Night Visions: Strange Darling

Horror is a great genre because it's so malleable. You can pair it with any other type of film, and it usually works. Romance, comedy, even period drama, all have proven as suitable matches.

But what happens when you dissect the very foundations of the genre? That's precisely what Strange Darling, a time-hopping oddity with brutal violence and brilliant performances, attempts to do. It's a smart thought exercise that asks us to consider our own biases, expectations, and desires regarding this genre. It's also too long for its own good. But sometimes a good idea works even if the presentation stumbles.

The less you know about the plot, the better. Suffice to say it begins with a young woman runnng through the forest, bloodily wounded, half-clothed, and in terror. Her pursuer is a man, equally bloodied, brandishing a rifle and a nasty cocaine habit. How they got there, where they're going, and why any of this madness has got to this far, unfolds in non-linears over the next 90 minutes.

Genre-fans will see the twists coming, but I don't think they'll care. There's a great pleasure in seeing how director JT Mollner weaves everything together. Even when you think you've got the story by the tail, Strange Darling figures out a way to wriggle loose and surprise you.

None of this would work without a great cast, and on that level Strange Darling delivers in spades. As the two leads, Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner deliver incredible and forceful performances that are completely committed to the madness. Fitzgerald, in particular, is tremendous as The Lady. It's a part as ferocious as Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, one that will leave viewers rattled well after the film has ended.

I don't think Strange Darling holds up for its entire runtime, despite that it only lasts for around 90 minutes. Its final act milks the setup a little too long, and there's a couple of scenes midway through that could do with trimming. None of it is bad, but this is a film that works best when it's sudden and unexpected. At times, Mollner gets lost in his dialog in an attempt to lull us into a false sense of security. It works the first time, then it turns tedious.

Despite this, Strange Darling is a film any horror fan should seek out. It's a smart dissection of a genre that shows it can still surprise us. It toys with meta-level expectations and engages us on a deeper level than any other horror film this year. By the time the devastating final shot plays out, it captures the viewer entirely and makes us accomplices in not just this film, but every other horror picture like it.

How's that for a sleight of hand?