Psycho Killer

Film: Strange Darling
Format: DVD from DeKalb Public Library on basement television.

There are a few films on my various lists that I will probably never watch. This blog, at least in part, is about going places I might not have otherwise gone in my viewing, but there are still a few places I don’t want to go. Egregious torture and abuse are difficult topics for me, not because of any past history, but because I find it unpleasant. I’ve never been a torture porn fan. Strange Darling rules close to that line in places. This is an ugly film in a lot of ways, even if it is narratively interesting.

One of the reasons that Strange Darling works is that it’s told out of order. Each part of the film is preceded with an episode number, and aside from the epilogue, these are told entirely out of order. It’s an order that reveals information in very specific ways, giving us just enough information to follow the story while revealing just enough to keep us wondering what will happen next.

When the film starts, we’re told that this film is based on a true story of the most prolific serial killer working in the U.S. What follows is a story that unfolds involving two characters known to us only as The Demon (Kyle Gallner) and The Lady (Willa Fitzgerald). We are going to get some insight into their relationship over time, and it’s not always easy for us to keep straight exactly what is happening because of the method of storytelling. It’s evident over time that The Lady and The Demon are involved in a series of hyper-realistic sex games, roleplaying intense sadomasochism and death threats.

We’re also going to get flashes of the actual murder spree that is going to take place. This will involve a couple of police officers (Steven Michael Quezada and Madisen Beaty) and a couple (Ed Begley Jr. and Barbara Hershey) who live in the forest, prepping for doomsday. Over time, we’re going to get the real story of these interactions.

Like a lot of movies of this variety, Strange Darling works its way up to a surprise moment that is going to make everything that we have witnessed previously make sense and put everything that happens in context. This is, in fact, why the movie is told out of order. If we followed the story chronologically, the shock moment would happen maybe 20 minutes or so in.

A good twist moment is a lot of fun when it happens. The problem is that I figured out the twist on this one before it happened, and that’s both disappointing and pleasing. It’s fun to guess correctly, but it also means that what was supposed to be a huge shock turns out to be something kind of expected, which is a bit of a letdown.

This is a real disappointment for me particularly, because the twist here is the only thing interesting about the film. The rest of this is incredibly abusive and upsetting. There are plenty of movies that I have seen that involve torture or something similar, but there was something about this one that felt worse in some way. It felt a lot more real and upsetting because of it. In truth, there’s actually not a great deal of it, but I found it incredibly distasteful and unpleasant.

I think for me, at least, a big part of this is the sadomasochistic games being played. This isn’t normal mild sex stuff—this is threats of violence, choking, and intense pain, the sort of thing that would make you not able to look someone in the face the next day. I realize there are people who are into that kind of thing, but I also realize that it’s something that would cause me to shout a safe word immediately and get the hell out.

Strange Darling was definitely made for someone (and the cinematographer is Giovani Ribisi), but that someone isn’t me. Those who don’t mine something that looks like it could quickly veer into snuff will certainly like this more than I did.

Why to watch Strange Darling: The story is told in an interesting way.
Why not to watch: The story is incredibly ugly.