Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald are particularly impressive in JT Mollner’s serial killer shocker. Here’s our Strange Darling review.
When this review goes up, it’s been roughly two weeks since I watched JT Mollner’s Strange Darling and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. Its many twists and turns have haunted me and I keep challenging my own ideas of it. In many ways, that’s the best kind of film there is, one that sticks with you for far longer than the bus ride home.
Strange Darling is best experienced with as little knowledge of its plot as possible, so we’ll give you some broad details here to give you an understanding of what makes the film so powerful. Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald star in this fascinating, surprisingly brutal two-hander as a serial killer and their prey. The film unfolds over six chapters, which are presented out of order.
First thing that’s immediately striking about Strange Darling is its bold visual style. The film begins with a slow motion shot of Fitzgerald’s character, only known as The Lady, running, mascara smeared across her face. She’s stalked by Gallner’s character, billed as The Demon, who’s wielding a shotgun, intended to blow The Lady’s brains out.
We’ll leave the plot descriptions there and we thoroughly encourage you to not read anything further about the film plot-wise. Part of Strange Darling’s charm is how many times it can fool you into thinking you know what’s going on, just to pull the rug from underneath you. However, Mollner’s film isn’t strictly twist-driven and this certainly isn’t an M. Night Shyamalan film in any way. Instead, each chapter offers us more insight into the characters and their dynamics, giving the film a lot of depth.
Gallner is a regular presence in horror films, with impressive turns in films like Smile, The Haunting In Connecticut and a particularly memorable one in Jennifer’s Body, and the actor continues his streak of solid work here. Gallner navigates the characters tricky changes confidently and manages to craft a believable portrait of a man hellbent on killing his victim, despite the events only taking place within a matter of hours.
But it’s Fitzgerald who is the true star of Strange Darling. Her complex, lush performance as Lady keeps finding new levels of intrigue and fascination with each chapter of the film. Fitzgerald commits to her role with a ferocious energy, creating a performance that’ll have you slightly frustrated every time the camera cuts away from her.
Fitzgerald and Gallner also have tons of chemistry together and although Strange Darling ultimately doesn’t amount to much thematically speaking, it’s a thrilling exercise in how you can hoodwink your audience. There’s a lot of mastery in how Mollner crafts and builds his story, toying with his audience as he goes. Clearly inspired by the exploitation films of the 70s, Strange Darling is also lush to look at.
My biggest criticism is about the film’s portrayal of women. I can’t go into details of my issues with it, but Strange Darling teeters on the line of suggesting that women are to blame for the downfall of men. Thankfully, Fitzgerald’s performance fixes a lot of flaws in the film’s script when it comes to her character. Again, I’d love to elaborate on this, but Strange Darling is best experienced completely fresh and cold.
There’s a lot of technical mastery present in Strange Darling and with such compelling performances, it’s sure to be one of the horror films of the year. It could have benefitted from having a woman take a look at the script or direct the action, but Strange Darling has lingered in my mind for days, which is a testament to its power.
Strange Darling played at FrightFest on 24st August and will be in UK cinemas 20th September.
