Strange Darling

Hombre con un rifle persigue a una mujer herida que huye. Lo que precedió a esta situación, probablemente no lo adivinarías. Y lo que sucederá después, tampoco. Este thriller diabólicamente inquietante está dividido en seis capítulos (y un epílogo), que se mezclan en un orden no cronológico. La narrativa no lineal no es solo un truco, tiene un claro propósito: principalmente socava las expectativas del espectador y lo sorprende con giros y cambios de perspectiva, enriqueciendo el desarrollo anterior con un contexto más amplio que cambia el significado de algunas escenas anteriores. También se incorpora de manera inteligente el motivo de los estereotipos y prejuicios de género. Una contribución atractiva, destacada, sofisticada, excelentemente dirigida y escrita, y muy bien interpretada al género de thrillers sobre la actuación de asesinos en serie (probablemente no inspirada en ningún modelo real, a pesar de lo que dicen los créditos iniciales). (09.10.2024)

A respectable 7/10, but the hype that has been building up around Strange Darling on Twitter and TikTok for the past two months is (as usual) a bit detrimental to the viewing experience. It's a pleasantly raw thriller with a charismatic duo of heroes and a non-chronological narrative that doesn't really add much to the end result. On the contrary, it makes the viewer expect something to happen that the non-chronological narrative was chosen for, which paradoxically makes that one major twist more predictable. And there is not much further to take in terms of story. The soundtrack suits it at times, but in a couple of scenes it felt too much of a stretch. (02.10.2024)

We have this highly praised erotic thriller out (7.5 from 7.5k people on IMDB is pretty overhyped for me, it's not that great), but it's worth seeing. The film sort of tries to follow Tarantino's style of being divided into six chapters that build on each other non-chronologically, but here I found that downright annoying and, more importantly, it had no reason and it rather hurts the film. There's not much to write about the plot, because it's all a bit different in the end and the director can definitely surprise, so it’s commendable, too bad that the violence is kept very much at bay and we don't get any proper gore, even though it's encouraged a lot, and the ending is pretty light. I'd say it's more likely to appeal to the women. Good, but I don’t think I’ll remember it in a week; unfortunately, there were few interesting attractions here. 6/10. (02.10.2024)

Strange Darling is a film where you have to persevere for a while and let yourself be carried away by the strange events on the screen, only to be well rewarded in the second half. The breakdown into jumbled chapters may initially seem strange and confusing, yet it ultimately works well both dramaturgically and as the script reveals its hidden cards. The acting is very solid across the board, but Willa Fitzgerald in particular gives an absolute tour de force performance in the last quarter of the film. While I think a slightly more even pace of storytelling could have been achieved, I'm still ultimately satisfied on the whole, and this will definitely go down as one of the year's standout genre films. (10.10.2024)