Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.

JT Mollner’s ‘Strange Darling’ is a serial killer horror movie with a twist, in that it is told via six chapters in a non-linear fashion. There’s a specific reason for this which will become apparent, but from a stylistic point of view it does add a freshness to the movie that sets it apart from other recent movies of the genre, and this is an entertaining movie that holds your attention for the relatively short 90-minute runtime.

‘Strange Darling’ stars Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald as two individuals who have met up for a one night stand at a local motel. She asks him if he’s a serial killer; he says he isn’t, but the events that follow indicate the truth may not entirely be getting told in this initial encounter. The following six chapters move back and forward in time and depict the cat and mouse game that unfolds between these two individuals as they run or drive through rural Oregon, with the order carefully chosen to preserve the movie’s secrets. Both Gallner and Fitzgerald make for compelling leads, and they’re aided by supporting performances from the likes of Barbara Hershey and Ed Begley Jr., who pop up in small roles as a hippie couple who the duo come across.

Director JT Mollner was so wedded to the non-linear approach that he threatened to remove his name from the movie if Miramax released it sequentially and having watched the movie, it’s clear to see why he felt so strongly, as told in linear fashion this is nowhere near as effective a movie. The clever construction is such an intrinsic part of why ‘Strange Darling’ stands out and even as I didn’t think it was all that difficult to work out what was going on, it was a thrill to watch this narrative unfold nonetheless.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: JT Mollner

Starring: Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Madisen Beaty, Bianca Santos, Steven Michael Quezada, Ed Begley Jr., Barbara Hershey, Denise Grayson and Eugenia Kuzmina

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt22375054/