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  "description": "Darkly funny and impish in tone, Victorian Psycho is a familiar mix of elements, yet delicious nonetheless.",
  "path": "/cannes-victorian-psycho-review/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-26T11:21:03.000Z",
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  "textContent": "**The Verdict**\n\n\"Darkly funny and impish in tone, Victorian Psycho is a familiar mix of elements, yet delicious nonetheless.\"\n\nRegion Free Score\n\n★★★★★\n\n4/5\n\nVictorian Psycho is an impish and often laugh-out-loud funny black comedy that spends a frustrating amount of time looking for a tone, yet thrives thanks to the spellbinding work of Maika Monroe. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but many will be annoyed by its uncertain dance between stylistic choices.\n\nThe film is an adaptation by Virginia Feito from her own novel, and many of the problems stem from both the translation and director Zachary Wigon's attempts at having things both ways. Victorian Psycho is at once a demented character study, a black comedy in the style of Serial Mom, a gothic horror, and a satire of the genre itself. It is not coherent, and your enjoyment will vary based entirely on how much you approve of wild swings, even those that don't connect, and Maika Monroe, who remains one of the most striking and interesting actors working today.\n\nMonroe plays Winifred Notty (pronounced exactly as you'd expect), a governess for the Ensor House, home to Mr. (Jason Isaacs) and Mrs. Pounds (Ruth Wilson). Notty is to teach their two children, the spoiled Andrew (Jacobi Jupe), and the potentially unhinged Drusilla (Evie Templeton). All the while keeping her true nature, whatever that is, under wraps. \"It won't go like last time,\" Notty repeats to herself, until, as expected, she admits things will probably go exactly like last time.\n\nThe satire is heavy-handed, but undeniably fun. There are big laughs to be found in how far Feito's writing goes, and how little Wigon seems to care about any kind of decency. Within the first half hour, we get cannibalism and deaths so unexpected, it's clear that no one is safe.\n\nIt promises more than Victorian Psycho delivers, and the final act is a bit of a dud, even though it gives Monroe a lot to work with. There's a sense that both Wigon and Feito are so in love with their leading actress that everything else can fall by the wayside. And it's easy to see why that's the case: Monroe is tremendous, effortlessly toying with audience expectations and emotions. She's terrifying and pitiful and always engaging, and none of this would work without her.\n\nWhich doesn't take away from the gleefully silly work that Ruth Wilson and Jason Isaacs bring to the table. Wilson is always a tremendous talent, even if her part here is written thinner than a wafer. She can go from snooty to insecure in a single sentence, suggesting so much more than her material allows, and it's always a joy to watch. Her sequences with Monroe spark at every turn, and it's a shame we get only a few of them.\n\nWhere Victorian Psycho will divide audiences the most is its stylistic choices. Wigon aims for something akin to Sam Raimi via The Others, Monroe brings her Longlegs unease to the picture, while everyone else is big and broad. There are repeated gags that could be from The Fast Show, while others involve infanticide. At no point can you guess where Victorian Psycho goes next, and it's either exhausting or exhilarating with no middle ground.\n\nFor me, it's the latter. I was never bored with this picture. Instead, I kept asking where it would go next, and even if it didn't quite live up to my expectations, it went around them often enough that the experience was rewarding all the same.\n\nFans of the genre will recognize the materials this particular stew is made from. It is well-worn territory with some unexpected turns in the process. But there are delights in familiarity as well, especially when singular elements are so grand. It's no horror classic, but it doesn't need to be. Victorian Psycho is a gory, demented delight. That's enough.",
  "title": "Cannes: Victorian Psycho is a demented delight",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-26T11:21:03.580Z"
}