'Victorian Psycho' (2026) Movie Review

Zachary Wigon’s Victorian Psycho begins as so many period horror movies do. Winifred Notty (Maika Monroe, Longlegs), a young woman in 1850s Britain, arrives at the country manor of a wealthy family, the Pounds, to serve as the governess for their young children. Then spooky and horrific things happen. Here’s where it differs from many other films with a similar set up, instead of Winifred being haunted or besieged by evil, she’s the source of the terror and mayhem, and there is so, so much mayhem to behold.

 

Adapted by Virginia Feito, from her own novel, Victorian Psycho presents as a dark psychological folk horror. While there certainly are elements of that, more than anything, what we experience on screen is a bold, twisted, drop-dead hilarious dark comedy wrapped in those other trappings. Wicked, biting, and sharp, this is one of, if not the funniest movie I’ve seen all year. In a vile, perverse kind of way. And that is meant as high praise.

 

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When we first meet Winifred, she proclaims to us that she’s the sanest person she’s ever met. You may not be immediately convinced. On the surface she is the proper, well-mannered tutor one might reasonably expect in this situation, though it doesn’t take long to recognize the hysteria lurking just below. She’ll blurt out the wrong thing in the wrong tone at the wrong moment, and it’s clear that she’s trying to conceal the mysteries of a shadowy past, occasionally through violent means. As we see her dispatch people who present potential roadblocks, the real mystery remains why she wants to worm her way into the Pounds family. 

 

All of this is well and good for creepy horror territory, but Monroe plays Winifred at such exaggerated timbre, cranked up to the absolute limit, that she transcends everything around her. Gleefully, delightfully unhinged and diabolical, she’s not afraid to hack off a hand, munch on an ear, or terrify a small child before bed. She goes full fever pitch and gives her performance every last ounce she has, continually ratcheting up the pressure and tension until it’s a miracle she hasn’t snapped, shrewdly twisting and improvising even as things crash around her. It’s one of the most unique, entertaining performances of the year. She may be a vicious killer, but it’s also difficult to root against her and she truly carries the whole picture.

 

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As wild Monroe is, and as indicated, she’s fully on one, chewing on every available bit of scenery, she’s surrounded by other actors who also perfectly understand the assignment. Jason Isaacs (A Cure for Wellness) plays the phrenology-obsessed patriarch. He’s married to Ruth Wilson (The Lone Ranger), a fastidious, stuffy, and pumped-up socialite, but who also says things like, “Make them smart, but not too smart,” regarding her children’s education. Her facial expressions are pure gold. Thomasin McKenzie (Leave No Trace) plays an impossible naïve nursemaid who befriends Winifred, with horrifying results. Even the kids are spot on. Jacobi Jupe (Hamnet) is an absolute shit stain of burgeoning entitlement, while Evie Templeton (Wednesday) is the spooky, bulge-eyed daughter who may be more Winifred’s Mini-Me than one would like.

 

Wigon balances the sly, cheeky wit and the graphic violence with a maniacal glint in his directorial eye. And with Feito’s script full of the stuffy, preposterous affectations and embellishments of high society—there’s a pineapple gag that had me rolling—they craft a sharp, clever satire of wealth, class, privilege, and misogyny that’s much more astute and engaging than many other recent attempts. Victorian Psycho is a bloody, rollicking good time. [Grade: A-]