During last year’s Fantastic Fest, the directorial debut of JT Mollner called Strange Darling received praise from the spectators. And the movie is still sporting a whopping 96% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. If I’m being honest, I did not enjoy this movie. Honestly, not one bit. Without telling you much, I will attempt to explain why. The film is best experienced without knowing anything in advance, the gradual unraveling of the plot is a perfect reason for the ‘go in blind’ mantra. As with every review I do, this will be spoiler free. However, the film may actually be better enjoyed if you don’t read anything prior to watching. Check out the trailer, which I will link below this review, it is just as vague as my description. If you happen to find the trailer interesting and wish to see the movie, do yourself a favor and avoid this review until after you’ve watched it, then come back later.
A game of cat-and-mouse is played by a psychopathic killer and the woman he had a one-night stand with.
Yes, it’s just one sentence. Trust me, a lot more happens. A large part of it is problematic for me. Strange Darling makes me think of that wave of mediocre films that emerged after the releases of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction when it seemed like every wannabe out of film school in America was trying to make a Tarantino for themselves. It sure looks great (JT Mollner somehow convinced acclaimed character actor Giovanni Ribisi to shoot this), and the score is good. One of the very few things I appreciate about this film is its non-linear structure. Strange Darling unfolds in six title-card chapters and an epilogue, presented out of order. The way it unfolds is engaging and kept me invested in the outcome. Everything becomes predictable after the first major twist, and everything falls apart from there.
Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner are quite good here, and we also have Ed Begley Jr. and Barbara Hershey (who I have not seen in forever), in supporting roles. And nobody is ever doing this movie halfway, the performances are all well done. But what they are given to portray is so surface level, and the film never has any interest in digging into their characters on any deeper level. The film starts with an opening crawl mimicking that of a true-crime documentary, presenting a narrator listing down the grisly history of the serial killer within the movie and depicting where the story places that person within our narrative. And of course everything feels so clunky and poorly executed. Using a more accurate approach, I wouldn’t really be able to tell you why some of these characterizations worked for me, or why some didn’t because that would be spoiler territory. So let’s move on.
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We get introduced to the film right after a title card where it is proudly announced that “this film was shot entirely using 35mm photography.” I personally find it amusing when other films do this. The studio’s logo has yet to roll and it is quite odd to me that this film brags about it considering how even in the modern day, there seems to be a growing shift back to 35mm instead of digital. Strange Darling has way more issues than just self indulgence but that self bliss throughout the entire film is unescapable. It is quite astonishing how pleased it appears to be with itself for revealing only selective details of the story at any given point in time. “Why” is the real question, because in this case, that is the only thing I can think of for why caméra lingers so long on something to be shared later, don’t you wish I will tell you later! Pay attention! It is something to nap about. It gives off the sensation that Mollner believes his audience needs guiding.
As with many things in life, my interpretation of characters in Strange Darling did not quite align with how JT Mollner intended us to perceive them, and frankly, there is more than meets the eye. It is coming from the perspective of an independent film that I feel compelled to promote and encourage people to watch, but this film has a problematic underlying perspective that I cannot fully explain without revealing major spoilers. There is one central twist that had been foreshadowed throughout the film, but once it happened, the movie seemingly fell apart for me, and it just got worse as the film progressed. Like, of course JT Mollner will get another chance and I look forward to whatever that is, because I am interested in the fundamental level of this film’s vision, but this one did not work for me. It seems everyone else is enjoying the film at least.