Strange Darling Movie Review - A Confusing Mess or Genus Storytelling?

In this episode we dive into the twisted world of JT Mollner’s Strange Darling. Shot on gorgeous 35mm film by Giovanni Ribisi and featuring a stellar cast—including Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Ed Begley Jr., and Barbara Hershey—this horror thriller is as bold as it is divisive.

Is it genius storytelling or a tangled mess of confusion? We break it down, exploring the film's themes, performances, and unique narrative structure. Plus, we share practical screenwriting and storytelling tips inspired by this daring movie. Tune in for laughs, insights, and a deep dive into a film that will leave you questioning everything.

Transcript

Chris + Jess (00:01)
Hey everybody. Hello everybody and welcome to the Horror Comedy Hangout Podcast. I'm Chris, the independent filmmaker. I'm Jessica, not the independent filmmaker. And boy do we have a movie to review for you this evening. This film is played out in a nonlinear faction. The narrative. I'm messing this up already. So I'll take this back. Boy do we have a film for you to review tonight. This film played out a nonlinear narrative.

This film was told in six chapters out of order, starting in the middle. Is this a confusing mess or a genius move? Stick to, stick toon, stick toon. This is gonna be a long night. God. All right. One more time. Hello. Hello, my name's Chris, independent filmmaker here. I'm Jessica, I am not an independent filmmaker.

And boy do we have a film for you to review tonight. This film that we're gonna review played out in a nonlinear narrative. This told in six chapters completely out of order. starting in the middle. Is this a confusing mess or a genius move? Stay tuned.

Yeah, I might need to go a little faster.

Just so I can speed it up.

Anything you want to add in on this anyway.

I don't like that can't see all of it. Yeah, I know.

Just take it off that crap. Just do it off there. I think it's better because we can see each other and I think we like we vibe better versus us trying to read that shenanigans. it's behind us. Yeah, you can have it either here or there. Yeah, just do it there. Just do it old school.

We've been doing it works. I think it flows better for us. right All right. So welcome back to the horror comedy hangout podcast this movie we have what do we have tonight to? So tonight we are reviewing strange darling strange darling. Yay It's not a typical horror comedy, but this movie was too good to pass up to do a review on yeah That's what saying cuz we review or comedy movies. Mm-hmm, and this is not a comedy. Yeah

whatsoever. So, but like you said, is too bad. This movie was so good. Yeah. We couldn't pass it up. But what do we usually do every podcast? Yeah. So every podcast, we cheers. It could be an alcoholic or an alcoholic drink. Non-alcoholic. Non-alcoholic. Yes. That's what I said. You said alcoholic or alcoholic. Lord. It could be an alcoholic or a non-alcoholic drink. Sorry about that. So Chris, of course, has got his old fashioned. I'm switching it up tonight with some wine.

All right, little cheers to the strange darlings.

All right. Like again, said welcome and we are reviewing Strange Darling. This movie became on the radar a little bit ago. It's been out for just a very short period of time. we're a little behind the times, but we want to get this out. Not that long ago. So this story involves a couple people that I...

that we like. Yeah. Couple characters. This involves Ella Fitzgerald. Ella Fitzgerald, yes. Who is amazing in this movie. Yeah, we watched her on Reacher. Reacher, yeah, the new Reacher. The new Reacher show. did really good on that show. And then this stars, which her character, very, they didn't have a name. She was just called the woman.

on this film. And then we have the other character, the other main character, which is Kyle Gollner. He played the demon on this. And Kyle Gollner's been around for a while, but lately he has come on real strong. I've been watching some of his movies. He was in Scream 5.

He was in this movie called The Passenger. that was pretty recent too. You watched that one? I've seen bits and Bits and pieces of that. I was lucky enough to meet the director of The Passenger, Carter Smith, at the Horogens Film Festival out in Tucson that I was lucky enough to go to. if you watch Strange Darling and then go watch The Passenger, Carter Smith was a really, really gracious guy, great director, and more to come from him. But Kyle Gullnur was in

and amazing performance, amazing performance. Just like this time we see him. Yeah, so I think he's, I'd like to see where he's going. Yeah. Because he has really come on strong even though he's been around probably 20 years or so at this Has he really? It's been a long time. this movie is a cat and mouse thriller. like follows a serial killer and that one that got away, right? This starts with a one night stand.

