Strange Darling
Short description
Strange Darling is a horror thriller set in rural Oregon, where a chance meeting between a woman and a man leads to a night that turns into a violent pursuit. A wounded woman flees through the wilderness from an armed man who seems determined to catch her, and as she weakens, the question of what set him on her trail hangs over the chase. The film is built around the shifting nature of the encounter and the violence that follows.
JT Mollner wrote and directed the film, his second feature after Outlaws and Angels (2016). Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner lead the cast as the two central figures, with Madisen Beaty, Bianca A. Santos, Steven Michael Quezada and Ed Begley Jr. in supporting roles. It was produced by Bill Block, Steven Schneider and Roy Lee for Miramax, Spooky Pictures, Magenta Light Studios and Electric Lady Studios, on a budget of about 4 million dollars.
Released in August 2024, the film took roughly 5 million dollars worldwide against that budget. On IMDb it holds 7 out of 10 from around 68,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.9 from just over a thousand ratings; critics rated it 8 out of 10 across 164 reviews, placing it noticeably above the audience scores. A third Mollner feature, Skeletons, is listed for 2027.
What's left behind the scenes
- This is Giovanni Ribisi's debut as a cinematographer. He is better known as an actor, having appeared in over 100 films.
- Miramax twice attempted to take the project away from JT Mollner, the director and screenwriter, and eventually hired someone to edit a new version of the film behind Mollner's and the film's creative team's backs. This version of the film was less than 70 minutes long, and the events were shown in chronological order. In the end, Mollner invoked a clause in his contract that required a test screening of the director's cut. According to cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi, the filmmakers had already resigned themselves to losing their version of the film, but the enthusiastic reaction from the audience at the test screening convinced Miramax to leave the film's editing to its authors.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
