Strange Darling Hits Streaming: What Is It About & Does It Deserve Its 95% on RT?
The movie is a breath of fresh air in the genre.
Not quite the indie horror sensation that Barbarian once was, Strange Darling is still a horror event that hopes to play the same card as Zach Cregger's debut. JT Mollner has armed himself with 35mm film, a few twists and invited great actors to turn the genre on its head.
The director and screenwriter of Strange Darling divided the movie into six chapters and then shuffled the parts. The result is charming and surprising.
What Is Strange Darling About?
A woman with a bloody ear and a red jumpsuit runs in slow motion across a field straight towards us to Love Hurts by singer Z Berg, leaving a dense thicket behind her. Later we learn that her name is Lady and that she is being chased by an angry guy in a plaid shirt and with a shotgun in his hand called Demon.
Lady manages to run to a cabin hidden in the woods, inhabited by an elderly hippie couple. They immediately tell her that they are waiting for the end of the world and that a Yeti is wandering through the thicket. Lady has no time for this, and the old folks will soon regret letting a guest into their home.
Strange Darling Is an Intricate and Intriguing Project
Strange Darling premiered at last year's Fantastic Fest in Austin. The movie has an enthusiastic press, and after the release of the thriller, fans were found among ordinary viewers. Before that, director JT Mollner had only made one western, Outlaws and Angels. Strange Darling is an ambitious movie, which becomes clear from the very first minutes.
Mollner cleverly plays with the audience's expectations and regularly lies for the sake of the story. Of course, the movie is not based on any real events, and the author is just making fun of the true crime obsessed audience. The random division of chapters in the spirit of Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction is also a game.
The lack of chronological order in the narrative makes the audience guess what happened between the couple. In the first half, the cause-and-effect relationships are vague, which creates additional tension. Of course, Mollner is going to lay all his cards on the table, and you shouldn't jump to conclusions.
You can guess the main twist 15 minutes into the film, which does not spoil the overall impression.
Where to Watch Strange Darling?
Strange Darling is available to stream on Prime Video and Apple TV.