that just goes off the rails. yeah. Would you say so? Let's definitely put it mildly. Yeah. And I think that, this was just like such an on this, like edge of the seat for me when I was watching, I was kind of like,

Okay, what's gonna happen next? You're just kind of left guessing the entire time of the film. And the other thing I really liked about this is all the bright colors from like start to finish, which really drew you in as a audience member, especially like I was so drawn to all the reds and the bright colors. Yeah, we're gonna talk about that a little bit too because you got a little ahead, but that's okay. I'm glad that you brought that up because the colors.

were a big part of this film. And that's why I liked it. It wasn't just the characters, it was also how it was filmed. We're gonna talk about who filmed it here in a moment, and then about the music as well. All these things played a big part in how this film came together. this film was written by J.T. Molnar. He...

I hadn't heard of him before this at all. I haven't either. He's been doing some things. He's been doing some things, yeah. Now he's on my radar for sure. This guy is really cool. He told this story, like I said from the beginning, he told this story out of sequence, right? So we started, it started in what, chapter three? Yeah, I believe it started in chapter three. One through six. it starts in chapter three, which it just, it started off. It was such a bang, I feel like. Yeah, it was a chase right from the

the start. Yeah it's just I think like draws you in very quickly and then the story just kind of builds upon that and then you start to really put the puzzle pieces together of the movie and you're you're sucked like sucked in like quickly. Yeah. So that's what I love about this movie so far. I'm gonna pause right there because I've lost my spot.

I'm going to yeah, yeah, so What were you saying? What do mean what was I saying? No, this is like we were talking about that chase in the very beginning and I've kind of like that cow and mouse and I think I know why he started with the chase because it reminded him of

the final girl chases like Halloween. Halloween was one of his big inspirations that he was thinking of. That was his first scene. And I think, I know as a writer too, I always have that first scene in my head. And that's what springs the whole story at times. And that was his thing was that Halloween, the girl running through the woods and.

That final girl. That was his first scene that he came up with and then it just grew from there. gets so good. Yeah, yeah. And I've lost my spot again. It's okay, pause.

We're gonna get through this one. Quit looking at that. That messes you up. Yeah, but me looking over here looks like I'm looking at something. bothers me.

So talk about Maldonado. Yeah, I know.

All right. Yes. So that's how it really started. And this is what amazes me with this story is the script and how he wrote this out of order. He didn't write it literally and then cut it up into different chapters. He wrote it out of order, starting with that chase and then going on through the whole story. And what I like about that is

when you watch the movie, it brings you right up to this spot and then you go backwards. Yeah, it it all away. you're like, because there's certain scenes in there that are kind of disturbing and you're like, my God. And then right when you're like, I can't take this anymore, it flips back and it shows you how it went from the.

up to that point and then you're like, okay. Yeah, that's what I say, like sucks you in just to pull you right back out and then you kind of get the context of what's going on in that previous scene that sucked you in so much. it definitely like, there was definitely a couple parts in the movie where I was like, womp, womp, like I was ready to call it, throw in the towel.

And then Chris was like, no, no, no, no, no, you have to stick with it. Like we've got to, we've got to get stick with this movie. And I'm so glad I did because my entire perspective and mind changed on this movie as soon as it got through this little lull part. Right. I had to tell that story. Right. You have to pay attention. And I'm still going to harp on the JT Mollner because I think, just keep an eye on this guy because he understands the language of storytelling and the emotions and these characters are being

as they're chasing each other through the woods and the emotions that come out. He also...

He also understands the judgment. It's not what I want to say. This is the beauty of recording though, because then you can like mess it up and then you can put it back together. Yeah, he talks about the judgments we put on people and without knowing them. And I think that's what really plays well with this story is you start judging these people quickly and

you're quickly or sooner or later you'll be like, I had the wrong judgment on this person. so that's, that's what's so amazing about this story. And obviously an indie film, low budget film as well, which is awesome. love low budget films because they're usually like amazing. Yeah. And they're fun. I make low budget films. Yes, you do make low budget films. And then I critique them. Okay. We're going to pause there for a second.

Yeah, I wanna skip that.

I'm come back to this.

Did we talk about the whole, about what it was about? Yeah, we said cat and mouse thriller, it's a serial killer.

