Whenever you go out and happen to “get lucky” and have a one-night stand, you don’t know who you are getting involved with. Sure, you don’t want an STD or an accidental pregnancy, but at least every now and then, the thought always crosses through your mind “please don’t be a serial killer, Please Don’t Be A Serial Killer, PLEASE DON’T BE A SERIAL KILLER!!!” Now statistically the odds of that won’t realistically happen, but so is winning the lottery, and hooking up with a psychopath is the one mega millions you don’t want to win. Writer/director JT Mollner’s sophomore film Strange Darling explores one fateful night where two people connect, it just happens that one enjoys murder.
Strange Darling opens like a film of the past. Shot in 35MM, Strange Darling starts with a text crawl stating that the following is a dramatic presentation of the final days of a serial killer who has been committing unspeakable acts across multiple state lines. In a very Tarantino-esque chapter style (the film is told through 6 chapters with their own title cards), the film begins halfway through the story in “Chapter 3” as we start with a car chase. The Lady (Willa Fitzgerald), missing an ear is frantically driving away. Hot on her trail, The Demon (Kyle Gallner) is speeding down the road after her with a shotgun in hand and is ready to take her head off which results in a car crash and a chase through the woods to a nearby farmhouse.
From there, Strange Darling rewinds and fast forwards through time to display how The Lady and The Demon meet, some of the carnage in the aftermath, and rewinding and fast-forwarding the story throughout the film’s slick 96-minute runtime. At first, The Lady and The Demon’s meeting is cute, with just two people enjoying booze and seeing where the night will take them. Of course, a hidden firearm in The Demon’s car is a red flag for us the audience, but The Lady doesn’t see it and just wants to have fun with a stranger. The two of them also have some dark kinks as they discuss how their night could end, and we get to see a little bit of how their sex lives are. Although Strange Darling is sexless, it still is weirdly sexy as the two really have some interesting preferences.
Things get intense between the two and Strange Darling really ups the ante. Because of the shuffled storytelling style of JT Mollner, the audience is treated through various twists and turns as The Lady and The Demon’s cat-and-mouse game of killing transpires. There are some fun deaths as innocent people get caught in the crossfires, tense scenes, and so many fun moments. Strange Darling is a film that is best served going in completely blind as some of the twists and turns are quite shocking and the film is not predictable in any sense.
All of the performances are great in Strange Darling. Ed Begley Jr and Barbara Hershey appear as Frederick and Genevieve, two “doomsday hippies” who The Lady happens across while trying to escape from The Demon and they are delightful as an old couple who just like drinking coffee and doing puzzles who get thrown into the chaos of a serial killer. Willa Fitzgerald is mesmerizing as The Lady. She’s being stalked by The Demon, but is she really that innocent? She plays The Lady as a very multidimensional, sexy, and a little bit off. Kyle Gallner, who often plays “school shooter looking kid” in films is great as The Demon. He’s downright scary, but as the plot unfolds through the flashback and flashforwards, he’s also more layered than we previously expected.
Even though this is JT Mollner’s second feature film, he handles it like a pro! The narrative style of the film (telling it completely out of order) is not only a bold choice, but helps enhance the audience’s expectations and anxiety. The use of music to set the tone for the scene, ex: “Love Hurts” plays before the opening credit for example. One very interesting factor is the cinematography by Giovanni Ribisi (yes that Giovanni Ribisi), who is dipping behind the camera as he throws his hat in cinematography, and he does a great job! The visual style of the film helps with tone. The use of black and white in key scenes with great effect. There are brief flickers to display “The Demon” which is haunting and intriguing.
People often say, “They don’t make movies like XYZ anymore.” Well, this is one of those movies! It feels like a relic from the indie boom of the 90s with a smart, unconventional thriller. By the end of Strange Darling, the audience has been on quite an adventure. We see an intense cat-and-mouse game between a serial killer and their expected victim with so many twists and turns it’ll demand repeat viewing. Expect this film to gain cult status, especially when it comes to streaming… but see this in a theater!
Strange Darling is currently available in theaters.
