Monday, April 11, 2016

Review: Darling

by Patrick Bromley
Perfect.

It's rare to see a horror movie these days -- any movie, really -- that feels like a perfectly executed vision from top to bottom. Compromise is part of filmmaking, whether it's budgetary or in the interest of commercialism. Sometimes movies get away from their directors, becoming too ambitious or unwieldy. A handful of contemporary filmmakers like Wes Anderson regularly strive for this perfection, but the movies end up feeling too fussy and overly arranged. It's the illusion of perfection for its own sake.

It's possible that compromises were made on writer/director Mickey Keating's latest film Darling, but it sure doesn't feel that way. Every single piece of the movie, from the production design to the photography, the editing to the score (even the marketing, over which I can't imagine Keating had much control but I don't know), feels perfectly in place. This is a movie with a very exact vision, executed exactly; even if it's not to your taste (and it very well might not be), one has to admire how it is 100% the film that it wants to be. It's one of the best horror movies of 2016 and a front runner for one of my favorites overall. I love it.
Lauren Ashley Carter plays a young woman (credited as the titular Darling) hired as the caretaker of a New York mansion. As is so often the fate of caretakers in horror movies, she begins to lose her mind.

With only a handful of speaking roles and a running time of just over 75 minutes, there's not much more to the plot of Darling than described. But this isn't a movie about plot. This is a movie about establishing a mood and reflecting a particular psychology. While there are some film critics who will undoubtedly name drop House of the Devil as a point of comparison because both movies feature young women alone in a house, taking their time as she walks around and explores, it's obvious that Keating is much more influenced by Roman Polanski's 1960s efforts like Repulsion and Psycho imitators Homicidal and Strait-Jacket. Everything about the movie's aesthetic, from Mac Fisken's amazing black and white photography to the carefully chosen art direction to Carter's hair and costume design to even the opening and closing credits all invoke a specific kind of '60s psychological horror film, but Keating isn't just doing a stylistic exercise. This is not the Far From Heaven of horror (as though that would be a bad thing), but rather a filmmaker using similar DNA to create something that is his own.
About Lauren Ashley Carter. Students of indie horror in the last few years know her from her excellent work in The Woman and Jug Face, but even those turns left me unprepared for her performance in Darling. Like Alex Essoe in Starry Eyes, Carter is asked to build to a kind of fevered hysteria from a place of total deadpan calm; I love the way she modulates between measured blankness wide-eyed madness, like a riff on so many of the "women's pictures" performances of the '40s through the '60s. Any movie constructed of many this shots of Carter's face in closeup is already well worth seeing, but she breaks new ground for herself as a performer in this one. Her enormous eyes, so good at expressing helplessness and uncertainty -- qualities that make her past work so memorable -- are here turned against us. We think she's helpless until we find out otherwise too late.
In the first review I read by Devin Faraci (then of CHUD.com, now at BirthMoviesDeath), he wrote something that has stuck with me ever since: "Just because a movie has flaws doesn't mean it isn't perfect." It's a sentiment with which I wholly agree, but it's also the kind of thing you either get or you don't. It's an ideal way to articulate my feelings about Darling: it may be flawed, but it's such this perfect little thing that I can't find fault with any of it. The movie is a huge leap forward in Lauren Ashley Carter's career and more promise from Mickey Keating, who demonstrates that he can pay homage to his influences while still creating something that feels personal and original. Darling isn't just another horror movie. It's something thrilling, something special, something that I know is going to last for years. Madness has never looked more beautiful.

Darling is currently available to rent or purchase on iTunes and VOD.

27 comments:

  1. 2nd favorite film of the year. I loved it too.

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  2. I was hoping there would be more interest in this so I was waiting to comment any further. "Darling" has really done something to me as a movie watcher, especially within the genre. I'm already a style over substance kind of guy as well as being much more forgiving of indie and genre films and relatively new directors. I was 20 minutes into this thinking "wow, this is shaping up to being an all time classic, maybe one of my favorites ever". Then they pulled the sin that so many filmmakers still pull and I have no idea why. Patrick knows what I'm talking about and I won't mention it, but it's something that I really can't stand that's overused stylistically within the Horror genre. It should never be used, ever, ever, ever again. That, Found Footage and bullshit jump scares are like my trifecta of awfulness.

    So, I was let down that it happened but the entire film far outweighed the negative. I was so taken by it (especially LAC's performance) that I couldn't wait to watch it again. I watched a couple other films than decided to do just that, this time being able to pay attention in more detail to subtleties. I loved it just as much the second time, even a bit more, still, however, cursing them for the mistakes they made, although I had already decided it's the 2nd best film I had seen of 2016.

    So, why 2nd best? Well, many will disagree, but The Witch did everything I think all Horror filmmakers should take note of. It didn't violate the awful trifecta and also delivered in every aspect of what I want in Horror. So now, I was comparing Darling to The Witch, which is unfair.

    This was all Friday night/early Saturday morning. I've had 3 days now to let it sink in, talked to a friend of mine today who watched it as well and in doing so I realized that I love the film so much that I forgive it for it for the nitpickey shit I was so upset with and I think I actually APPRECIATE it's flaws. It's like listening to your favorite band's first or second album - it's probably your favorite although might be the most rough or flawed.

