jacealana Wow. I had low expectations about this movie because of the star rating. I was sorely mistaken. Definitely 8/10 movie. This is an amazing movie. Very terrifying and beautifully done. Many jump scares that are not your normal jump scares. The story of a mid twenties woman who is house sitting. The house is supposedly haunted. But this movie takes a different turn altogether. Without spoiling anything, everything is not as expected.

SquigglyCrunch Darling follows a woman as she moves into a new house where she slowly, and violently, goes insane. I watched this movie on Hallowe'en night, unsure exactly what I was getting into. I'd been curious about it, but never did I expect this. Let's start with the performances. They're good. The supporting cast is fine, but nothing to write home about. The shining star in all this is the leading actress, Lauren Ashley Carter. Right from her opening scene she was fantastic. The way she delivers dialogue in particular was great, and although she didn't talk much, watching her perform was a treat. The story itself is subtle and engaging. There's a level of mystery that surrounds the entire atmosphere of the film. Not only that, but the character of Darling herself is very interesting. As the movie progresses you as the audience begins to realize that this isn't the beginning of this woman's struggles, but rather a continuation. It's clear that Darling has had a troubled past, and the series of new events unfolding before her in her new home set her mind off in the direction it seemed to have been heading already. Not only that, but Darling acts similarly to a real person in her situation. She begins to fear herself and what she's becomes, and expresses that in scenes that are both very powerful and a little on the hard side to watch. Now, let's get into the most effective aspect of the film: the horror. This is an unnerving and genuinely frightening movie, and I don't say that often. I've been unsettled by a few horror films, but Darling takes the cake for being actually scary. The movie briefly shows images and scenes that are assumed to be Darling's thoughts, and while some people would call this a cheap horror gimmick, I say otherwise. The imagery shown is often somewhat unnerving and vague, and only processing each image for a short second just adds to that. No, they aren't jump scares, there isn't a loud sound to go along with each one, nor are they all that sudden. They become a regular occurrence, but the director Mickey Keating knows exactly when to use each one. Furthermore, there are a handful of scenes that are just plain hard to watch, made all the more effective by the character we have now come to care for. It's a movie you have to see for yourself, but trust me, there are some genuinely unnerving scenes, one in particular involving a bathtub. Overall Darling is not only horrifying but also well-acted and well- written, with an interesting story and great characters. In the end I'd definitely recommend this movie.

enyasurvivor The film is essentially a hodge-podge of classic 60s horror references and imagery mixed with modern-style jumps and scares to keep you on your toes. Does it always work though? No, it doesn't. While most of the jumps are well-coordinated and add an essential level of terror to the atmosphere, there were others that felt impatient and cheap, deflating the room of suspense and tension. I still give this 8 stars because the cinematography is incredible and Lauren Ashley Carter is a true star. The screenplay is also quite good, with the story broken up into several chapters for the audience to easily understand her descent into madness. Overall, this horror film made me and my friends scream as well as kept us up at night, which is the goal of the film.

davidallenusa-31754 The first part (I only watched it for 30 minutes, got grossed out by graphic stabbing scene) was good.Great acting and camera work.I'll go back, see the rest another time! I only learned Sean Young in is the movie as "Madame" after I researched to the movie on WWW.IMDb.Com.I doubt "Madame" as the landlady seen at the start of the movie in the opening scene with Lauren Carter (the star of the movie who played "Darling," and did a great job!). Sean Young was a great beauty when she was a young girl in Bladerunner (1982) and No Way Out (1988), and is only in her 50's, probably is still good looking. The landlady I saw was not, but who knows? Maybe Sean had a lot of makeup on or fell on hard times. I only saw about 20 minutes of so of the movie (until the part where "Darling" violently stabs a guy she picks up in a bar.....nice "regular guy" type guy who didn't expect to be murdered!).I saw this movie in a strange movie house for experimental movies called "Zoetropolis" located at 315 James. St. in Lancaster PA USA, and had just come from a terrible dinner I ate (and paid $60 for at the Lancaster Arts Hotel very near the Zoetropolis location (which movie house is in an old industrial building and doubles as Yoga teaching place!).The candy I bought before the movie at the Zoetropolis for $3 was also terrible, and the after taste of the bad dinner didn't go away.All this made it hard to watch the movie and give it a chance. I was jumpy, and couldn't stomach the slasher stabbing scene (I'm a retired 72 year old movie actor, and never got used to the modern slasher horror movies the younger people love so much and can't get enough of ....Nightmare On Elm St. and all the movies which came after that for decades!).I really did like the opening of the movie, which reminded me of Woody Allen's Manhattan (1980) movie showing New York City (Manhattan) in black and white outdoor scenes on a wet day, the office and apt. buildings, etc. etc. Great images.I also liked pretty Lauren Carter. She plays "Darling" and does a very good job.She is very pretty, very big eyes like an old time "Keene" drawing of orphan girls with big eyes.She is very short (only 5'1") and the photographer didn't hide that well, or try to hide it at all.She might become a pro model is the short stature doesn't get in her way, or if she can sell employers on shooting around the fact there is not much of her there.She is very pretty, and has good curves in all the right places. There is a frontal nude scene from the waist up, and she looks very good in that. Could do nude modeling and glamor modeling if she wanted to, and use that clip in her portfolio.I was reminded of Anne Paillard (of France), the famous fashion model (tall and skinny) who became a movie star of fame when she was chosen to play "Nikita," the French govt. paid assassin working for the govt. in the movie titled "Le Femmme Nikita" (1992 or so).Lauren Carter carried the entire part of the movie I saw (about 30 minutes, maybe 30 minutes) and did a very good job. She was a one man band, and that is very hard to pull off....but she did it! I saw the movie at the wrong place (the Zoetropolis Movie Theater located in an industrial building in Lancaster PA at 315 James St.). I went outside to the "lobby" of the Zoetropolis to sit down and recover from the stabbing scene, but the man who sold me my ticket earlier told me to get out of the lobby because a big Yoga Class was going on...in the lobby. About 10 girls, a lady teacher, and a single man...the ticket salesman.