Summary

Strange Darling
has earned a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Stephen King has called the serial killer thriller ”
a clever masterpiece
.”

Strange Darling
is another success in a year of unique horror offerings.

Strange Darling has earned a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. The upcoming release, which had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in September 2023, was written and directed by JT Mollner and stars Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner in a twisted tale of a one-night stand that devolves into a serial killer’s bloody rampage. The ensemble cast of the movie also includes Giovanni Ribisi, Barbara Hershey, Ed Begley Jr., and Steven Michael Quezada. Recently on X, Stephen King’s glowing Strange Darling review called the serial killer thriller “a clever masterpiece.”

Now, Rotten Tomatoes has aggregated an official score for Strange Darling out of 18 different critics’ reviews. While the score could fluctuate as more reviews are added, at the time of writing critics seem to agree with Stephen King’s assessment, as the new horror movie boasts a perfect 100% score. It is one of just four 2024 horror movies to have accomplished this record, joining the ranks of T-Blockers, Double Blind, and Summoners, none of which have so far been Certified Fresh.

Strange Darling Continues A Banner Year For Original Horror
2024 Horror Has Seen Both Critical And Commercial Success

While the critical performance of Strange Darling places it at the top of the genre for the year, there are many original 2024 horror movies that have performed outstandingly well throughout the year so far. This includes all but one of the Top 10 Certified Fresh horror titles on Rotten Tomatoes, which are Late Night with the Devil (97%), Oddity (96%), Infested (95%), In Flames (95%), New Life (93%), Stopmotion (91%), The Devil’s Bath (90%), A Quiet Place: Day One (86%), Longlegs (86%), and Out of Darkness (86%).

Related Every Horror Movie Releasing In 2024 2024’s horror movies include sequels like Beetlejuice 2 and MaXXXine and new movies by Robert Eggers and M. Night Shyamalan. Here’s when they release.

Original horror has also been performing well commercially in 2024, potentially because the release slate has seen many tentpole blockbusters moved to 2025 in the wake of the dual 2023 strikes, during which writers and actors took to the picket lines to fight for fair pay. At the time of writing, only three of 2024’s Top 10 horror movies are from pre-existing movie franchises, whereas the previous year’s best performers include six franchise titles and a video game adaptation. Below, see a breakdown of the 10 highest-grossing horror movies of 2023 compares to the current highest-grossing horror titles of 2024:

Rank 2023 2024 #1 Five Nights at Freddy’s A Quiet Place: Day One #2 Scream VI Longlegs #3 M3GAN The Strangers: Chapter 1 #4 The Nun II Night Swim #5 Insidious: The Red Door Imaginary #6 Evil Dead Rise Abigail #7 The Exorcist: Believer The First Omen #8 Saw X The Watchers #9 Talk to Me Tarot #10 The Boogeyman Immaculate

The 2024 chart does not take the entire year into account, as there are upcoming franchise releases including Smile 2, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Alien: Romulus that seem likely to land on the chart when they premiere. However, 2024 still seems destined to have a grand total of charting original horror titles that is much higher than 2023, in addition to more overlap between the highest-grossing titles and the best-reviewed. While Strange Darling may not prove to be a box office juggernaut, its critical performance proves it is part of this banner year for the genre nevertheless.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Strange Darling (2024) A twisted one-night stand spirals into a deadly game of cat and mouse when a relentless predator chases an injured woman through the Oregon wilderness.Director JT Mollner Release Date August 23, 2024 Writers JT Mollner Runtime 96 Minutes Expand