Strange Darling (2024), directed by JT Mollner, stars Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey, Ed Begley Jr., Steven Michael Quezada, Madisen Beaty, Bianca A, Santos, Denise Grayson, and Sheri Foster. The story is told in six chapters that are presented out of order and follows “The Lady” (Fitzgerald) as she is relentlessly chased by an unhinged man known only as “The Demon” (Gallner). As more details of what led them to this point are revealed, it becomes clear that the situation is a bit more complicated than originally presented. Diving deeper into the plot would only result in spoilers, so I’ll leave it at that. 

The film is essentially a two-performer show with Fitzgerald and Gallner taking up 98% of the screen time. Although these are capable performers, they struggle to reach full symbiosis with their characters. They just generally struggle to do anything here that feels particularly unique. I also just have a problem overall with the casting of Willa Fitzgerald. She’s forced to play a character that goes through a lot of changes throughout the film, and she’s just not able to keep up performance-wise. 

I think this kind of speaks to the film’s larger issues, which are the direction and script. It feels simultaneously overwritten and over-directed, often emulating the tone of a shoddy Tarantino ripoff. It also tells its story out of chronological order, which does ultimately have a purpose, the thing is, it’s immediately predictable what kind of twist this is ultimately in service of. I can see this working well for those who don’t see it coming, but I’m the type of viewer who usually doesn’t overanalyze these things in the moment, therefore, if it was painfully obvious to me, it will most likely be painfully obvious for the majority of audiences as well. When this twist is ultimately confirmed, it also does this strange thing where it sort of half-confirms the twist and then fully confirms it in the following scene. It ultimately takes away any gut punch from the reveal, making it even weaker than it already was. 

Along with some flashy editing, actor-turned-director, Giovanni Ribisi provides some unique cinematography that makes me interested to see what he does next. Unfortunately, all of this just distracts from what is ultimately a pretty standard serial killer thriller. In other words, it’s all style, no substance. Even then, the style here is so in-your-face that it just ends up grating on one’s nerves. 

At the very least, there’s a certain level of forward momentum sustained throughout the runtime. Unfortunately, this is short-lived when the film ends on an epilogue that feels like it trods on forever. This is made even worse by the fact that the film begins with a text crawl that tells us exactly how things will end, therefore eliminating any surprise or tension. 

Overall, this is one of the bigger horror disappointments of the year when considering all the pre-release hype. Although I disliked this film quite a bit, I can see it working for people better than it did for me, and I think they’re valid to feel that way. That being said, with all the great horror films released this year and what seems to be many more on the horizon, Strange Darling seems like one of the more skippable movies of the year. C+