Maika Monroe shows how much more than ‘Scream Queen’ she is in ‘Victorian Psycho’

CANNES, France (AP) — After years spent fleeing serial killers and worse, Maika Monroe goes on the offensive in the gothic triller “Victorian Psycho.”

On the surface, the movie appears to extend Monroe’s reputation as the preeminent “Scream Queen” of her generation. Horror films like “It Follows,” “Watcher” and “Longlegs” have made the 33-year-old Monroe synonymous with the genre.

Bodies get bloody in “Victorian Psycho,” too. But in the film, written by Virginia Feito and based on her 2025 novel, Monroe’s deranged protagonist is archly hilarious. As much as Monroe may be associated with horror, she might be even better at comedy.

“I didn’t know if I could pull it off. I decided to take the leap,” Monroe says. “Man, it was just so much fun. There’s so much freedom in this role. It will definitely be the character I’ll miss the most.”

In the film directed by Zachary Wigon, which Bleecker Street releases Friday in theaters, Monroe plays Winifred Notty. In the 1850s, she arrives at the Ensor House, the grand manor of the Pounds family, to serve as the eager governess to two children (Evie Templeton, Jacobi Jupe).

It doesn’t take long for the children to realize Winifred has a screw loose. But their governess is comically chipper, even when making excuses for a stray ear found under a bed.

As distant as the part might be from Monroe — the laid back Santa Barbara, California, native is here doing a British accent for the first time — it’s the first role to really capture Monroe’s natural comic energy.

“I’ve never done anything remotely close to a role like this,” Monroe said in an interview earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival, where “Victorian Psycho” first premiered. “I’m usually more introverted and internal with my roles, and this is very outward.”

Monroe’s range as an actor has always exceeded any neat genre identification. She brought Hitchcockian depth to “Watcher” and psychological intensity to “Longlegs.” She’ll return to her breakthrough role in the much anticipated “They Follows,” David Robert Mitchell’s recently shot sequel to his 2014 hit.

But in “Victorian Psycho,” Monroe is a hoot. Her Winifred is almost always grinning ear to ear. That came from one of Monroe’s heroes.

“One of my favorite actors is Jack Nicholson. I think every project he does he’s fascinating,” Monroe says. “Of course in ‘The Shining,’ he’s pretty much smiling through the whole thing, through all the pain and the anguish. That was a huge influence.”

Monroe is also a professed fan of Olivia Colman. And it’s easy to see how wildly mischievous characters, like those often played by Colman or Nicholson, might be even more in Monroe’s wheelhouse than horror. It’s enough to make you wonder: Does she ever chafe at the term “Scream Queen?”

“I can’t be mad at it,” she says. “I’m so proud of ‘It Follows,’ ‘Longlegs,’ ‘Watcher.’ So, what can you do?”

But if a certain side of Monroe has been rarely seen on screen, “Victorian Psycho” lets it out.

“In the Victorian era, there was suppression. In this industry, I can find that I need to present a certain way or come across a certain way,” Monroe says. “You have to suppress certain things and not say certain things. That’s what was such a joy in this.”

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This is an updated version of a story that first moved May 21, 2026.