I'm not absolutely sure what to make of Strange Darling - a 2023 film that has received excellent reviews - although I do think the title is quite appropriate. To some extent, this is because it's a film which uses non-linear chronology, and I'm tempted to take another look at to see if I missed something the first time around (although, given that I anticipated the key plot twist, perhaps I didn't...)
The story is told in six chapters, plus an epilogue, and we are presented with the material in this order: chapters 3, 5, 1, 4, 2, 6 (and then the epilogue). It's a pretty good way of telling a story if you get it right, and arguably the writer-director JT Mollner does get it right. The only member of the cast I'd seen in anything previously was Barbara Hershey, who plays an ageing hippie very convincingly. However, the acting throughout is of a high standard.
This is especially true of Willa Fitzgerald, who is compelling in a role that is extremely challenging. She plays 'the Lady', a sexy but mysterious and perhaps deeply troubled young woman, while Kyle Gallner is quite menacing as a character known as 'the Demon'. I'm surprised to have read that film executives thought about replacing Fitzgerald and having the story told in a conventional, linear way, because if they'd done so, they would have sacrificed the film's strongest ingredients.
So there is plenty to admire in Strange Darling. Yet there were moments of graphic violence that didn't appeal to me one bit, and I felt that the ingenious structure masked a certain lack of subtlety in the writing. On the whole, though, I think this is a good film, even if it has been over-praised. And Willa Fitzgerald is excellent, an actor of real potential.
No comments:
Post a Comment