STRANGE DARLING
****
Directed by JT Mollner.
Starring Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey, Ed Begley Jr.
Thriller, US, 97 minutes, Certificate 18.
Released in cinemas in the UK on 20th September by Icon
Reviewed as part of Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024
The advance word on JT Mollner’s STRANGE DARLING has been to go in as cold as possible, a sentiment echoed by the director in the taped introduction that played before the FrightFest premiere. For those that have followed the instruction, one surprise that can maybe be shared as it is not a plot spoiler, was that Giovanni Ribisi was sitting beside Mollner, talking at length about his contribution to the film as a cinematographer. After a lengthy acting career Ribisi makes an enormous contribution to not only the film's style but the overall feeling and vibe of this always surprising and sometimes dangerous feeling film.
Mollner has created a real livewire of a film here that pulls off tightrope like feats of skill with the tricky territory it travels through in thrilling style. Without giving anything away that isn’t in the film's promotional materials you can see Willa Fitzgerald’s character, known only as “The Lady”, dressed in loose red clothing running frantically from Kyle Gallner’s rifle wielding “The Demon.” How she comes to be pursued by this lethal figure is teased out in a fashion that is in turns absolutely relentless and compellingly patient. The shifts in pacing, and how and why they occur is attention grabbing enough but the story, and characters, really get further and further under the skin, refusing to let the viewer go until well after the end credits have rolled.
The double act of Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner is one of the finest and definitely most intense pairings on a cinema screen this year. After making an impression last year in Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Poe’s THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, Fitzgerald really gets her teeth into a multi-faceted character who has so much more to do than simply being a woman in peril. She is expertly complimented by Gallner, who after a string of increasingly impressive roles over the past few years, is not only proving himself to be a champion of the genre but one of the most intense actors around just now.
There are other familiar faces, and voices, here but to say how The Lady and The Demon cross paths with them all really would spoil the dark pleasures that are in store for unsuspecting viewers here. Ribisi’s cinematography, proudly proclaimed as “SHOT ENTIRELY ON 35MM FILM” is beautifully presented; deep reds and ice cold blues shimmer off the screen in alternating scenes, while Craig DeLeon’s thunderous score roars off the screen as the twisted complexities of the characters unfold in fascinating, thrilling and often bloody fashion. Its unfolding narrative, which at times concerns certain complexities and unspoken politics of male and female relationships, is slightly reminiscent of Zach Cregger’s BARBARIAN, but this is a savage beast of a film in its own distinctive way. If I may seem vague, that is entirely intentional, as it really is best seen without knowing too much about it. Thrilling in all senses, it would be a real surprise if you saw anything more surprising than STRANGE DARLING in a cinema this year.
Iain MacLeod
