Strange Darling ★★★

THERE aren’t many movies shot on 35mm film in these digital days.

It’s worth seeing the American thriller Strange Darling for that alone, but let’s add the fact that the cinematographer is actor Giovanni Ribisi.

This is an unusual route for an actor and, from my untrained eye, Ribisi does a pretty good job of helping create the noir atmosphere that writer/director JT Mollner was looking for.

The film is about a serial killer, presented in six chapters and an epilogue, all arranged in a nonlinear but easily understood fashion that does add more interest and tension to the proceedings.

It’s set in rural Oregon and starts with a one-night stand that escalates to become a cat-and-mouse murder tale that will keep you guessing.

Willa Fitgerald and Kyle Gallnerr are both pretty good as the leads and watch out for nice cameos from veterans Barbara Hershey and Ed Begley Jnr.

If you’re looking for references, the Coen’s Blood Simple (1984) and the original version of The Hitcher (1986) are apt.

Those comparisons are probably too much praise for Mollner’s film, but it’s a pretty good effort and certainly better than Ethan Coen’s recent Drive Away Dolls.

Watched at the cinema.