Strange Darling- Fantastic Fest 2023
September 23rd, 2023
MOVIE: STRANGE DARLING
STARRING: WILLA FITZGERALD, KYLE GALLNER, BARBARA HERSHEY, ED BEGLEY JR.
DIRECTED BY: JT MOLLNER
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 3 STARS (Out of 4)
The initial opinions of JT Mollner’s Strange Darling will be conflicted. It was certainly the most divisive film at Fantastic Fest, some who I talked with absolutely loved it, and others who found the entire premise to have gone too far. What can’t be denied is that this film has a force that moves like a freight train. The gasoline for that force comes from Mollner’s excellent direction. This is someone who clearly has a unique voice, takes notes from the greats like Tarantino and maybe still needs a tune-up to make the perfect film. Yet still, Strange Darling is an explosive thriller, about gender roles, consent, and two people having one messed up 24 hours together.
The story opens with text, including an opening crawl that explains to us that in 1971 there was a serial killer on the loose, and catching them proved to be a difficult process. Mollner’s narrative style makes shifts, telling the story in six chapters, but playing them out of order. We start at Chapter 6, with a woman running for her life, her ear blown off, and a car zooming towards her on the road. Discovering how this story will unfold is part of the process for the viewer, each scene could never be fully taken into context until learning about the chapter before…or after. It’s a narrative choice that works brilliantly, as it becomes a matter of viewpoint, a matter of getting all the facts before making a conclusion.
The woman is played by Willa Fitzgerald, an actor I had never seen before, but now I will certainly remember forever. She is being pursued by a man with a rifle and a mustache- played by the always-good Kyle Gallner. We see in one chapter that the two are on their first date, drinking, enjoying the mood, and waiting to go into a hotel. Those moments are promiscuous and sexy, but as we see in other chapters, the day turns into a series of chaotic events, including when the action enters the house of a married couple (played by Barbara Hershey and Ed Begley Jr.), putting others into harm’s way of this lovers quarrel.
From the beginning, Mollner is testing the limits of how far the viewer can go thinking one way and then turning around on everything they believed before. The writing is testing all the sexual boundaries between men and women, what a person is capable of, and the desperation that can arise when someone is challenged. Cinematically, Strange Darling is gorgeous, with Mollner and cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi filming on 70mm, using a variety of lenses, and each chapter feels like its own short story. Mollner’s only issue is knowing when he has enough style. The thought of less being more would help but this is still a film where every frame is a painting.
In the end, the audience will have to reckon with the violence and the dark side of these certain characters. Gallner continues to be a consistent presence, no matter the role, no matter the story, he is game for delivering (Just see Smile or Dinner in America). The true focus goes to Fitzgerald, whose performance is scary good, the kind of work that shamefully goes unnoticed come awards season and is better than any of the winners. That is because this is a massive shock to the system. A bold and powerful swing from JT Mollner. There’s nothing strange about that.
STRANGE DARLING WILL BE RELEASED BY MIRAMAX AND THE DATE IS TBD.
3 STARS
Written by: Leo Brady
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