Alright, so we'll go into some good... Let's go to the cinematography and then back to the... Okay. Because then you're going to be like, okay, so you mentioned all the colors. Yeah, we'll go cinematography, look.

Yeah, my hair just air-noyed right. Yeah, the... Not only the script, but we have to talk about who shot this film, because the other thing is this person blew me away that they are an accomplished cinematographer, because they're an accomplished actor. Which is like mind-blowing.

This was the first film he shot, right? This is the first, his first major film that he was shot. And this is Giovanni Rovici, which is a very accomplished actor. I've loved him and he's been in so many movies and TV shows. He's not been in. I know. And he shot this film. He is a friend of JT Molnar. JT Molnar sent him the script and he read it like...

straight through. How good this movie is. And said, called him back and he's like, I need to be a part of this film. I don't care what I do. I just want to be part of this film. And JT and him were like, we could shoot it. You could shoot it. So he shot this film. He did an incredible job. shot this film on 35 millimeter film, which is even crazier that they shot it on film. So that gives it that gritty.

look, the colors, look, that was the other thing like you were saying in the beginning is the colors were so vibrant. Vivid. Vivid, vibrant colors. You know, when they're...

when they're having that one night stand and that kind of thing, those reds just really stood out. Before they even went into the hotel, they had some deep, the whole screen was blue. was just, so these colors really stood out in this film and it really becomes part of the film. Just like the score as well. wait, can I say one more thing about the colors though? Alright, back up.

Because it was such a mind-blowing thing for me So another thing that really impressed me about the coloring like it's talking about going back to the hotel room and where the night one night stand takes place They do mention the film something about morning time But I completely forgot the line and I was so drawn in to what was going on in this room and the colors and the saturation of everything That when they went from the room

back outside, I was like, my God, it's morning. That's how much this film just draws you in and how much the color draws you in. And you're just completely lost and immersed in this like amazing film that's happening. So I totally was like, wait, it's morning. It's morning outside. You went from like night to morning and you completely forgot that she they mentioned it. So that was what really blew me away about the film. And then the music.

The was really good. They played Love Hurts a lot. was... That one. So that really stood out. It hurts in this movie. And then Love Hurts and it really matches what is... man. Because Love Hurts in this film. It does hurt. It really hurts. It really hurt in that film. So most of these songs were done by Zee Berg. Who? Zee Berg. Wow, I should really know this. Yes. That's bad.

Again, saw the script, read the script. It was like, I had to be part of this, this film. So she did all the songs except for one that was sung by Jeannie Mollner, which is JT Mollner's mother. yeah. This was a family, this is a family, family affair and a friend affair because he's friends with, you know, Giovanni Revisi. So, you know, everybody. Yeah, that's so cool. Yeah, absolutely. I love this film.

She loves this film. love this film. Alright, up to the good things. So getting more towards wrapping this up here. What were some of good things that you...

What did you like in this film? think you've told, I think you've said most of it already. everything. What else do you want me to say besides giving it away? I know what I can say. I will say I've kind of not really followed Ella Fitzgerald's career, but I've definitely seen her in quite a few things that she does.

Not Ella, Willa. Willa. Damn it. Pause. Cut it. Edit. No, that's funny. Keep it in there. We're keeping that in there. Dang it. Willa. Sorry, Willa. But I follow. I Willa because you're watching this. Ella Fitzgerald is my favorite old time singer and I guess she just kind of brought to my head. Sorry. So Willa Fitzgerald, I will say this is probably one of the best performances I've ever seen done by her. Just because she really brought her A game to this film and you really feel like her raw emotion in this.

And then just watching her evolve in the film and really finding out who she is and what she's about. What are you mimicking me for? No, I'm agreeing. That's really good. Really good point. Keep going. No, I'm done. You can go now. All right, I'll keep going then. Yeah, because I messed up her name. My bad. Sorry. No, no. We'll talk about Ella Fitzgerald some other time, I guess. I love her. And you're like, well, Ella Fitzgerald too. Yeah, I love Ella Fitzgerald. Sorry, girl. My bad. Yeah. So the good thing, you have to...

