Admittedly, I didn’t care much for Mickey Keating’s previous alien attack, POD, but Darling is a completely different beast. A sexy, ravenous beast contained in the eyes of lead actress Lauren Ashley Carter, who cuts through the screen like a warm knife through silky butter. She’s the reason we’re left mesmerized by a black-and-white housesitting tale with a sinister flicker, because while Keating’s technical prowess may be seizure-inducing at times, Carter’s glare just won’t let us look away. It’s like a voodoo curse or something – I could gaze into those crazy eyes all day, knowing the dark dementia that exists behind Carter’s mismatching facade. Personal intensity makes Darling more than a high-grade film school assignment, while Keating boasts a want to turn his influences into gripping tension, but this is Carter’s day to shine, and shine brightly she does.
Darlings Review: Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma and Roshan Mathew starrer highlights a crucial subject of domestic violence.
The rest of the critical darling you can expect to find at TIFF 2019 ahead of the Oscars.
The Hollywood Reporter
A superstar prima ballerina suffers for her art, and makes damn sure everybody else does, too, in this stylish psycho-thriller from documentarian turned feature director Birgitte Staermose. Shot on location at the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen, Darling feels like a Nordic remake of Darren Aronofksy’s Black Swan in places. It certainly has a comparable mood of feverish intensity, and a strikingly similar plot in which two female dancers battle over a juicy stage role while psycho-sexual fireworks explode backstage.
