Darling (2015)

★ 5.5 1h 18m IMDb

Horror Thriller

A young woman slowly goes crazy after taking a job as the caretaker for an ancient New York home.

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Cast

Lauren Ashley Carter as Darling Lauren Ashley Carter is an American actress and producer. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music in 2008 and is a fan of horror and science fiction..

Sean Young as Madame Age 66 · Louisville, Kentucky, USA Sean Young, born Mary Sean Young on November 20, 1959, in Louisville, Kentucky, is an American actress recognized for her roles in 1980s sci-fi and thrillers. A former model and dancer trained at the...

Larry Fessenden as Officer Maneretti Age 63 · New York City, New York, USA Laurence T. Fessenden is an American actor, producer, writer, director, film editor, and cinematographer. He is the founder of the New York based independent production shingle Glass Eye Pix..

John Speredakos as Officer Clayton Age 63 · New York, New York, USA John Speredakos is an actor..

Helen Rogers as The New Girl Age 37 · New York, USA Helen Rogers is an American actress..

Director Mickey Keating

Cast Lauren Ashley Carter, Sean Young, Brian Morvant, Larry Fessenden, John Speredakos, Al-Nisa Petty, Helen Rogers

Dedoc1967 7/10 Jan 02, 2021

As if Gasper Noe remade Repulsion

There are plenty of elements of Darling that feel reminiscent of other movies and the plot is fair conventional: a young, doe-eyed caretaker house sits a haunted mansion while slowly going insane. There's The Shining, The Innocents, and Repulsion which all come to mind. Yet, this movie is very much its own thing.

First, this is truly a bravura performance by the lead actress, Lauren Ashley Carter. She literally carries the whole movie on her back being in almost every scene and mostly solo. No easy feat. And she manages a wide array of emotions without slipping into cartoon histrionics, again no easy feat when alone on the high wire. I don't think I've ever seen her in anything else before, but I will check into her other works now.

I have seen online criticism of the jarring effects that represent her descent into madness. They didn't bother me at all and they were scary (physically and mentally). The intentional use of strobe, fast cuts, and discordant music cues reminded me of Noe's direction, intended to stir deep discomfort in the viewer.

Further, I appreciated the nod to reality that the 100 lb. waif-like Carter would struggle mightily in moving around the dead body of a much larger adult man. Droll and honest. I also really appreciated that the restraint the filmmakers had in not going overboard with gore and, more importantly, never showing us what was actually in the secret room that pushes her over the edge. And while I feel somewhat frustrated, I even like their intentional vagueness as to who she killed and why (she has several backstories it appears).

This is currently on Amazon Prime, and I think was previously on Netflix (where it could reappear). I would recommend it to those who enjoy psychological horror that does not cheat or spoon-feed the viewer. I later learned, and was not surprised by, that the creators were also behind the Innkeepers and House of the Devil, to other enjoyably fun horror movies with which they joyfully color outside the lines.