Just the tension remained high. was such a visceral, raw film to me. just, you could feel it. You could cut the hair with a knife. It's just the tension was so high. And the two were just so vulnerable throughout this film. I think the also the challenge was the preconceived notions of this film and the gender roles and the victimizing. It really flips everything on its...

on your head and it just, you have to watch it to understand what I'm saying there. But I liked that flipping the roles and everything like that and the preconceived notions that we do have and stereotypes that we do have. It really flips everything on its head and makes you pay attention and watch. like you said, the performances were amazing. Yeah. Every inch of the performances were truly amazing. And I will say too, another like thing about this movie is

You have to really sit down and like focus and pay attention to every detail in this movie. Cause if you don't, you're going to start to get lost because the chapters don't flow in order like a normal movie. It just bounces around. But again, it all makes sense. You just really have to pay attention. Cause at certain points I was like, wait a minute, what did he say? What did she say? okay. Now I get it. So it's definitely pay attention. Yeah. Yeah. Very nice. I like that. So anything negative on the film that you think?

Mmm, I would probably say my one negative is just that like The middle kind of gets a little slow. It's like the beginning to the like going into the middle like pushing the movie further I definitely will say that's where I kind of hit my limit of like What's gonna go like it just starts out with such a bang in this movie and then you kind of hit that wall But it works because you have to follow the narrative and then once you kind of get through the wall The whole movie just starts to move again very very quick

And then you're realizing why all of that dialogue or all of that. And you said that in the beginning too, because you were like, I was like, you guys stay and watch this. You're thrown in. like, no, no, stick with this film. You really liked this film. cause yeah, I was like, I was hooked in the beginning. And then to that point I was like, no. I, my, I have very few negatives on this. I was really impressed with this film. Yeah.

Couple negatives that I did have is the hotel scene might be hard to watch for some people. But that's why I said when you watch that chapter and then the chapter flips back, then you're like, okay. So that's a thing you kind of have to stick with and fight through that for some people. That might be hard to watch. You gotta be a little bit more open-minded for that. A little bit for this movie, I will say. Just remember it's a film.

Yeah, other thing is since it does go out of order and you're just surprised by each time that the chapters move and you're like, my God, it reveals something else. Now that we've watched it, if you go back and watch it again, it's like, I know it's coming next. And I already know what that scene like that hard scene to watch. You're like, already know who's the who's who's what and who's where I don't want to get way too much. And the other thing too is.

And I know a lot of reviewers have said this too as well, is go into it, don't watch the trailer, go in blind, don't watch, watch our review afterwards. Yeah. No, we want them to watch watch it before. Yeah, because we don't give much away. Yeah, we're not giving much away. This is a spoiler free review, obviously, now that you're all the way through this film, this review. This film. This film and this review. So it might be hard to watch again because you know what's coming up.

Yeah, but I also think like I would watch it again just to go back because I feel like there's so much that goes on in this film too. You're like, I need to watch it again just so I capture everything because it's... yeah. man, this... Yeah. I'm gonna watch it again, obviously, just because JT Muller is that, would be that filmmaker that you need to watch it again because you need to see what he's put into the film. He's put so much thought and time into it. There's stuff that you probably missed the first time through, so you need to watch it again.

Absolutely. Sure. But yeah, I would definitely say checkouts.

hell is this? I want this to be... Do I have it? Twice? Is that right? Is it weird?

My hands for you, please.

I just want to mention this because this is like the screenwriter part of it.

Because this is what really gets me about this film is it's a very basic concept, but it was executed correctly and very well.

I'm just gonna read this real quick so I know what I'm talking about.

and we already did that part, so we're just gonna do that.

All right. Tell me about it. Yeah. So this is to me being, obviously being a filmmaker and a writer. That's what I love to do. I think that's the other thing that it really grabs me with JT Mulder and writing this film. Obviously it's not written in linear fashion nor shot in linear fashion. so that blows my mind that he wrote that he really had to think through that.

But the plot of this film is basic. It's a two people. And that's the other thing about this film. There's very few people in this film and it keeps you going. There's not a lot of characters. And then two people, have a one night stand that goes horribly wrong. That's basically what the film is about. And if I tell you that you're like, I don't want to watch that film. That's every other film. Yeah. And it's low budget.

but it doesn't look low budget. No, my The difference in this film is the execution of this film. And that's the difference. If you're a writer and a filmmaker out there, that's the difference. You don't need a huge... Budget. Budget. You don't need a huge idea. You need a good idea. Doesn't have to be a great idea, but it has to be executed great. At least really good.

