Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Longlegs!

Nicolas Cage’s character in Longlegs is absolutely terrifying, and many viewers are wondering why the killer made this surprising choice. The psyche of Cage’s titular serial killer is the main mystery that pushes forward most of Longlegs‘ story, with the film following FBI agent Lee Harker as she attempts to solve a series of seemingly supernatural murders that are all connected by the involvement of a killer named Longlegs. Once Cage’s character is finally captured by the end of Longlegs, he pulls the rug out from under the police one last time, creating one of Longlegs‘ most shocking moments.

Longlegs is finally here, with the highly anticipated mystery horror film now out for viewers to enjoy. Longlegs viral marketing campaign has made it one of the most eagerly awaited movies of 2024, with very few details about the film and its story being released ahead of the film’s premiere. Now that Longlegs is out, however, there is a lot to decipher, with the film being packed full of Satanic imagery, flashbacks, supernatural possessions, creepy dolls, and more. Despite all this, Nicolas Cage’s Longlegs is still the scariest part of Longlegs, but he isn’t around for the film’s entire run.

Longlegs Took His Own Life To Avoid Exposing His Plan

But This Wasn’t The Only Reason

One of the most surprising moments in Longlegs happens near the end of the film’s second act, with Longlegs taking his own life. Throughout most of the film, Harker and the FBI are attempting to track down Longlegs, with them not being able to ID the suspect until Harker returns home and finds a photograph of him. After realizing that this photo contains Longlegs, Harker informs the FBI, with an army of police cars surrounding him at a bus stop.

Nick Cage’s Longlegs killer is brought in and interrogated, and after spending an undetermined amount of time in custody, Harker decides to talk to him in an attempt to find out who his accomplice is. During this interrogation, however, Longlegs begins repeatedly smashing his head into the table that he is handcuffed to until he dies.

Longlegs is a mysterious character throughout the film, meaning that it is hard to entirely parse out his motives at any point in the film. However, it seems like one of the main reasons that Longlegs ended his own life was to prevent Harker from discovering anything else about his plan. Longlegs let Harker know that her mother was his accomplice, but he didn’t want her to find out about the extent of his Satanic connections. Since his role in the plan was finished, Longlegs decided to end his life rather than give Harker any more help.

Longlegs Died Knowing Ruth Harker Would Continue His Work

Longlegs’ Plan Was Too Far Along To Stop

Longlegs’ decision to end his own life was not an admission of defeat at the hands of the FBI. Rather, he knew that he had already succeeded, as Ruth Harker was going to continue his work. The twist ending of Longlegs reveals that Lee Harker’s mother is actually the accomplice that has been helping Longlegs, with her role in the Satanic murder spree being due to her sacrificing herself to save her daughter when Lee was just a child. Longlegs hadn’t actually been directly killing his victims, with him only orchestrating murders for Ruth and the dolls to carry out.

Since Lee Harker was interrogating Longlegs on the day that he had set for the final murder, he knew that Ruth was already prepared to bring a doll to the Carter house, finishing their plan. Thus, Longlegs believed that it didn’t make a difference if he were alive or dead anymore, with him ending his own life to avoid jail time and prevent the police from pulling any more information out of him.

Was Dying Always Part Of Longlegs’ Plan?

It May Have Been Satan’s Plan

The motives and plan of Nicolas Cage’s Longlegs killer are mysterious throughout the film, meaning that it is incredibly hard to pin down whether or not Longlegs’ always planned to die. When Longlegs first met the Harker family, he wasn’t working with Ruth, meaning that he obviously wasn’t planning to die due to Ruth being able to carry out the other killings. However, Longlegs seemed as if he were waiting for the FBI to find him while he was standing at the bus stop, meaning that he had at least accepted his fate by this point.

It could also be that Longlegs was completely under the control of Satan, with Satan having always planned on Longlegs dying. After all, Longlegs is just another human to Satan, and despite Longlegs’ Satan worshipping practices, he isn’t needed anymore. Satan could have made Longlegs end his own life due to him being under Satan’s control, explaining this surprising choice at the end of Longlegs.