Movie Review: Darling (2015)

The movie stars Lauren Ashley Carter, Sean Young, Brian Morvant, Larry Fessenden and John Speredakos.

I had never heard of this movie prior to this past weekend. However, Netflix sent me an e-mail recommending the film (based on some other movies I've watched) and, since it did seem somewhat interesting, I decided to watch it with my wife. Unfortunately, the movie really didn't live up to our expectations.

The film actually starts out OK. The large house, along with the decision to film the movie in black and white, gave the film a bit of a creepy vibe from the start. Plus, the young woman (Carter) herself seemed to be a bit on the unstable side, even when she was first introduced, making me wonder if maybe she had a past that was as sinister as the house she was staying in.

There are also some early scenes in this movie that were actually quite scary. This includes a scene involving a door swinging open that caused my wife to scream.

The problem with the film is it starts to fizzle out pretty quickly and becomes somewhat predictable as it progresses. For example, once she invites the man (Morvant) she is obsessing over to her house, it wasn't too hard to figure out what was going to happen next. And, once it did, then the movie just dragged on after that.

I think my biggest disappointment with this film is it never really tells us about the house. There are clues the house might be part of the reason for her mental breakdown (especially since she apparently isn't the first). But, other than the occasional rumor, the movie never reveals much about its history. Heck, it doesn't even reveal what is behind the locked door. While this secrecy might work in other movies, it really didn't work this time around and, unfortunately, the film just wasn't good enough to pull that off.

It's an OK movie but it really could have been better. As a result, it's just an average film, at best.

My Grade: C