Prime Video Is Streaming The Overlooked First Movie Of Longlegs Director Osgood Perkins

Osgood Perkins is best known for 2024's "Longlegs" but his feature directorial debut, "The Blackcoat's Daughter" is a similarly chilling slow burn. Thankfully, the 2015 psychological horror is now available on Prime Video at no extra cost for subscribers.

In 2024, NEON's YouTube channel was suddenly populated by disturbing clips depicting family photos set to frantic 9-1-1 calls and mysterious hooded figures. The channel hadn't been hacked. It was all part of a genius marketing strategy for horror movie "Longlegs," which went on to become one of the biggest horror successes of the year. In fact, the Osgood Perkins-directed "Longlegs" became the biggest indie horror box office hit in a decade. Perkins has since helmed several high-profile films including 2025's "The Monkey" which was based on a Stephen King short story. He followed that up with the unnerving and ultimately satisfying layer cake of horror that was "Keeper," proving that "Longlegs" wasn't just a flash in the pan — though it's by far the director's most widely-hyped release yet.

Long before any of this success, however, Perkins was making quieter, more subdued horror offerings with the likes of 2015's "The Girl in the Photographs," 2016's "I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House," and 2020's "Gretel & Hansel." All of these films rely on the same slow-building sense of terror that made "Longlegs" so unforgettable. But "The Blackcoat's Daughter" is arguably the best of the early Perkins oeuvre, which is why you should go stream it ahead of Perkins' upcoming project, "The Young People."

"The Blackcoat's Daughter" isn't necessarily one of the best A24 movies, given how strong a field that is. But it is one of the best A24 horror movies. Kiernan Shipka, of "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" fame, stars alongside Emma Roberts in the movie, which sees the former play Kat, a student at Catholic boarding school Bramford Academy. In the dead of winter, Kat is disappointed to find that her parents have failed to come and pick her up for the break. This isn't some delightful 70s throwback vibes à la Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti's "The Holdovers," however. 

Kat is left at the school with an older girl, Rose (Lucy Boynton), who's been tasked with watching over the younger student but is much more worried about her boyfriend. Soon, some unseen evil force overtakes Kat, who has visions of her parents dying in a car wreck, and begins to act erratically. Meanwhile, in a separate timeline, Roberts' mental institution escapee, Joan, is picked up by a couple whose daughter has died. Will these timelines converge in a horrifying way? You bet they will. 

It all unfolds fairly slowly, with Osgood Perkins building the tension and terror over the first two acts before unleashing hell in a final act that's appropriately unhinged. Otherwise, there aren't a whole lot of jump scares here, and it's worth noting that Perkins was clearly intent on doing something different with his 2015 debut, carrying that approach with him through successive projects.

Next to "Longlegs," "The Blackcoat's Daughter" is one of Perkins' best efforts, and easily one of the scariest A24 horror films. Since the movie is on Prime Video at no extra cost, there's no excuse not to revisit the genesis of Perkins' horror mastery.