Maika Monroe, much more than 'Scream Queen,' returns to Cannes

CANNES, France (AP) — Maika Monroe's career essentially began at the Cannes Film Festival. Her breakthrough role in “It Follows” premiered in Cannes’ Critics Week sidebar in 2014.

“I was a newbie,” recalls Monroe. “I’m pretty sure I spent my 21st birthday here. I was like: ‘Well isn’t that exciting, to turn 21 in a country where I could have drank in for years.’”

“It Follows,” about a sexually transmitted curse, was part of a new wave of probing, atmospheric horror films. But then, it was a small $1.3 million indie movie that had little reason to expect a Cannes launch.

“It was surreal. You never expect going into making a film that this will happen,” Monroe said in an interview on the rooftop of Cannes' Palais des Festivals. “But especially for that film. It was such a tiny, indie horror film. At that point, there really wasn’t genre at this festival.”

That has changed, though. Horror, science fiction and even slasher films have increasingly shown up in Cannes. This year, that included Jane Schoenbrun’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” the Korean monster-sci-fi-mashup “Hope” and the gothic thriller “Victorian Psycho,” starring Monroe as an unhinged governess.

On the surface, “Victorian Psycho,” which premiered Thursday in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section, appears to extend Monroe’s reputation as the preeminent “Scream Queen” of her generation. Along with “It Follows,” she’s been at the center of horror films like 2022’s “Watcher” and 2024’s “Longlegs.”

But Monroe’s range as an actor far exceeds any neat genre identification. She brought Hitchcockian depth to “Watcher” and psychological intensity to “Longlegs.” Bodies get bloody in “Victorian Psycho,” too, but Monroe’s deranged protagonist is archly hysterical. She’s a hoot.

As much as Monroe may be associated with horror, she might be even better at comedy. In the gleefully morbid “Victorian Psycho,” she finally turns the tables. After years spent fleeing serial killers and worse, Monroe is on the offensive.

“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 Zachary Wigon’s “Victorian Psycho,” which Bleecker Street will release Sept. 25 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.

It doesn’t take long for the children to realize she has a screw loose. But Winifred is comically chipper, even when deranged and over the top. As distant as the part might be from Monroe — a Santa Barbara, California, native 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 says. “I’m usually more introverted and internal with my roles, and this is very outward.”

Almost always in “Victorian Psycho,” Winifred is grinning. 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’s. 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?”

“Some of the films I’m most proud of are in this space of genre,” she says. “I can’t be mad at it. 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.”

Maika Monroe poses for portrait photographs for the film 'Victorian Psycho' at the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Maika Monroe poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Victorian Psycho' during the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Maika Monroe poses for photographers at the opening ceremony and premiere of the film 'The Electric Kiss' during 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Maika Monroe poses for portrait photographs for the film 'Victorian Psycho' at the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Maika Monroe poses for portrait photographs for the film 'Victorian Psycho' at the 79th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is slipping Thursday after oil prices resumed their climb.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% and is on track for a fourth drop in five days after setting its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 110 points, or 0.2%, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower.

A halt in the torrid run for stocks benefiting from the artificial-intelligence boom has slowed the U.S. market recently. Not even another better-than-expected profit report from Nvidia was enough to kick it back into gear.

The chip company reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, while also forecasting revenue for the current quarter that cleared analysts’ estimates. “The buildout of AI factories — the largest infrastructure expansion in human history — is accelerating at extraordinary speed,” CEO Jensen Huang said.

But such performances and such talk have become routine, and Nvidia's stock swiveled between losses and gains before falling 1.7%.

Some analysts said the weakness may have simply been because investors were locking in profits after Nvidia’s stock had soared nearly 70% over the prior year, more than double the S&P 500’s 27% jump. The broad AI industry is also getting criticism for becoming too expensive, as well as too circular as Nvidia has bought ownership stakes in companies that use its own chips that drive Nvidia’s revenue.

Pressure built on Wall Street, meanwhile, as the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil climbed 2.6% to $107.76 and trimmed its loss for the week. Oil prices have been swinging up and down with uncertainty about how long the war with Iran will keep the Strait of Hormuz shut, which is preventing oil tankers from exiting the Persian Gulf to deliver crude.

The higher oil prices pushed Treasury yields upward in the bond market, resuming rises following a slowdown the day before.

Climbing yields have cranked up the pressure on financial markets worldwide. They're slowing economies and weighing on prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. Besides driving up rates for mortgages, high yields could also curtail companies’ borrowing to build the AI data centers that have been supporting the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.61% from 4.57% late Wednesday.

It had gotten near 4.63% in the morning, after a report gave the latest signal that the U.S. job market remains in better shape than economists expected. The number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits last week unexpectedly declined in an indication of fewer layoffs.

But yields eased a bit following a mixed preliminary report showing weaker-than-expected growth for business activity among U.S. services businesses and improved growth for U.S. manufacturers. Companies are feeling the effects of accelerating inflation and are seeing subdued growth in their order books, the preliminary data from an S&P Global survey said.

“The damaging economic impact from the war in the Middle East is becoming increasingly evident in the business surveys,” according to Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Inflation is worsening even beyond the high oil prices caused by the Iran war, while U.S. households are showing widespread discouragement about the economy.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Walmart fell 7.8% following its profit report. The retailer delivered another quarter of impressive revenue but offered up weaker forecasts for upcoming profit than analysts expected.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Ralph Lauren, which jumped 11.3% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following bigger moves in Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi Kospi soared 8.4% thanks to strength for technology stocks. Samsung Electronics jumped 8.5% after its labor union and management reached an agreement late Wednesday that averted a strike. SK Hynix, a chip company partnering with Nvidia, surged 11.2%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 3.1%, while indexes fell 1% in Hong Kong and 2% in Shanghai.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Trader Aaron Ford works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Edward McCarthy works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A Global Medical Response helicopter sits in front of the New York Stock Exchange before the planned IPO of GMR Solutions, Inc., Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 18, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)