And that's what JT Mollner does in this is he executes it great. And it just reminds me of a screenwriter I follow, Michael Jamin, and he's a professional screenwriter in LA. He does a lot of TV shows and he said this, because I've taken his class, that it only has to be a good idea, has to be, the script can be good, but the execution has to be great.

And this film proves it.

that that statement is correct. That statement is correct. So for everybody out there, and I take that too, and I'm like, okay, I have a good idea, but I have to execute it great. Yes. So that's what it really does with this. And that's the difference in this film and the look in this film and the way it plays out is it was executed great. He did write it. He wrote a great script, I think, as well. think he really, he really, he had home with this one. Yeah, it was very, very

real and visceral and you feel it. that's the difference. that's what I said you're like. That's why I said you're totally sucked at. Yeah. Like from pretty much beginning to finish. at. Sucked god, don't put that in there. That's in there. no. Alright. I hope you guys like my t-shirt. Yeah. I'm very cheesy tonight. I like mine too. Yeah, yours is fangory but mine's cooler because it's our podcast.

Alright, so we're gonna do final thoughts. We did final thoughts. No, I didn't.

I would say this one was like a thriller too.

So this is what I want to do. I wanted to come up with a thing saying, you know, like... What are screaming smiles? It's like a rating, because everybody has a rating. Like, ah-ha! Well, because we do horror comedy, so... But I've never heard of the screaming smile. Because I made it up. that's why I never heard of it. So I'm saying I want us to start giving a rating.

No? Okay. So Chris came up with screaming smiles as a rating. You don't like it? It's different. I like it. You do like it? Yeah, I like it. I didn't say I didn't like it, I just never heard of it. I thought it was something that was out there. We're gonna get a 4 out of 5. I agree. Well, I am.

I think if it hadn't hit that low, like if they didn't do all that dialogue in the truck so much that weird.

Where is the end? Why can't I get... I have to get...

that's getting too small. All right, so I'm going to talk about subscribing and liking too. I forgot to do it in the middle. Yes, so hey, if you are enjoying this and these are reviews and all our...

reviews and interviews. Just please like and subscribe. That helps us out on our channel a lot and helps us continue to make these great videos that we love to do. Right? Yeah. Yeah. We have a lot of fun doing it. Right. So just to wrap this up, I have to say this film, I'm hitting my mic. Too excited. Too excited. Don't the mic. So.

This film is just a total wild ride for the money. Yeah. On streaming. It's now it's on streaming. Strange. It's one of the smartest films I've ever seen. It's meticulously crafted and almost perfectly executed. Like I said. So if you're looking for something good to watch, I, we, we highly.

Yeah, highly recommend this movie. Highly recommend this movie, right? So just check out this film. Like I said, it's mostly a two-character story, which is very hard to do with only two characters. So you know the actors did great and the writing was great, if you're impressed by that. And we are starting a new grading system. Yeah, you created this. I created this. I want us to have a grading system so you know where we stand on all our films. Because we just say good, bad, good, bad, but I want to give it a rating.

Okay, so what'd you come up with? Out of five. One through five. One through five, okay. I don't even know about this. This is first time I'm hearing this. Yeah, surprise. Surprise! Yay! I surprises. So the grading system's one through five and we're gonna, since we're a horror comedy hangout podcast, I'm giving it screaming smiles. Yay! Screaming and smiling at the same time. Yay! I look like crazy. Like that? Yeah.

I don't know. I mean I like it, but do I scream and smile at the same time? It's like you're you're horror and you're smiling at the same time. You're laughing and you're crying at the same time. we doing it right? Yes. Our audience is gonna think I've lost my mind at this point, but I like it. Screaming smiles. This is great. Yep. So we're gonna give it four out of five screaming smiles. Yeah. Do you agree? Yeah, I agree. Are we on the same page? We are. are. We are on the same page. Okay.

Four out of five screaming smiles on this. So go see it. We highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed. We promise. Yes. Yeah. No. So thank you for joining us on this review of Strange Darling. We're the Horror Comedy Hangout podcast. We have our reviews or interviews every other Thursday. They come out on YouTube and any other streaming service, audio and video. So please check us out.

Like I said, subscribe and like, comment. I will respond to all your comments as well. So please check us out and we'll see you soon. Bye everybody.