FILM GUTTER REVIEWS: DARLIN’ (2019)

It was maybe a neater, tidier and cleaner film than either of the other two parts of the trilogy, but even with that difference it’s a worthwhile watch in its own right. 

Dir. Pollyanna McIntosh,
​100 mins

When I think of absolute favourite extreme horror films, Lucky McKee’s The Woman has to be right up there. As well as its brutal depiction of the feral lead character, it’s a cutting jab at the ‘All-American Family’ and just a mesmerising film to watch with an absolutely explosive finale. It’s always been in my mind this one would be hard to follow up on, but even with that said I was super excited when I heard there was a sequel in the works – directed by none other than Pollyanna McIntosh, star of The Woman. If anyone would get the character and the milieu of that film, it had to be her.
And I was just as excited to see this one spring up to watch on Sky Cinema recently.

In coming to this one, I had to remind myself to try not to hold it to the lofty standard of its predecessor. In fact this one effectively polishes off a trilogy that started with 2009’s Offspring – which was a good (if mighty hard to watch) film in its own right, but still not up to the par of The Woman.

(Note to self – I must rewatch and review Offspring).

So basically I’m doing my best to look at Darlin’ as a movie in its own right and not constantly draw comparisons to one of my top 5 extreme horror movies. With that said, on we go…

Darlin’ is the story of a young girl from the feral cult that the first two movies followed, who strays into the city and finds herself being hit by an ambulance just outside the hospital. Of course she then finds herself taken inside, and strikes up an uneasy alliance with Tony, a nurse who is the only person to manage to soothe her and get through to her. Of course the hospital can’t keep her long term, so Darlin’ finds herself taken in by a Catholic care home where she is looked after by an unflailingly confident Bishop and rather shyer sister Jennifer, who takes it upon herself to teach their new occupant to speak and show her the ways of the faith. Meanwhile The Woman herself is out on the streets looking for Darlin’, leaving a swathe of chaos in her wake.

There’s a lot to like about Darlin’ – the acting performances are generally strong, especially Lauryn Canny in the lead role, who not only depicts the savagery of the character’s early days but that gradual, uneasy journey towards becoming a part of mainstream society. On top of that. Pollyanna McIntosh effortlessly slips back into her role as The Woman. Some of the cast around are a little stereotypical as characters, although there’s no-one that stands out as particularly being a weak link in their delivery.

The story itself is enough to keep you interested, but for me it rather went in the direction I had expected and didn’t pack many surprises throughout. For me that was maybe my main complaint – I’m not usually the best for anticipating plot points, but I was largely able to do so here. Everything was solid, and well done, but it didn’t quite have the raw and uncomfortable quality of The Woman or the unexpected moments of its predecessor (I know I saw I wouldn’t compare, but just let me off one, OK?)

With that said, it certainly feels like a good way to wrap up the trilogy and a logical place to conclude things. I’m going to make a point of one day sitting down and watching all three back to back, to see exactly how they hang together, but despite the long break between the two concluding parts it almost feels necessary to draw things to a close here. I’d be hard pressed to see anything else coming after this, but this one is certainly worth the time if you’ve enjoyed the first two. While I’d argue having seen Offspring and The Woman is not an absolute essential, you’ll probably get more out of it with the past knowledge.

RATING: 7/10. Darlin’ was good, with particular highlights in some of the key acting performances, and the plot was engaging even if some of the events were pretty easy to see coming. It was maybe a neater, tidier and cleaner film than either of the other two parts of the trilogy, but even with that difference it’s a worthwhile watch in its own right. It certainly feels like the end of the road for these characters and the core concepts that have carried them, and when it came to a conclusion I certainly felt satisfied on the whole – despite a slightly odd post-credits dance scene… so overall it’s a 7/10 for this one.