Myles Hughes
While it’s true that the vast majority of films play best when you don’t already know what’s going to happen, very few in recent memory fully embody that philosophy the way Strange Darling does. The second feature from writer/director JT Mollner (Outlaws and Angels) is a nesting doll of twists and turns, all of which play best if you know as little as possible going in. As such, if your only reason for reading this review is to determine whether to see the movie, I’ll save you the time: yes. Go see it. Right now. Stop reading this if you want to be truly knowledge-free, because though I’ll keep plot details to an absolute minimum, this vividly-realized genre hybrid is simply too unique and distinctive not to be enjoyed as fresh as possible.
The simplest possible description of the story is that it tracks a serial killer near the end of an extended spree of death and destruction. After a Texas Chainsaw Massacre-esque opening text crawl lays out the basics, the story proceeds to play out in 6 chapters (plus an epilogue), but crucially, those chapters are shown to us out of order. So we actually start with Chapter 3, where we see an injured woman in red scrubs (Willa Fitzgerald, credited only as The Lady) being chased and shot at by an aggressive man in flannel (Kyle Gallner, credited as The Demon). From even these simple pieces of information, it’s easy to start drawing conclusions about what might be happening here.
Yet the brilliance of Strange Darling is how thoroughly it continues to upend your expectations, without it ever feeling cheap or subversive for its own sake. As we jump forward and backward in the timeline, we are slowly given a clearer picture of the events that led to this chase, as well as the events that follow. The structure will obviously seem reminiscent of other non-linear indie hits like Pulp Fiction and Memento, yet in Mollner’s hands it never feels derivative. The film is establishing its own cinematic language and rhythm, and once you get onto its wavelength, the ride becomes intoxicating.
A big part of the film’s appeal comes from the two performers at its center. While other characters come in and out of the narrative as needed (most notably Barbara Hershey and Ed Begley, Jr. as an adorable hippie couple), the focus is very squarely on the dynamic between the Lady and the Demon, and the actors have come to play. Gallner, who has been steadily building a strong stable of indie showcases ranging from Dinner in America to The Passenger, exudes a barely-controlled menace in some scenes while exhibiting a gruff tenderness in others. However, it’s Fitzgerald (TV viewers may know her from Reacher or The Fall of the House of Usher) who quite literally runs away with the film, showcasing a fascinating range of emotion and some really eccentric character choices that will keep you guessing as far as the Lady’s true nature.
For all its unexpected surprises, perhaps the most pleasant in Strange Darling’s arsenal is the feature debut of beloved character actor Giovanni Ribisi as a director of photography. This has apparently been a pet passion for Ribisi for over a decade, and while he’s shot commercials and music videos in the past, this is easily the biggest project that he’s tackled behind the camera. Shooting on 35MM, he bathes the film in a vibrant, colorful glow that recalls cinema of the ‘70s, falling somewhere in-between the grungy aesthetics of grindhouse and the thoughtful polish of more prestige fare. The way that shafts of light cut through a forest, the way cigarette smoke dances around a room, the way a blue neon sign illuminates the actor’s faces, the way a split-diopter shot communicates crucial information that we don’t understand until later. This is some top-tier cinematography, and combined with the beautifully aching original soundtrack crafted by Z Berg, it lends the film an almost surreal, dreamlike quality that contrasts very effectively with the plentiful violence on display.
The closest thing to a criticism I can find is that the film perhaps takes a smidge too long to wrap up once all the cards are on the table. This is primarily highlighted in a late scene featuring a pair of bumbling cops that feels on-the-nose in a way that the rest of the film doesn’t. Beyond that minor nitpick, the film very effectively recovers by the end, landing on an extended final shot that’s likely to linger in the mind long after the film ends. That’s the power of Strange Darling: it introduces various elements that play on your genre expectations, then slowly, purposefully dismantling them until we’re left with an end product that features many sources of inspiration, yet feels wholly unique and distinctive. All this leads to one of the best films of 2024 in any genre, and an experience you’ll want to undertake before anyone has a chance to ruin its mysteries.
SCORE: ★★★1/2
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