Strange Darling (2024) Magenta Light/Suspense-Thriller RT: 96 minutes Rated R (strong bloody/violent content, sexual material, drug use, language) Director: JT Mollner Screenplay: JT Mollner Music: Craig DeLeon Cinematography: Giovanni Ribisi Release date: August 23, 2024 (US) Cast: Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey, Ed Begley Jr., Madisen Beaty, Bianca Santos, Steven Michael Quezada, Jason Patric, Giovanni Ribisi.
Rating: ** ½
So far, it hasn’t been a good weekend for movies. I sat through both The Crow and Blink Twice last night; neither one was any damn good. To be honest, I expected that. It’s that time of year. It doesn’t mean I felt any less dejected. Oh well, no point in crying over spilt milk. What’s done is done.
Today I went to see the thriller Strange Darling. I didn’t even know it was opening this weekend until my local multiplex published their schedule a few days ago. They snuck it in on me. I knew nothing about it going in which is the way I like it sometimes. Trailers give away way too much info nowadays. I wanted to go in cold. As it turns out, I was the only one who wanted to see it all. I was the only one in the theater. Nobody else showed up. The manager I chatted with beforehand didn’t even know they were showing it until I mentioned it. Clearly, the studio spent no money promoting this thing.
Strange Darling is the second movie this weekend to open with an unusual title card. In this case, it’s to inform audiences that the film they’re about to see was shot entirely on 35mm film. Then we get a shot of a terrified woman in red hospital scrubs running from something or somebody as a cover of “Love Hurts” plays on the soundtrack. It ends with a close-up freeze frame. That’s when the movie itself starts, but not at the beginning of the story. Writer-director JT Mollner (Outlaws and Angels) employs non-linear structure to tell his six-chapter tale the last days of a serial killer.
Mollner starts with Chapter 3 which drops us right into the middle of a car chase. The aforementioned woman, known only as “The Woman” (Fitzgerald, Reacher), is being chased by a crazed man, known as “The Demon” (Gallner, Smile), with a shotgun. He shoots out her back windshield causing her crash. She flees into the woods and right to the home of an older couple (Begley and Hershey) who describe themselves as “old hippies”. He’s not far behind her. He catches up with her in the next chapter, number 5.
That’s all I’m going to tell you about the plot of Strange Darling. It’s best if you go in not knowing too much. What I’ve already told you should suffice. I will add there’s a nifty little twist that’s the very definition of a game changer. I will say no more.
Strange Darling has a good deal going for it. Obviously, I love that it was shot on 35mm film. It’s a great stylistic choice on the part of cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi (yes, the actor!). Also, Mollner opts for practical gore effects rather than CGI. That’s always a plus. I just wish he went all the way with the whole retro thing with more of a 70s grindhouse aesthetic. It still looks cool though.
The acting is surprisingly good. I can’t go into too much detail lest I reveal something I shouldn’t. I will say that Fitzgerald handles her role deftly. She does far more than play the intended victim. Gallner, who’s really making a name for himself in Hollywood, is also good as a fellow who’s definitely unhinged. It’s nice seeing old pros like Begley and Hershey back in action, even if only for a short time. BTW, that’s Jason Patric (The Lost Boys) narrating the opening titles telling us about the serial killer. That’s right out of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The biggest problem with Strange Darling is the pacing in some scenes, Chapters 1 & 2 in particular. These scenes, which show the Woman and the Demon’s initial encounter in a motel room, slow the film to a crawl. Yes, they’re absolutely crucial to the story, but Mollner could have tightened things up a bit. In addition, while I like the non-linear narrative, it comes off as self-conscious rather than edgy. It’s clever merely for the sake of being clever. It never fully commits itself to transcending the thriller genre, not like Longlegs did earlier this summer.
I really wanted Strange Darling to be one of those freaky horror-thrillers that strike enough of a nerve with audiences that they talk about it for a long time. What we get is a pretty good movie that will get us through one of the last weekends of summer. It’s better than the crap that usually comes out this time of year, but not by very much.
