Film Review: STRANGE DARLING (2023): JT Mollner’s Twisty Thriller is Oddly Structured but Builds Some Genuine Tension

Strange Darling Review

Strange Darling (2023) Film Review, a movie written and directed by JT Mollner and starring Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey, Ed Begley Jr., Steven Michael Quezada, Madisen Beaty, Bianca A. Santos, Denise Grayson, Sheri Foster, Eugenia Kuzmina, Jason Patric, Giovanni Ribisi, Robert Craighead and Evan Peterson.

It’s not easy to get used to the non-linear structure employed by filmmaker JT Mollner in the new serial killer thriller, Strange Darling. It’s a story told in six chapters but begins somewhere in the middle with the title card even going so far as to admit it’s beginning the story line with chapter three. That’s a weird, wild approach to a movie and it’s initially frustrating to watch. On the other hand, there are so many unique story developments here that you may just want to give the director the benefit of the doubt and assume there is a method to his madness.

This film opens as it informs viewers that it was shot on 35 mm film and states that it’s about the most prolific serial killer of the 21st century. Willa Fitzgerald stars as the main character in the picture who is a blonde known as the Lady while Kyle Gallner plays the character known as the Demon. The movie centers on a one-night stand and builds around it with scenes that show various things going on in the middle of nowhere. The Lady is running when we meet her and eventually ends up at a home where two weird hippies live, Genevieve (Barbara Hershey) and Frederick (Ed Begley Jr.).

Though this is a picture with a lot of deep dark secrets, it fundamentally works the more it goes on and the more one can see what Mollner is doing with the labyrinth of a plot the movie showcases, the better It becomes. This film didn’t have to be made this way. But, it was, for better or worse. Giovanni Ribisi did the cinematography which wouldn’t be such a big deal if the camera work didn’t leap out at the viewer. Ribisi has seemingly done his homework and studied creepy horror movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The actor turned director of photography struts his cinematic flair well and overuses long shots to surprisingly good effect.

Ed Begley Jr. and Barbara Hershey’s scenes are just plain weird. Their characters make breakfast and add sausage, whipped cream, strawberries and enough other ingredients to their breakfast to make one think that Mollner is simply showing off his quirkiness for no particular reason as he’s certainly not moving the plot forward with this scenario. At the same time, when the Lady shows up to try to get help from them, the pair of hippies seem too friendly for people living out in the middle of nowhere. The big problem seems to be the Demon who is coming to wreak havoc on the Lady’s life. One scene has the Lady trying to hide in a freezer and taking everything out of it and putting a coat on before she gets in it. Again, Mollner is showing off his attention to detail for no other reason but to be offbeat. It actually works.

Steven Michael Quezada is the best part of the film. He plays a cop named Pete who shows up with a female partner at what appears to be a rape/self-defense murder. There are guns involved and the female cop tries to show sympathy towards the Lady. Pete starts to lean a bit towards making other assumptions about what’s going on and Quezada is brilliant in his brief but pivotal role. To say more would take away some of the surprises in the latter part of the picture.

The last shot meanders on far too long. We wait to see what else the Lady will do but then the movie fades to black. That being said, piecing together the puzzle the movie lays out before the viewer eventually becomes a lot of fun. As previously stated, this structure is frustrating as well but is still fun. That’s because Mollner is doing something different and in doing something unique, he’s managed to turn a simple story into something much more complex and much more horrifying.

Begley Jr. and Hershey do not do anything great with their roles here but their presence is duly noted. It’s nice to see them working again. Kyle Gallner adds some definite tension to his role as the character you will not trust but who has an agenda which may be different from what you will think it is. Willa Fitzgerald certainly sinks her teeth into her physically demanding role and holds the viewer’s attention from beginning to end.

Strange Darling is reinventing the wheel if the wheel in question is the horror film genre and that’s why it’s a good film. Ribisi would have been an excellent full-time cinematographer because he can keep the camera in a place that makes each scene interesting. Directors of photography rarely get mentioned in every day film reviews and because this time out, it’s a famous actor behind the camera, it reminds audiences to take note of good film-making techniques. Strange Darling is a horror movie that is technically proficient albeit annoying, frustrating and, in the end, bizarrely satisfying all at the same time.

Rating: 7/10

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