVERNESS FROM HELL
The setup is deceptively simple. In 1858, Winifred Notty arrives at the remote Ensor House to take a position as a governess. As she assimilates into the household, staff members begin to vanish, and the estate owners start to suspect their new hire is hiding something dark behind her proper demeanor. It is a classic gothic framework — the isolated manor, the vulnerable outsider — but the promise here is that Winifred isn't the victim. She is the engine of the chaos.
CASTING THE FINAL GIRL TURNED KILLER
Monroe has built a career on playing characters who are hunted, from the relentless supernatural pursuit in It Follows to the psychological crucible of Longlegs. Casting her as Winifred Notty suggests a subversion of the "corrupting innocent" trope that plagues the Victorian serial killer subgenre. She is joined by a roster of heavy hitters: Thomasin McKenzie, known for her work in Old and Jojo Rabbit, plays Miss Lamb; Jason Isaacs takes on the role of Mr. Pounds; and Amy De Bhrún appears as Mrs. Fancey. This is an ensemble that elevates the material above standard slasher fare.
WIGON'S GAMBLE
The pressure falls on director Zachary Wigon to translate this literary tension to the screen. His previous features, Sanctuary and The Heart Machine, were chamber pieces that relied heavily on performance and claustrophobic tension. Sanctuary, in particular, was a two-hander that felt like a stage play. Victorian Psycho requires him to expand that scope to a full gothic production without losing the psychological intensity. If he leans too hard on aesthetic fetishism, the film risks becoming hollow. If he trusts his cast, this could be a nasty, brilliant evolution of the genre.
THE VERDICT
The "Victorian psycho" subgenre is crowded, and audiences are tired of the same corseted chills. The success of this film hinges on whether it can offer a fresh perspective on the period killer or if it will simply be another stylish entry in a tired lineage. Cannes will tell us if Wigon and Monroe have delivered a resurrection or just a pretty corpse.