Strange Darling opens in theaters this week and stars Willa Fitzgerald (Prime Video’s Reacher) as The Lady, the protagonist on the run from The Demon, played by Kyle Gallner (WGN’s Outsiders). The psychological thriller from director/writer JT Mollner is filled with twists and turns as it follows a twisted one-night stand that leads to a murder spree from a serial killer.

“It was one of those kind of singular experiences where the thing you really want ends up happening, and that’s not usually how it goes,” Fitzgerald tells Nerd Reactor. And I think that I was so drawn to the script and so attracted to the project because it was so clear on the page that JT had a very distinct vision that he knew how he wanted to execute. And he had a specific set of ideas and opinions and things that he wanted to investigate and interrogate. And that’s really exciting as an actor when you come across someone who has such a distinct perspective on the story that they want to tell. That’s not always how it goes. And it was just also the best script I’ve read.”

For psychological and horror fans, it’s recommended that they go in blind when watching the film due to the twists and turns. The film also takes on a nonlinear approach to its storytelling.

“It was never a goal to make a nonlinear film, although sometimes that’s just how my brain works, because I’m nuts,” Mollner said. “So I’m all over the place. And so when this came to me, it started off with this single image of the archetypal final girl running through the woods in slow motion. And that’s where it began, and then I started seeing chapter three. And the way you see it unfold is the way it came to me and the way it was written. So it wasn’t the type of thing that was written in a linear fashion and then shuffled up or anything like that. That’s the way it came. And I thought, you know, the reason it was compelling to me, the idea is compelling enough to write is because of the way it’s revealed narratively, and so it’s really the only way I think it would work.”

The team is proud of the film being shot on 35 mm film, and behind the camera is cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar, Saving Private Ryan).

“So JT and I had a four or five-month prep period where we discussed the movie, and we did,” Ribisi said. “I mean, it was just this extensive. We created this document that I think was 82 or 83 pages. We did tests. We were watching movies together, so we really had a strong idea of what we wanted to do. But everything was really born out of character and story, and so for that one specific scene where they’re talking in the truck, I don’t want to give too much away, it was the meet-cute scene. We wanted to have these primary colors be emblematic. What was going on with the characters and, and, yeah, I guess it was sort of different.”

About Strange Darling

In Strange Darling, nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.

Written and directed by JT Mollner (Outlaws & Angels), Strange Darling stars Willa Fitzgerald (The Goldfinch, Reacher), Kyle Gallner (Smile, Dinner in America), Ed Begley Jr. (Better Call Saul, A Mighty Wind), and Barbara Hershey (Black Swan, Insidious).

Distributed by Magenta Light Studios, Strange Darling is a Miramax and Spooky Pictures Production. The film is produced by Bill Block, Roy Lee, Steven Schneider, Giovanni Ribisi and Chris Ivan Cevic, with Giovanni Ribisi also serving as the Director of Photography.

Strange Darling was released in theaters on Friday, August 23, 2024.