Victorian Psycho Review
Victorian Psycho (2026) Film Review, a movie directed by Zachary Wigon, written by Virginia Feito and starring Maika Monroe, Jason Isaacs, Thomasin McKenzie, Ruth WIlson, Evie Templeton, Amy De Bhrún, Jacobi Jupe, Paul Reid, Katherine Moran, Dagmar Döring, David Brady and Alan Devally.
Movies set in 1858 don’t usually play out as gruesomely they do in Zachary Wigon’s wild and off-the-wall new horror film, Victorian Psycho. Penned by the mind of Virginia Feito, who may think she’s the sanest person she knows, the film stars Maika Monroe in a role few actresses would be willing to play. That’s because it is so mean-spirited and twisted that seeing her in another romantic film would make her feel like a stalker in that role if one witnesses her performance in this very gruesome movie.
When you see this film, you’ll know how demented her governess character, Winifred Notty truly is. Of course, Winifred is not a real governess, nor is her last named pronounced correctly most of the time in the film. It sounds like “Ms. Naughty” instead of Ms. Notty as pronounced by almost every single character in the movie, and, surely, it’s purely intentional.
There’s no need for a spoiler alert in bold face to be typed here. If you don’t want to know more about this film, stop reading and go to the recap in the last paragraph at the end. For those who are still here, Monroe has a wicked good time playing the equivalent to Christian Bale’s part in American Psycho except “Winifred” is much more demented than Patrick Bateman ever could be.
Winifred feeds body parts of a victim to pigs, makes people “disappear” to prevent her from getting caught, kills a living animal and tries to manipulate the head of the household she goes to work for, who may actually have a secret, himself, as the film progresses. Winifred also hallucinates that things are going on which clearly aren’t happening, making her quite intriguingly bonkers to watch.
Thomasin McKenzie portrays Miss Lamb, a nursemaid who isn’t too swift, but seems to suspect that Winifred may be up to no good. Miss Lamb eventually believes there’s a “ghoul” around the mansion the film takes place in because Winifred says so. McKenzie has fun playing dumb in this film, and although the role isn’t too challenging, McKenzie is in fine form.
Winifred’s bosses are the members of the Pounds family, headed by Mr. Pounds (Jason Isaacs). Mrs. Pounds is played by Ruth Wilson while Jacobi Jupe and Evie Templeton assume the roles of the unsuspecting kids, Andrew and Drusilla. Things get off to a shaky start with the kids when Winifred kills an animal right in front of them, claiming it was afraid and near death, which it was not. Andrew tells his mom, and Winifred tells the mother that he’s lying.
One of the biggest problems with Victorian Psycho is that the Winifred character doesn’t even try to play the part of the governess. She lies and deceives almost immediately and trust is never built, suggesting that the Pounds family probably wouldn’t have even kept her on staff for a day. That part of the story requires a huge suspension of disbelief, as do most of the gory scenes that transpire in the picture.
This film becomes a bloodbath as one would expect, but that will be swell for horror fans who have come to the right place if they like their psychopaths twistier than a big, soft pretzel. Monroe nails the role, and the character goes on her rampage in such a way that anyone compelled to see this film can’t complain the filmmakers didn’t try to go all in and make this film a gorefest equal to the American Psycho film adaptation in terms of flat-out style and intensity.
Isaacs gets a creepy scene opposite Monroe’s Winifred as Winifred finally gets the upper hand in a complicated situation that arises towards the film’s climax. Ruth Wilson as the suspecting wife of the household is actually really strong in her role while Jupe and Templeton are both extraordinarily well chosen for their roles.
Victorian Psycho is all twists and secrets. However, the reveals all involve the character Monroe plays, who claims she’s the sanest person she knows right at the end of the film, again, just to remind viewers of what she states at the beginning of the picture.
Edited with careful attention to detail, this gorefest is beyond gruesome to behold, but certainly gets the job done by being supremely entertaining as a good horror film should be. One has to give credit where credit is due to Monroe, who goes over-the-top and never comes back, even at the picture’s very bleak conclusion.
Victorian Psycho is a blood-saturated spectacle that never comes up for air. It’s a relentless picture that advances Monroe to the next level of stardom. She would never work in Hollywood again in a lead role if all the major studio executives saw this movie, but that’s a good thing because Monroe has never been afraid to take risks, and if someone is afraid of taking a risk on Monroe, then that person’s cause is undeserving of her. Monroe carries Victorian Psycho on her back all the way through, and it’s a winner for die-hard horror fans.
Rating: 7.5/10
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