Directed By JT Mollner

Starring – Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey

The Plot – Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.

Rated R for strong/bloody violent content, sexual material, drug use and adult language.

OFFICIAL TRAILER | STRANGE DARLING (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

It drives me completely crazy when people still say that Hollywood lacks originality, especially with 2024 serving as a who’s who of freshly innovative directors each conjuring their own unique style and substantial material to the respective debuts. Along comes JT Mollner, who might not exactly be new to making pictures, but nevertheless someone with a distinct personality in the air of his films, this time with outdated 35mm film and uniquely endearing stylistic impulses digging deeper for a presentation and atmospheric personality that lends itself effortlessly to the air of his engagement. Whether in swift motions of the camera stretching the captivity of an isolated room even further, saturating and luminating neon’s within the movie’s set designs, or meaningfully complex over-the-shoulder framing, it’s clear that Mollner is a master of maintaining the attention of his audience, and with a story that exceptionally meets him halfway, it proves that there are no weak links in the conceptual process of this ruthlessly unforgiving narrative that breaks conventionalism in its structure and corresponding thematic delves. As to where most films are told linearly from start to finish, ‘Strange Darling’ is divided into six respective sections, with them all being executed out of chronological order, as a way to establish that conception isn’t exactly reality in a film with so many compelling twists and turns. This creative decision could easily backfire on Mollner and the production, especially if told with a disjointed consistency that continuously makes it a chore to keep up, however the outline of the story and its sequencing is very simplistic, with only a few key settings and characters ranging the entirety of the experience, and each section establishes its own vital importance to the engagement, which keeps the story smoothly flowing all the way to one bloody and brutal confrontation that earns every ounce of its desired R-rating. As a garnish to this brutality, the film attains a spritz of dark comedy underlining to the interactions that outline the depravity of character movements without downright sacrificing the integrity of the film’s urgency or intensity, serving as a virtual litmus test of sorts for attentive audience members, who if they laugh with the derangement, can safely rest assured that they’re morally in a better state of mind than characters who open themselves and invite in such evidential ref flags to their sexual enticement, and that is NOT a kink shame. Just as importantly, the material cleverly dissects societal psychologies towards respective genders, as well as conventions for horror movies in general, which it uses to vividly paint a false sense of security towards an audience expecting one thing, but then realizing something entirely different in execution. It isn’t completely flawless, as one particular twist was easily sniffed out by yours truly, however it’s a fascinating exercise nevertheless in preconceived prejudices that plays exceptionally towards the ways that characters in the film are able to elude particular conflicts, with no need for unsubtle conveniences or surmising plot devices that spring from sloppy storytelling. Likewise, the film will inevitably do for dating and first encounters what ‘Jaws’ did for swimming in the water, or what ‘Psycho’ did for taking showers, with an overwhelming vulnerability factor and awkwardness to the ambiguity of strangers that Mollner emphasizes brilliantly in both the facial detections of the camera work, as well as the intentional lack of characterization and backstory that proves Mollner to be a creative risktaker. With little information about the minimal characters we’re given, one would assume that it would be difficult to invest in their respective conflicts, but there’s a strange bizarreness to the way these characters are initially introduced that should abbreviate that they aren’t your typical protagonist or antagonist, and though initially I felt that I wish I knew these characters a little more, the end result silenced my premature doubts about the ways that each of them are capably developed, especially in the mental chess game between these characters that let their actions do most of the talking. I’ve already commended the film’s transfixing style and subliminal cinematography, but two more technical merits in the amplified hard-rock score from Craig DeLeon, and boldness of the sound designs are equally integral to the movie’s thrilling foundation, making it easier to immerse ourselves in the painful and fearful plights of their physical and mental limits being continuously tested. On the score, the electric guitars and forceful strums elicit an airborne intensity meant to alarm and unnerve the audience, and while most of the editing and mixing of the movie maintains reservation, so as not to take away from the integrity of the interactions, the vibrating and echoing of gun ammunition feels like an environmental exclamation point deserving of character attention, emphasizing the stakes and circumstances that we can feel as much as see because of how it’s captured so intricately. Lastly, I have to give praise to the performances of Gallner and especially Fitzgerald, whose portrayals can be judged on the divide of before and after the proverbial shit hits the fan. Fitzgerald gives one of my favorite performances of the year, playing vulnerability and victimization with a bodily ratcheting that mirrors her emotional range, but also an evolving intensity during the film’s second half that drives so much of her character’s resiliency factors. Truthfully, I’ve never been a fan of Gallner’s, but his subdued stance emitting an underlining darkness here as the aptly titled ‘The Demon’, is easily my favorite of his career, with complexity amid the aforementioned ambiguity that constantly begs the question how far this character will take things

NEGATIVES

Though the flaws minimally had an effect on my overall engagement and final score, there were two primary issues that kept ‘Strange Darling’ from being one of the year’s best, which is no surprise considering the kind of risks that this film takes. While the unconventional structure goes unscathed, the big reveal of this twist at the midway point of the movie, I found to be very predictable, especially once you catch on to the designs and constructs of the characters, which constantly hint towards something deeper lurking just beneath the surface of their respective exteriors. It’s my opinion that whether an audience is able to capably sniff out this twist will have a great impact on their final feelings about the film, with those like me not garnering as much from the monumental bomb dropped as those completely caught off guard by it. This is one of those times where I felt truly jealous in reading about other audiences whose jaws hit the floor, but my experience with a certain B-movie horror film from 1995 mirrored a lot of the same beats as the character development and ambiguity of this film, resulting in me capably being able to sniff it out by the film’s twenty minute mark, then waiting patiently for the rest of the film to catch up. The twist itself I feel is revealed a little too early, as nothing following it ever captures that distinct level of momentum, even despite a blood-curdling climax of a final confrontation, and I wish the script would’ve taken more time reveling in that aforementioned ambiguity, especially since it clocks in at the basic 90 minute run time. In addition to a sniffed out twist, my only other issue with the film pertained to its ending, and specifically its final few shots, which dragged on a little longer than I would’ve appreciated. While I loved the ending, and specifically what it represents in correlation to the many themes of the film that I previously commended, those moments after the confrontation of The Lady and The Demon definitely feel like an afterthought to the physicality of that conflict, with the last shot before the credits roll stretching for what feels like an eternity, ridding some of the momentum from those enthralling blows.

OVERALL
‘Strange Darling’ is an artistically intoxicating and convention-breaking thrill-ride, where nothing is quite as it seems between a booty call gone bad between two strangers. Between the scattered pieces of the narrative each eliciting a deeper meaning to the reliance of the imagery, as well as two gravitating performances from Fitzgerald and Gallner, the film is able to succeed far beyond feeling reliant upon its game-changing twists, in turn serving as a cautionary red flag to the vulnerabilities of strangers, which will have you thinking twice about that next blind date.

My Grade: 8/10 or A-