Review by Leana Ahmed
Director: JT Mollner
Starring: Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Ed Begley Jr., and Barbara Hershey
Movie Length: 1 hour 36 minutes
Strange Darling is a fantastic cat-and-mouse horror thriller written and directed by JT Mollner. The film stars Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner. The supporting cast includes Ed Begley Jr. and Barbara Hershey. The film originally premiered at Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX on September 22, 2023. Magenta Light Studios attained the stateside distribution rights to the film earlier this year.
I recently screened the film followed by a Q&A session with the cast and crew. Strange Darling only took 3 months to finance based on the foundations of its strong screenplay. The production of the film took a little more time to get off the ground. This was mainly due to the choice to use 35mm to film it.
Giovanni Ribisi worked as Director of Photography and one of the Producers of the film. He and Mollner spoke at length about filming in 35 mm. This is not a common choice these days. Financiers and production studios questioned the choice both off and on set. There was even concern about the location of the closest processing lab from their remote filming locations in Oregon. One was found and the film was shipped for processing twice daily.
This choice was perfect for this movie. It is now more common for directors and producers to find their film in the editor’s room after going through hours of footage. The additional planning required to set up shots for 35mm meant the production team needed to have a very clear vision. Every detail needed forethought. Walking through and rehearsing a shot mattered and it shows.
The use of highly saturated colors in the film envelopes the audience immediately. The story unfolds over several chapters asynchronously. This storytelling style helps with the pacing of the action. Even when the action seems to pause, there is movement on the screen. Someone stops to catch their breath during an incredibly tense moment, and smoke continues to trail from their cigarette, co-mingling with a misty forest continuing movement on the screen. Thus feeding more tension into the scene.
The other stellar aspect of this movie is the soundtrack. The soundtrack has mostly original songs by former The Like bandmate Z Berg. There is an amazing, fresh cover of “Love Hurts” sung by Z Berg featuring Academy Award-winner Keith Carradine. This is her first original soundtrack as a solo act. Her songs were inspired by reading the screenplay. From the Q&A, we learned that the production team had other songs in mind for the soundtrack. They were so impressed with Z Berg’s take, that they realized they did not need to license any other music.
If you are still skeptical about watching this movie, note that the Master of Horror Mysteries himself, Stephen King, loves this movie. Mollner also wrote the screenplay adaptation of King’s The Long Walk, currently in production. Strange Darling was written and directed by JT Mollner, and stars Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey, and Ed Begley Jr.
Strange Darling is now in theaters.
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