The instant cult classic Stephen King hailed as a masterpiece: “It’s really terrific”
In the world of indie horror, very few things are certain. For every low-budget hit that breaks into the mainstream and makes millions at the box office, countless others leave little impression. Many end up bypassing theatres entirely, landing instead on streaming platforms like Shudder, Netflix, or Prime Video. This isn’t necessarily bad—after all, dedicated horror fans relish unearthing hidden gems—but it makes the market notoriously difficult to break into. So, in an industry where a cinema release is never guaranteed, and many films fade into obscurity, the makers of an unknown 2024 horror thriller must have been stunned when none other than Stephen King praised their work. The ‘King of Horror’ even went so far as to call it a masterpiece.
On July 31st, 2024, King took to his Twitter account to sing the praises of a film. Indeed, he did this with heartwarming regularity during his tenure on the platform, which started in 2013 and ended in November 2024. King was always ready to champion the people creating the movies, TV shows, and books he loved engaging with, and it helped keep him connected to the legions of fans. After all, if King was tweeting to say he thought MaXXXine, A Quiet Place: Day One, and Rebel Ridge were fantastic, it revealed he was still a fan at heart, just like them.
On this particular day, though, King told his followers about a film he’d managed to see a few weeks before its August 23rd release date. He posted: “I got an advance screener of Strange Darling, and it’s really terrific. I’ll try to attach the trailer here because it’s also a clever masterpiece.”
To pique the curiosity of his fans even more, King added, “Can’t say more; watch the film, and you’ll understand what the trailer is up to”, before adding: “I wish I could say more about Strange Darling, but it’s one of those films that’s too clever to spoil, so best to say nothing.” Cue thousands of King devotees googling what exactly “Strange Darling” was and what could possibly make it so “clever”.
Ultimately, JT Mollner’s unique thriller wasn’t just loved by King – it became one of the best-reviewed horror films of the last several years. On its surface, the twisting, turning, non-linear thriller told the story of a one-night stand gone wrong, with a young woman finding herself on the run from a lover who may be a serial killer. Over the course of its 96 minutes, though, the film consistently peeled back layers that revealed it as something smarter and more fiendish than it initially appeared.
As for King’s seal of approval, Mollner told The Hollywood Reporter that it meant the world to him. He gushed, “We really wanted Stephen King to watch it, and the fact that he was willing to say something about it, I didn’t even know how to process that. It was pretty cool, and I love him.”
The writer and director also revealed that he had recently adapted one of King’s novels – The Long Walk – into a screenplay for director Francis Lawrence, and King was supportive of that, too. He said: “He gave the thumbs-up on the Long Walk script, which was very exciting…That was one of those dream gigs…It was very exciting for me to be able to contribute in some way to that.”
Mollner has yet to meet King in person, but he confirmed that having the world’s preeminent horror creator endorse two of his works was “so special”.
