STRANGE DARLING (2023) ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
D: JT Mollner
Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner,
Barbara Hershey, Ed Begley Jr.
This movie follows Jean-Luc Godard's notion that a film should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order. It's a horror/suspense tale told in six chapters and an epilogue, but the chapters do not play out in numerical or chronological order. It's about a serial killer on the loose out around Hood River, Oregon, and it's got a doozy of a switcheroo that you might see coming, or maybe not. Willa Fitzgerald ("The Lady") and Kyle Gallner ("The Demon") are disturbingly good as a couple who embark on the hookup from hell, and Barbara Hershey and Ed Begley Jr. get a nice moment or two as a pair of old hippies living out in the woods. (You won't believe what they eat for breakfast.) The music is alternately dreamy and pulverizing, and Giovanni Ribisi, who's better known for his acting work, did the cinematography. Writer/director JT Mollner doesn't waste any time on backstories or subplots. He cuts to the chase immediately. Buckle up. This one's intense.
