Strange Darling (2023)

Director: JT Mollner

Starring: Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Madisen Beaty

Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.

‘Strange Darling’ is full of surprises. This is a unique and very different film, and I somehow also believe men and women will have very different views of the film.

Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner star as ‘The Lady’ and ‘The Demon’. I don’t know if I’m missing something here, but Kyle’s character is not a demon. No matter how hard I try to read between the lines, he never comes across as a demon.

According to the film’s intro, ‘Strange Darling’ is a dramatization of the true story of one of America’s most prolific and unique serial killers. I believe this statement itself to be fictional. The film’s structure is purposely set up to confuse the viewer, and this actually worked very well. The film is told in six non-linear chapters.

The film starts with Chapters 3 and 5, both awesome and nail-biting chapters with Kyle pursuing Willa (for ease of the review I will use the actor names). We then go back to Chapter 1, where Kyle and Willa meet, and chat about their sexual fantasies. Even this chapter is told in a non-linear manner, and I found it boring and not a pleasure to watch (apart from Kyle’s great body, off course).

From here we jump to Chapter 4 and we meet the elderly mountain couple we see in Chapter 3. This is when we start questioning the events in Chapters 3 and 5, as there clearly is more than meets the eye, and Willa suddenly doesn’t seem all that innocent as portrayed in previous chapters. We then go to Chapter 2, which picks up again on the sexual fantasies from Chapter 1 – just much more intense this time as their night of fun spins dangerously out of control.

Interestingly, during the course of the film both Kyle and Willa becomes a victim and assailant. ‘Strange Darling’ is very unpredictable and indeed very different, but I didn’t really like it. In fact, it was not an easy watch. No, there’s no gore and it’s not a horror, but it (almost) gave me the same feeling ‘Hard Candy’ did – another film I never want to see again.

Only two elements saved the film for me: Kyle’s body, and the fact the antagonist got what it deserved.

Would I watch it again? No.