Director: JT Mollner
Screenplay: JT Mollner
Starring: Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald
Country: United States
Running Time: 97 min
Year: 2024
When it comes to actors who get me excited to check out any film they’re in, there’s one name that comes to mind for me, at least in recent years. That’s Kyle Gallner, who broke into the mainstream with supporting character roles in a range of horror projects in the late 2000s and early 2010s, such as Red Eye, Jennifer’s Body, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Red State. In the past few years, he’s had quite the resurgence as a character actor in titles like Dinner in America, The Passenger, Smile and most recently, Strange Darling, a film that I was beyond excited to check out as soon as it hit my radar. Given that its UK theatrical release is right around the corner, let’s talk about Strange Darling. This review will be as spoiler-free as possible, given the nature of the film, so if you haven’t seen it yet, don’t worry!
Strange Darling is the second feature film from director JT Mollner and opens proudly with a warning about how it was shot on 35mm by first-time cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi (yes, star of Ted, Avatar and My Name is Earl). It follows two characters, Willa Fitzgerald’s ‘The Lady’ and Kyle Gallner’s ‘The Demon’, who are on a cat-and-mouse chase after a steamy night together. I won’t give away anything else, as the film’s presented in a non-linear fashion and seeing the events unravel for yourself is part of the fun with the film. Fitzgerald and Gallner are absolutely phenomenal in their roles, constantly keeping on your toes as to what’s going on underneath the surface and they’re chewing the scenery to an absurd degree, which I found delightful.
To say the film is only reliant on its twists, turns and performances would be to understate the other excellent technical elements on display. Mollner’s confidence as a director bleeds through every frame, paired with the excellently flawed Ribisi cinematography. There’s a level of charm that comes with a first time DoP’s experimentation that you wouldn’t get with someone without his level of passion and the ambition in the shot composition, with long, thoughtful takes and some killer split diopters had me almost foaming at the mouth. It’s a fantastic looking film, and genre fans will be thrilled by how fresh the film feels.
There’s obvious inspirations from filmmakers like Tobe Hooper and Quentin Tarantino, but Mollner brings an original flair and it’s wonderfully creative, which makes Strange Darling an extremely enjoyable watch. Again, it’s difficult to really dive into why so much of the film works without spoiling the fun, but there’s few films this year that offer viewers something as equally unique and exciting as Strange Darling does, which blew me away.
At the end of the year, I can see Strange Darling cracking most genre fans best of the year lists for offering something wholly original in a year already packed with films like Longlegs, The Substance, Love Lies Bleeding, Lisa Frankenstein, Immaculate and I Saw the TV Glow. It’s a delightfully fun ride that keeps you on your toes during every second, with great performances from Gallner and Fitzgerald, excellent direction and cinematography from Mollner and Ribisi respectively and I can’t recommend it enough. See this one immediately if it’s playing near you!
Film: 
Strange Darling releases on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on December 2nd via Icon Home Entertainment. I viewed the 4K UHD release for the film and the Blu-ray disc for the bonus features. The 4K transfer is absolutely stunning and a massive step-up from the initial digital screener I viewed. With solid, high bit-rates throughout, a killer HDR10 grade that makes the colours pop and a fantastic DTS-HD MA 5.1 track that gave my setup a work-out. A/V wise, this is a stellar release. Optional English subtitles are included. The following extras are included:
COLLECTOR’S EDITION SPECIAL CONTENT
Premium O-ring packaging
Cast and crew behind-the-scenes interviews
TV spots and trailers
Plus four bespoke art cards and A3 poster!
Five interviews are included with writer/director JT Mollner, actors Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner, producer Steve Schneider and DoP/producer Giovanni Ribisi. The JT Mollner interview runs for 5 minutes and it’s pretty typical, having him describe where the concept for the film came from, what it was like working with the actors and it’s a decent watch. It was great to hear how Mollner discovered Gallner through Dinner in America, a personal favourite of mine. Willa Fitzgerald’s interview is brief, running for just under three minutes and I wish it was a little longer. She’s super interesting to listen to and dives into the character she plays in the film, amongst other things. It’s a decent watch. Kyle Gallner’s interview is a fun watch, running for five minutes and has him touching on Mollner as a director, the approach to the visual style and more. Steve Schneider’s interview is barely two minutes long and doesn’t offer much of substance, unfortunately. He talks about genre films and the experience working on the film. Ribisi’s interview is the best, given his shift from actor to director of photography for the first time and it’s the most technical of the bunch. Running for around 8 minutes, Ribisi’s a delight to listen to. All of the interviews could have been edited into a decent 15 minute featurette, but it’s nice to see extras included in any form.
A full trailer, two TV spots and two digital spots are included.
I wasn’t provided with the art cards or the poster, unfortunately so I’m unable to comment on those.
While the extras aren’t great and leave a lot to be desired, Strange Darling’s UHD/Blu-ray release is still worth picking up for fans of the film thanks to the excellent transfer and from all accounts, lovely physical release. Recommended!
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