Osgood Perkins is a name we've been hearing a lot of lately, especially those of us who watch a lot of horror movies. His most recent films, Longlegs and The Monkey, have proven to be big successes for distributor Neon and both were well-received by critics. His next horror movie, Keeper, arrives later this year, likely bringing Neon another big win.
However, even though Perkins is just now breaking into the mainstream conversation, he's been making movies for a long time, and it's actually his directorial debut that I want to bring attention to. Longlegs and The Monkey have received the most attention as of late do to their newness, impressive box office returns, and critical scores, but neither is the filmmaker's best work. That honor belongs to the 2015 film The Blackcoat's Daughter.
What is The Blackcoat's Daughter about?
The story is primarily set at a prestigious prep school in New York. Students Kat (Kiernan Shipka) and Rose (Lucy Boynton) end up having to stay at the school over winter break when their parents neglect to collect them. Since Rose is a senior and Kat a freshman, the principal requests that Rose look out for her younger classmate. Stranded at the school, the two girls face something unexplainable and evil.
In another timeline, we meet a former psychiatric hospital patient named Joan (Emma Roberts). A nice couple notices Joan at a bus stop and offers her a ride. The film slowly unveils how Joan's storyline connects to Kat and Rose's.
A slow, methodical, and disturbing psychological horror film, The Blackcoat's Daughter is a terrifying movie. After watching it, I felt like I'd summoned something into my own house. I woke in the dead of night covered in a sheen of cold sweat. There's something so unnerving about it, particularly Shipka's performance. Murder. Demons. The Devil himself. Perkins tapped directly into the darkest recesses of humanity to craft this intimate nightmare.
In many ways, The Blackcoat's Daughter works as a companion film to Longlegs, with some fans even theorizing that the two films might share an interconnected universe. Shipka stars in each and, like Longlegs, The Blackcoat's Daughter deals heavily with Satanism. Tonally, the two films complement one another well, and in some ways, The Blackcoat's Daughter is even more shocking than Longlegs.
Perkins also wrote and directed the divisive film I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House and directed Gretel & Hansel. Unfortunately, The Blackcoat's Daughter isn't currently streaming anywhere, but it is available to rent or buy from digital retailers (it's also out on DVD/Blu-ray).