Longlegs offered one of the most unique and intriguing takes on serial killer films, combining the ideologies of Silence of the Lambs and Zodiac. It felt unmatched within that subgenre—until I laid my eyes on JT Mollner’s Strange Darling. This film shatters and subverts any expectations you might have going in, delivering one of the most tense, engaging, and unique films of 2024.
Strange Darling presents its premise in a non-linear format, structured in chapters. With a homage to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the film opens with a crawl that provides cinephiles with a voiceover hinting at what’s to come—a cat-and-mouse game between the lady and the demon, and the final months of a serial killer.
JT Mollner’s screenplay is one of the year’s best and most original. While non-linear storytelling has been a staple of film for decades, its use in Strange Darling adds to the underlying tension throughout. Much like the cat-and-mouse chase between the lady and the demon, viewers are engaged in a similar game with their expectations. Mollner’s script never allows you to feel comfortable, taking you on a satisfyingly horrific ride through the mind of the sadistic. Mollner weaponizes long-standing stereotypes and ideologies, using them as traps for the viewers, and successfully ensnares us all with his inventive creation.
Bringing Mollner’s screenplay to life are the performances of Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner. Gallner brings a chilling calm to the demon, leveraging what cinephiles have been conditioned to believe about these character archetypes to deliver a haunting and quietly charismatic performance. While Fitzgerald has had a long-standing career in both TV and film, her tour de force performance here is nothing short of star-making. Fitzgerald embodies both determination and vulnerability, often feeling like a gateway to her soul. It’s a turn that will leave cinephiles both impressed and in awe.
We’ve often seen directors turn actors, but in the case of Strange Darling, the transition from actor to cinematographer is remarkable as Giovanni Ribisi steps behind the camera for the first time and offers one of the year’s best-looking films. Evoking lighting similar to Robert Richardson’s style, Ribisi’s 35mm lens captures a unique color palette that beautifully reflects the thematic temperature of the film.
Strange Darling can sometimes feel more focused on its plot mechanics than on exploring character motives, and it doesn’t fully stick the landing to match the intense 90-minute journey. Despite that, Strange Darling is one of 2024’s most tense, thrilling, unpredictable, and essential cinematic experiences. It’s an experience best entered as blind as possible, but one that will leave you both unsettled and fully satisfied.
