Witt certainly had a lot of heavy-lifting to do in the film’s climactic scenes. As THR points out, Witt had gone through a lot of personal tragedy prior to filming, including losing both of her parents in December 2021, as well as overcoming a cancer diagnosis. Witt described it all as “cathartic.” Through that catharsis, she managed to capture something pretty special, it turns out, as the cast and crew applauded her performance when it was over:

“We went from rage and intense grief, to reverence for the proceedings, to out of it, to warning, to exhausted, if I remember correctly. In between each one, we would just reset and wipe tears away et cetera, and go right away again. When it was all over, there was a round of applause. Blair Underwood came over and shook my hand and said, ‘That was a masterclass.’ I feel so emotional all over again just thinking about it, and no matter what I experience from this point forward, that will always be a highlight.”

Fortunately, Witt is getting the recognition she deserves here. Witt has been acting for most of her life, dating back to her work in David Lynch’s “Dune” and “Twin Peaks” as a child actor. She’s also no stranger to the horror genre, having previously starred in the slasher “Urban Legend” as well as “The Exorcist” TV series. Witt has been grinding away as an actor for decades and, at long last, this performance has shined a well-deserved spotlight on her talents.

Witt is managing to carve out a large chunk of praise in a film where Cage also turned in an eye-popping, transformative performance as the Longlegs killer. It speaks volumes about just how damn good she is on screen. To that end, “Longlegs” has been met with rave reviews, with /Film’s Bill Bria praising it as the most terrifying horror movie of the year. Witt is, in no small part, responsible for that.

“Longlegs” is currently playing in theaters.