JT Mollner’s Strange Darling is not what it seems. Although on the surface it is a cat-and-mouse thriller, it is also a tough-guy portrait of psychosis and serious mental illness. It stars Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey and Ed Begley Jr. The film was written and directed by JT Mollner, author of the long-awaited adaptation of Stephen King’s pseudonymous novel The Long Walk and director of Angels and OutlawsA very interesting part of his life is that Mollner takes three months off every year during the Halloween season to help his family run the famous Las Vegas haunted house, The Freakling Brothers, shot by cinematographer and respected actor Giovanni Ribisi.
The film is showing at the Alamo Drafthouse and AMC theaters, but will be playing for a week at the Vista Theater in Hollywood, showing in a newly printed 35mm print and with the Vista’s great sound system. I recommend a trip to the Vista, a great theater to see this marvel of cinematography. You can buy tickets for the Vista here.
A fractured narrative divided into six chapters and an epilogue, the film is set up as a true crime story from the start. It also begins with the on-screen notice that the film was shot on 35mm film stock, and its brilliant hues attest to that. Visually, the film is a feast for the eyes with bright primary colors, expertly shot with great care. During a Q&A at Kodak House on August 15, Mollner and Ribisi discussed the choices they made creatively to make the film as beautiful as possible, and every inch of the film shows the work they put into it using film from Kodak and specialty lenses.
In order not to give anything away about the film, I will talk about it as much as I can without giving away the twists. The film is not too depressing, although it tells the story of a mentally ill serial killer who, due to his psychosis, is convinced that demons are real. At many points in the narrative, it is quite funny, either due to the ridiculousness of the situation the characters find themselves in or simply due to the idiosyncrasies of the characters themselves.
Barbara Hershey, who is absolutely brilliant, and Ed Begley Jr. play a lovable, if paranoid, couple that one of the characters goes to for help. Their strange Sunday breakfast ritual shows that not everyone in the world is as normal as they think.
Willa Fitzgerald’s The Lady is a character that Hunter Shafer’s Gretchen in cuckoo. She is a seemingly fragile woman who is much stronger than she looks. She has a vulnerability that is her greatest strength in the film. Kyle Gallner is perfect in the role of the slightly confused man who is both sympathetic and repulsive. Can you trust him? You’re never quite sure; that’s the excellence of Gallner’s work.
The film also talks about the leap of faith that women have to take to open up to men. Women can never be sure if they are safe, especially when they are intimate with a partner, which is also one of the situations in which a woman is most vulnerable.
I watched the film twice and delved deeper into the plot the second time. It’s a film that benefits from a second viewing and requires you to pay attention. There’s action, gunplay and gore, but the core of the film lies in the psychology of the characters. If you don’t want to read any deeper than the surface, it’s still very entertaining to watch. But when you realize its secret, it gets deeper into you. Through the serial killer’s actions, it shows that someone who is psychotic doesn’t realize they’re crazy. It’s never said what the character’s problem is, but I suspect it might be schizophrenia.
While observing the character, one sees the reality of the other characters in contrast to their frightening and irrational actions. From an intellectual point of view, we have been told that a person with a mental illness does not understand that what he is doing is in contradiction to the reality of everyone else, but Strange darling shows a moment when a mentally ill person realizes that he is the problem. It is very educational and heartbreaking.
Strange darling is full of shocks, surprises, humor, and a deep understanding and compassion for humanity, including those who are usually considered villains. It is a beautiful and ethereal ode to humanity and the roots of human evil.
