Strange Darling (2024) Movie Drinking Game
Take a Drink: for every new chapter
Take a Drink: for every new hiding place
Take a Drink: for every new gun
Do a Shot: for the literal breakfast of champions
Do a Shot: for every twist!
By: Henry J. Fromage (Two Beers) –
We open on a rural highway. A woman is being pursued mercilessly, relentlessly, by a man with a gun clearly intent on doing her mortal harm. Her odds are not looking terribly good.
Strange Darling builds on that seemingly well-trod pathway in ways that I won’t spoil, but there’s a lot more than meets the eye in the story of how these two met, and where they’ll go from here in what may well prove the end of a notorious serial killer’s murder spree.
A Toast
One of the first things that will jump out at you is how stylishly shot this thriller really is- it has a 70s grindhouse vibe at times and is full of inventive staging and framing courtesy of rookie DP Giovanni Ribisi. Yes, that Giovanni Ribisi, who is certainly making an movie biz transition I’m not sure has ever happened, but who appears very capable of doing so to whatever extent he’d like.
Story-wise, writer/director JT Mollner makes hay out of fucking with your expectations- his devilishly clever script keeps you nicely on edge and teaches you to constantly question with its chapter hopping, whereas his unpitying plotting will unmoor you even further, even as it’s ably mixed with a vicious sense of humor.
Willa Fitzgerald gets a full five-course meal of a role as the pursued woman and absolutely murders it, while pursuer Kyle Gallner really has an eye for off-the-radar projects that manifests itself well here. While it feels like he could easily get more high-profile gigs, he’s carving out one hell of an indie resume.
Beer Two
The ending shot is brilliant until it drags out to be a bit over-indulgent. It’s a big swing, but could have been a big swing with a bit more control and a little less uppercut.
Verdict
Strange Darling is an expectation-defying primal chase that will keep you guessing in the best of ways.
