Victorian Psycho, directed by Zachary Wigon, follows the story of a governess on her current assignment. However, there is more to her than it initially seems, and she harbors a darkness.Winifred Notty (Maika Monroe) is hired as the new governess for the Pounds family, a wealthy family looking to help their young boy get smarter and their young girl be a proper young lady.
From the first moments of the film, it’s clear that Winifred is more than a little off, though she says she is the sanest person she’s ever met. She’s had governess roles with other families, which all ended horribly. She swears it will be different this time. However, she’s making people uncomfortable from moment one, and teaching the children dark lessons. As Winifred’s motivations become clearer, the ending becomes inevitable, and the film crescendos in a whirlwind third act.
Monroe’s performance is far and away the best aspect of the film. The character of Winfield would not work without Monroe. Winifred is twitchy, awkward, and vacillates between barely contained mania and uncomfortable calm. Without the strength of Monroe’s performance, the character would seem like a parody, and completely unbelievable. Monroe makes her believable.
The film itself is beautiful to look at. The setting of the Victorian home is both cold and fascinating, drawing in the viewer but keeping them at a distance. The enormous house allows for Winifred and her inner demons to explore the space and take advantage of times when she can’t be seen. The house is surrounded by peaceful woods, where Winifred can educate the children about the circle of life, as she kills a deer with a rock. Watching Winifred ruin her own life and the lives of others surrounded by such beauty make for a compelling viewing experience. The tension thought comes from the question, “How is the governess going to get out of this jam she caused?”
However, the steps the plot takes to get to the climactic ending lack some of the excitement viewers might hope for. There is very little mystery in the film – it’s clear from the beginning that Winifired is the titular psycho, and she is going to make a mess of things around her. “How” and “when” are the questions of the plot. Understanding where things are going makes the story feel slow, and viewers may wish things were moving at a quicker pace. It’s meant to feel methodical, slowly building to the chaos of the end, but instead the end contains all the energy of the film.
Based on a 2025 book of the same name by Virginia Feito, readers will be interested to see how what they imagined plays out onscreen. Viewers who enjoy period pieces, women going crazy on screen, and not too much blood and gore might find the film compelling. Fans of Miaka Monroe will absolutely find her performance stunning, but that they think of what’s happening around her will be divisive.
Victorian Psycho had its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest 2026 on Friday, September 18
