"How JT Mollner Used 'Halloween' to Inspire Horror Film 'Strange Darling'"

“Strange Darling came to me through an initial image that I saw of a woman running through the woods in distress,” says JT Mollner of his horror film that can be described as a mix of a bloody popcorn wild ride and art.

“I’ve read countless stories about serial killers which gave me some inspiration to show a different side of the traditional ‘final girl’ as well as a different side of the traditional predator,” he continues.

"The idea was to start off where most traditional horror or serial killer movies end."

The filmmaker visualized Halloween’s Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) running through the woods in distress and Strange Darling became a movie.

Mollner compares the dislocated narrative of Strange Darling to life. “Sometimes when we think when we’ve seen certain things, we’re only seeing a small slice.” This idea fascinated the filmmaker.

Starting At Chapter Three

As if Strange Darling wasn’t strange enough, JT began writing his screenplay at chapter three, just as it appears in the film. It was the order the story came to him. He didn’t even know why the woman was running. That is the joy of discovery. The missing pieces came to him during long walks. “It came to me out of sequence because I wanted to start right in the middle of that horror trope, and start exploring reasons why and how these characters got there.”

All he knew was that The Lady (Willa Fitzgerald) was running from an unspecified threat, simply called The Demon (Kyle Gallner). They never get actual names in the film. JT Mollner considered giving his characters actual names. He decided against it because The Lady and The Demon are rooted in very deep archetypes. Starting with these archetypes allowed for nuance and allowed him to flesh them out.

Many screenwriters who write non-linear narratives, initially write them linearly before deconstructing them. But not JT Mollner. He didn’t know the Epilogue of Strange Darling until he started writing it.

“I think it would have been more difficult to write a linear story and then try and figure out how moving those chapters around would make it interesting,” he continues.

JT didn’t set out to write a non-linear narrative for the sake of it. The format was integral to “the way the truths of these characters and their stories are revealed.”

The deliberately sparse dialogue elevates the tone of the film. Mollner wanted the audience to be “thirsty” for it when it finally happens. “It was an exercise in minimalism.”

JT’s Writing Process

Like many screenwriters. JT appreciates that writing any screenplay is a huge mountain to climb. “There were months of thinking about it, making little notes here and there, and thinking about it some more. But once I realized where I was going, and finished up the narrative in my head, I sat down to write it. It was a feverish process.” He couldn’t write the draft fast enough when all the pieces fell together. It took him around ten days to write it.

Strange Darling is told in “six deliberate puzzle pieces and it’s a very simple narrative when put back in sequence.”

Many screenwriters place undue pressure on themselves to turn an established genre on its head. They must find new and innovative ways to subvert it, personalize it and add new twists.

JT Mollner takes a more philosophical approach. “I think the only way it works is when I’m not doing it intentionally. When I was coming up with this story, I was just coming up with a story.” He’s not even thinking about genre conventions. He simply thinks about characters and their story. “When I think I’m specifically going to write a horror film, it never really works out.”

So, for Strange Darling, he starts with a lady running and a predator chasing her. “Where’s that going? Is there some love involved here? Is there some romance? Is there some rapport?” Once he conceptualizes the story, he steps back and looks at it. He can see elements of a “twisted love story” and a “serial killer film.” There are thriller and horror elements. “There’s love and violence happening. Everything’s all happening at once.”

Once he looked at his completed draft, he was “pleasantly surprised” to discover it is a genre film. Then he “started tweaking things in the rewrites to lean into certain genre tropes and then to subvert those expectations.”

In the case of Strange Darling, he chose to “play with gender roles, gender expectations, archetypal expectations, subverting those expectations.”

After two or three drafts, JT returned to chapter three and decided it was going to be a horror film. He referenced seminal horror movies like Steven Spielberg’s Duel and Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for creative inspiration. Mollner credits his father Duke (who plays the Roughneck in the film) for introducing him to horror. “He was building haunted houses in Las Vegas, and was the horror king there. So, we watched horror films together.”

"It’s very interesting to play within a genre, but only if I can find another way in or another framework."

Getting Strange Darling Made

JT Mollner wrote the script and sent it to his friend Giovanni Ribisi best known for his acting in movies like Avatar: The Way Of The Water. He is also a talented cinematographer and wanted to produce films. JT had previously sent scripts to Ribisi for feedback and discussed a collaboration, but nothing came to pass.

“When I sent this one to him, he flipped out over it, and said he wanted to jump on as a producer and be the DP. Then I sent it to my agent, and he sent it to a producer named Roy Lee. Lee gave it to his producing partner, Steven Schneider, and the two of them said, ‘We think we can get you a low, but decent legitimate budget for the movie.‘”

Although Lee and Schneider suggested two months to secure financing, they returned with three offers from different studios within days. Soon enough, they pitched Strange Darling to Bill Block at Miramax. “Three minutes into my pitch, Bill said, ‘Let’s make the movie.'” Six months later they were in production.

Final Thoughts

JT also tapped into his romantic sensibilities in Strange Darling. “I ended up creating a swirl of things. It’s all about being a mixologist and making a perfect cocktail – a perfect balance of ingredients.” This allows the film to work on multiple levels.