Maika Monroe Channels Gothic Glamour at the Victorian Psycho Screening in New York

Look, if you’re promoting a movie called Victorian Psycho, you might as well dress the part. Maika Monroe clearly got that memo.

On Monday night, November 2, the 33-year-old actress walked into a screening of her new gothic horror film at the Village East Cinema in New York City looking like she’d just stepped out of the manor in the movie. Black lace. Diamonds. A stare that said she knows something you don’t. It was a whole mood, and honestly, it worked.

She wasn’t alone, either. Co-star Jason Isaacs showed up, along with director Zachary Wigon and screenwriter Virginia Feito — who, fun detail, adapted the film from her own 2025 novel. So the person who invented this creepy governess story is also the person writing her lines. That usually bodes well.

Two other stars of the film, Thomasin McKenzie and Ruth Wilson, didn’t appear to be at the screening. No big deal. Monroe and Isaacs had the room covered.

That dress did a lot of heavy lifting

Let’s talk about the outfit, because people are going to be talking about it anyway. Monroe wore what looks like a deconstructed lace maxi dress by Colleen Allen — sheer panels, frayed edges, the kind of thing that manages to look elegant and a little bit wrong at the same time. Which, again, is kind of the whole point of this movie.

Then came the jewelry, and this is where it went from “nice goth look” to “okay, she’s serious.” Chopard, from the Haute Joaillerie Collection. Earrings in 18k white gold with 8.5 carats of diamonds. A ring in 18k white gold with 1.98 carats. Against all that black lace? Yeah. It popped.

Here’s the trick with a look like this: go too far and you look like you’re off to a Halloween party. Play it too safe and you look like every other premiere dress that month. Monroe landed right in the middle — dark and dramatic, but still grown-up and polished. The diamonds did that. They kept the whole thing from tipping into costume.

Isaacs kept his side of the carpet way more chill. Dark navy unstructured blazer, black crewneck tee underneath, matching navy pants, low-top sneakers. Relaxed. A little rumpled. He looked like a guy who showed up to support his co-star and didn’t feel the need to compete with her outfit. Smart man.

So what’s the movie actually about?

Fair question, because the setup is deliciously simple. Per distributor Bleecker Street, Victorian Psycho is set in Victorian England and follows an eccentric governess who turns up at a remote gothic manor — and then weird stuff starts happening, and people start wondering if she’s really who she says she is.

That’s the whole pitch, more or less. And it’s a good one, because it leaves the best part unanswered: is the governess in danger, or is she the danger? Is the house haunted, or is she? The title hints at an answer. Or maybe it’s messing with you. You won’t know until you watch it, which is exactly how a trailer-era horror movie should behave.

The governess-in-a-creepy-house thing is an old formula, sure. But old formulas stick around because they work. Big empty house. Too many locked doors. A new arrival who smiles politely while something feels off. Add a lead actress who specializes in quiet dread, and you’ve got something.

It hits U.S. theaters on November 13, 2026. Mid-November, right after Halloween season winds down but before the holiday blockbusters eat everything in sight. Clever slot for a smaller horror film, if you ask me.

Monroe didn’t just wander into horror — she built a home there

Some actors dip into horror once and run. Monroe moved in, redecorated, and stayed.

Most folks first clocked her in It Follows (2014), that low-budget nightmare about a curse you can’t outrun. She played Jay, a teenager being stalked by something that never hurries — which, somehow, made it scarier. No screaming every five minutes. Just exhaustion. Just dread. Critics noticed, audiences noticed, and suddenly her name meant something in the genre.

Same year, she showed a totally different side in The Guest. Then she mixed it up: Independence Day: Resurgence in 2016 (big, loud, blockbuster-y), Hot Summer Nights in 2017 (sun-soaked and messy in a fun way). She never boxed herself in.

But the last few years? That’s when it clicked into place. Watcher in 2022 — her as an American woman in Bucharest, convinced someone’s following her, and you’re never quite sure if she’s right. Then Longlegs in 2024, where she played FBI agent Lee Harker chasing a serial killer played by Nicolas Cage. That movie blew up way beyond what anyone expected for an indie horror release, and Monroe’s performance was a huge reason why. She doesn’t oversell fear. She just lets it sit there on her face until you start feeling it too.

So yeah, Victorian Psycho fits. Different century, different dress, same skill. A polite governess with secrets? A manor full of strange happenings? If anyone can make good manners feel threatening, it’s her.

And I like that she keeps betting on original horror instead of chasing the safest franchise paycheck. The genre’s been good to her, and she’s been good to it. When her name pops up on a horror poster now, fans show up. That’s earned.

The rest of the cast is no joke, either

Monroe’s got backup, and it’s the good kind.

Jason Isaacs — Lucius Malfoy himself, and more recently a standout on The White Lotus — has one of those voices that can make “dinner’s ready” sound like a threat. In a gothic manor story, where everybody’s hiding something, that’s not a small thing. Whatever his character knows (and trust me, he knows something), Isaacs will make you want the answer.

Thomasin McKenzie is one of those actresses who keeps getting better in front of your eyes. Jojo Rabbit put her on the map, Last Night in Soho showed she could carry something eerie and stylish, and she has this knack for playing young women who are sharper than every adult in the room. In a house full of secrets, you want that person on screen.

Then there’s Ruth Wilson. Luther, The Affair, His Dark Materials — the woman does not do boring. She does layered and prickly and fascinating, sometimes all in the same scene. Stick her in a Victorian manor and something’s going to ignite. Metaphorically, at least. Probably.

Director Zachary Wigon (he made The Heart Machine) has strong material and a strong cast to work with. The big question with any gothic horror is whether it trusts its own atmosphere — will it let the quiet scenes breathe, or will it rush to explain everything? The vague synopsis suggests the filmmakers know better than to spoil their own mystery. Fingers crossed.

Why I’m circling November 13

November is a bloodbath at the box office, let’s be real. Small horror movies can vanish in a weekend. But this one has a few things going for it.

One: you can explain it in a single sentence. Governess. Manor. Is she the victim or the problem? Try it at dinner — everyone at the table will want to know more. That’s rare, and it’s valuable.

Two: the book is fresh. Feito’s novel came out in 2025, not twenty years ago, and she’s adapting it herself. The weirdness has a better chance of surviving the jump to screen when the author is in the room.

Three: Monroe is hot right now, off the back of Longlegs. Horror fans will turn up on opening weekend just because she’s in it. That’s a real, bankable thing, and Bleecker Street knows it.

Monday’s screening was step one — a striking look, a good crowd, a cast that looked like they actually believed in the movie. The rest is up to the film itself. We’ll find out together on November 13.

Until then, Monroe’s already done her job. She walked into a cinema in black lace, smiled at the cameras, and left everybody wondering what her character is hiding. For a movie called Victorian Psycho, that’s about as good a first impression as you can get.

Source: Just Jared