Strange Darling (2023)

Strange Darling opens on chapter three, jumps to chapter five, and only then gets around to chapter one, and yes, it’s a gimmick that keeps you a step behind on purpose. A woman called the Lady, played by Willa Fitzgerald, flees across rural Oregon from a man called the Demon, played by Kyle Gallner, and lands at the farmhouse of two doomsday preppers played by Ed Begley Jr. and Barbara Hershey. That’s all you get here. JT Mollner shuffles the chapters so every new one flips what you thought the last one meant. Fitzgerald is a breakout, switching gears at whiplash speed, and Gallner matches her. Behind the camera is Giovanni Ribisi, the actor, shooting on 35mm, and it looks terrific. It’s violent and strictly for grown-ups. It holds a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and made $4.85 million worldwide on a reported budget between $4 and $10 million. An 8.1 because the shuffle pays off. $970.06 says you watch the next thriller you see with your arms crossed, refusing to trust a single character until the epilogue.

What works: Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner are electric, and the scrambled chapter order keeps flipping your assumptions without feeling like a cheap trick.

What doesn’t: The shuffled structure keeps you at arm’s length early on, and the side characters barely register next to the two leads.

Who it’s for: Thriller fans who like being played with, and grown-ups who enjoy putting a puzzle back together afterward.