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.

encounters meerly resembles that of a man from her past that she feels necessary to take out revenge on for what he did to her in the past.

a haunted mansion and weird things begin to happen. But the film only uses the narrative as means of providing us with familiarity while focusing our attention on its visual presentation. And Darling is all about the visuals; the script can't be more than a few pages. Long periods pass with a single, well-composed shot creating a sense of wonder and uncertainty in the viewer. The choice of black & white cinematography allows the camera to always be in control, reminding us that everything we see is slightly unreal, especially when moments of powerful violence happen. If it were shot in color, the gore would have been the message and distracted us from the artistic statement.Darling is not for everyone, and horror film aficionados may be disappointed or consider it pretentious. And it does start off slow: it took the first 15 minutes for me to relax and not try to rush it.Lauren Ashley Carter is captivating in the lead role, appearing in nearly every shot. She conveys a shifting range of emotions causing me to feel sympathy for her seeming innocence then later repulsing me by her brutality. She gets the avant-garde nature of this production and finds the right tone in every scene.Look for Larry Fessenden Habit in a bit part toward the end. I recommend Darling for the vision it attempted and mostly succeeded at presenting us with. It's not a typical horror film, but something to be watched and admired for its beauty and simplicity.

criticizing is the over-the-top soundtrack; early on, when the main character is simply walking along the city sidewalk, the music is high-key and frantic. The music is so shrill and suspenseful during these mundane scenes that it's almost laughable, but that in itself is disarming by design. It made me think the entire film was going to do nothing but ape '60s styling, which made it more shocking as the plot developed into something more explicitly brutal than I expected.Lead actress Laura Ashley Carter is mesmerizing, and easily drew me past the early slow scenes and the hectic soundtrack. From the beginning it's clear the main character has issues, and it doesn't take long before clues add up that her perception of reality may be distorted. The actress and director do a great job of playing on her petite size, enormous eyes and air of fragility, and she's expressive even when she simply gazes steadily into the camera.The final scene, arriving midway through the credits, is what elevates the movie for me and makes it really memorable. With just a few lines, Sean Young implies a completely different reading of the entire film. For me, the punch of those last moments took this from an enjoyable style exercise and acting showcase to a creepy delight.

Reminiscent of a mix of Catherine Deneuve in Repulsion and Audrey Hepburn at Breakfast at Tiffany's . Darling relies heavily on Carter's ability to convey emotion through her facial features, and she excels in doing so. She tells the story through her haunting stare and methodical movements in a way that makes dialogue almost unnecessary. The manner in which her eyes bulge when certain things set her off, or the way her movements slightly change whenever situations grow more and more tense is extremely impressive.Carter rises to new heights of performance here, carrying the story with a confidence and depth that captivates for the entire 78 minutes. The film is most certainly "art house horror", and a terrific headtrip of a flick. 9/10

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.

characters, she is the film. And what a character she is. Sweet and adorable yet... well its best to watch the film.There were a couple of things that could have done with a bit more explanation, but no film is perfect.I for one will certainly be on the lookout for Lauren Ashley Carter in the future.