    Darling is a hell of lot better than a debut album, and is ALMOST an all time classic. To even say that means, well, it kind-of is.

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    1. Funny, when I watched Darling I also went immediately to a comparing it to The Witch place.

      I think that while both were awesome starts to 2016, the progression of Darling left me a lot more satisfied. I was SO on board with The Witch until the end, where I felt it was too quick of a solution—as though they needed to wrap it up and that was the neatest way to do it. Darling kept me in the dark in a way that grew my expectations naturally and beckoned a second watch. And like, maybe a third later... I really enjoyed having had questions at the end, but also didn't really care if they get answered or not.
      Also I THINK I may know what you're talking about stylistically and super agree if we're on the same page.

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    2. The more I think about The Witch the more it gets closer to being an all timer for me. It is very possible that I see so much Horror that it's really, really rare for something to not cheapen the film for me in some way and The Witch didn't at all. I was IN IT the entire time, drenched in the atmosphere. I actually LOVE the ending. I love that it went for it. A lesser film would have left it ambiguous. I was literally saying in my head -

      SPOILERS - DO NOT READ ON IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE WITCH

      "If this fucking goat talks this might be the best movie ever" and then - the goat f-ing spoke! I couldn't believe it committed as much as it did.

      Anyway, the Darling stylistic choice that made me cringe and is one of my least favorite things ever was the stupid "Jacobs Ladder" shaky head/body shit. I HATE IT. They even pulled it in Goodnight Mommy during the forest dream sequence and it sucked me out of the mood it had established almost immediately. I beg that filmmakers stop using this.

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    3. We were 5000% on the same page then. It's so overused that it read as a joke to me. I'll join any club barring the weird shaky thing. Hate. it.

      MORE SPOILING-->

      And totally, I got the goat talking and was still on board. I guess I just got annoyed with the reveal of all the naked dancing ladies in the woods, because I was so into the idea that she was just losing it after having been the only sane character for the top three quarters of the movie. I can totally see your point, though, like it was sort of a twist on a twist. I just love me an unfulfilling ending, haha.

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  3. Think about these 5 horror movies released this year:
    Darling, The Invitation, Hush, 10 Cloverfield Lane and The VVitch.
    I can't think of a better way to start the year. This movie made me vibrate. The sounds mixed with the amazing cinematography just felt right. I'm really having a tough time figuring out which one of these is my favorite. Lauren Ashley Carter is ridiculous. She's an alien from another planet. Planet Awesome.

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    1. And intruders started the year for indie Horror and was really good.

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    2. I saw Intruders and thought it was pretty good. I would put it last on the list but only because the others are so good. The Neon Demon from Nicolas Winding Refn is the one I'm looking forward to the most.

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    3. Amped for Neon Demon, avoiding the trailer. Btw - "Holidays" tonight!

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    4. Me too! And me too! Review coming next week.

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    5. Yeah, I rented Holidays too. Haven't watched it yet. Also rented I Am Wrath because it's John Travolta in a new Chuck Russell action movie.

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    6. Well, yeah, watched Holidays. Look forward to seeing your review. I'll just say some of these filmmakers have done some of my favorite films over the past 6 years (The Midnight Swim was in my top five of last year) (*her's was my fav til the end) so I was really excited - I was not happy with the result.

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    7. You are out of your mind. I thought it was great. I only thought 1 wasn't as good as the others but I still enjoyed it. I tweeted you asking if you had seen it. Tweet back if you want to discuss with spoilers. If not, that's cool. If you're cool with admitting your wrong;)

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    8. *you're* I can't believe I fuckin did that...

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    9. Right on. I don't know shit about tweetin' unless I have to for F-This Movie Fest. We'll talk brotha, can't always agree ya know. I loved Horsehead :)

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    10. Nice that IMDB's photos for Holiday have a straight up spoiler. Geeez.

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    11. Of course. I am just giving you shit. The funny thing about Horsehead is I liked the dub step but didn't love the movie! I have to watch it again. If you remember, I saw it as the last movie in a 24 hour marathon. There were definitely a couple of parts I thought "Chaybee is gonna hate this."

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    12. I hated the dubstep haha! I do remember, I think you were lacking sleep or dead asleep when you say it.

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    13. I only thought about using Twitter because I didn't want to spoil the movie for other people.

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    14. No doubt. I'll continue with you over there.

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    15. I retract my statement. I love 5 of the 8. The other 3 are whatever.

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  4. I'll definitely be checking this out. Thanks for the review, Patrick.

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    1. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna watch it right now!

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  5. Will certainly watch it. Immediately reminded me the tone of The Haunting (1963), but I see this piece going to more explicit places.

    Thanks F This Movie! for keeping my hopes on current cinema going strong.

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  6. What a brilliant film. I've come to the conclusion that horror films have an incredibly hard time being 'scary' when they feel like a mainstream Hollywood film. It feels too safe and familiar. This film doesn't feel safe at all. It feels so bizarre it's dangerous. Insanely creepy. The incredible lead performance didn't hurt either.

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  7. I wouldn't call it perfect it was a good film but was a 7.5 to an 8 for me. The performance of "Darling's" victim bothered me. It was definitely stylish,but the plot itself was lacking and didn't really go anywhere.

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