Kyle Gallner in “Strange Darling.”
Strange Darling—a new 1970s-style horror-tinged crime thriller starring Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald—is so refreshingly original that is almost impossible to describe the movie’s plot without giving away major details.
What can be said, though, is that it’s a serial killer thriller that could be deemed a horror movie, but not in a genre picture sort of way, a la the Halloween or Friday the 13th films, or even 2022 Scream and Smile—a pair of horror hits that Gallner had roles in.
In his attempt to define Strange Darling without leaving any cats out of the bag, Gallner told me in a recent Zoom conversation that there are definitely horrific things that happen in the film. Plus, Gallner was happy to add, those horror elements unfold in completely unpredictable manner, which is something he realized from the time he opened up writer-director J.T. Mollner’s script.
“It’s exciting because every script that comes across your desk you never know what’s going to happen when you start flipping through the pages,” Gallner said. But with Strange Darling, I was 10 pages in and the wheels started spinning and I was so unsure of where it was going to go.”
By the time Gallner closed Mollner’s script, he knew he had to be a part of the film.
“It’s tough to get something so unique, especially now, when so much has been done,” Gallner observed. “So, when I found out that I was going to actually be in it, I was thrilled.”
Opening in theaters nationwide on Friday, Strange Darling stars Gallner as a character simply known as “The Demon,” who gets caught up in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with The Lady (Willa Fitzgerald).
Told in six chapters in a non-linear fashion, Strange Darling begins with Chapter 3, where The Demon is chasing The Lady down with a rifle after what we eventually learn is a lurid one-night stand that goes horribly awry. As Strange Darling unfolds, however, the story reveals that not everything is as it seems, even though the events leading up to it might suggest otherwise.
Also featuring acclaimed actor Giovanni Ribisi in his debut as a cinematographer, Strange Darling flips the script, quite literally, on anything that’s been seen before in the horror and crime thriller genres because of the way it is structured. In fact, Gallner said, the non-linear story you see on the screen is exactly the way it is written in the script.
When it came to filming Strange Darling, Gallner said he couldn’t have found a better castmate with Willa Fitzgerald (Reacher) because the film required both of them to go to some really dark places.
“It’s hard to go to those difficult places but having a co-star like Willa who is as game as she is, it allows you both to push the envelope and take these scenes to where they need to go,” Gallner explained. “That makes it a little bit easier even though the emotional and physical toll it takes on you is real. At the same time, we’re both so lucky to have the opportunity to work with such great material and have these scenes that we get to put on their feet.”
Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner in “Strange Darling.”
While Gallner is aware that the twists and turns in Strange Darling will eventually get out once audiences see the movie, he takes comfort in knowing that once the biggest reveal happens, it doesn’t let all of the air out of the balloon. In fact, it marks only the beginning of the film’s harrowing ride.
So, while Gallner can’t get too in-depth about the plot details of Strange Darling, he can say with confidence, “This is what the moviegoing experience is all about.”
“Strange Darling is the type of movie where you want to be in a theater full of people and share the experience with them, so when those twists and turns start to happen you can have that community feeling and have that ‘Oh, s—t!’ moment at the same time,” Gallner enthused.
“To me, that’s the fun about going to the movies—to share the same experience with everybody,” Gallner added. “There are moments where you feel the air completely leave the room or everybody jumps or everybody laughs or yells. Going to a movie is such a special experience and I think this movie caters so well to that experience. “
Rated R, Strange Darling plays in previews Thursday before opening Friday in theaters nationwide.
