Darling (2015 American film)
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Mickey Keating |
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| Written by | Mickey Keating |
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| Music by | Giona Ostinelli |
| Cinematography | Mac Fisken |
| Edited by | Valerie Krulfeifer |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Screen Media Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Darling is a 2015 American psychological horror film written and directed by Mickey Keating. It stars Lauren Ashley Carter as a young woman who slowly goes insane after becoming a caretaker in a large New York City apartment. It also features Sean Young, Brian Morvant, Larry Fessenden, Helen Rogers, and John Speredakos. It premiered at the 2015 Fantastic Fest and has a planned 2016 release date in the United States.
The film takes place over six chapters.
Madame leaves Darling alone as the new caretaker of an old home in New York City. Before leaving, Madame warns that the previous caretaker threw herself off the balcony. Darling becomes fascinated with an inverted cross necklace she finds in a dresser drawer. She also finds a locked door at the end of a hallway, but Madame forbids her by phone from opening it. Darling unknowingly drops the necklace while grocery shopping and a man returns it to her on the street. It is inferred that she recognizes him. After experiencing a panic attack, Darling follows the man and finds out where he lives.
Darling begins experiencing hallucinatory visions. Noises in the home lead her outside to the balcony where she finds a Latin proverb "Abyssus abyssum invocat" which means "Deep calls to deep" ("hell calls hell" or "one misstep leads to another") scrawled into a wood panel.
Darling follows the man from earlier to THRILLS!!, a local lounge. They share drinks together before Darling invites him back to her house. The man mentions how the house is said to be haunted and rumored to have been a place where someone once tried conjuring the devil. Darling suddenly stabs the man to death mid-conversation, and begins raving that she is taking revenge on a man named Henry Sullivan who cannot be allowed to live because of what he did to her "that night".
Darling tapes a bag over the man’s head, suffocating him, and puts his body in the tub. Darling goes to sleep, clutching the cross necklace to her chest and reciting "Abyssus abyssum invocat". Darling dreams of the dead man attacking her in her bed.
Darling finds a card on the man that identifies him as Henry Sullivan. After sawing off his head and limbs and putting them in a bag, Darling checks the ID again and sees that the name now reads James Abbott.
Madame calls after discovering that Darling’s reference, Dr. Abbott, was never her employer; Darling replies calmly that the doctor says she's "all right now". Madame implores Darling to leave her home. Darling asks if the locked room upstairs was the site of the devil conjuring told of in local tales. Madame doesn't answer. Darling replies, “I think I’ll become one of your ghost stories now.” Darling breaks down the locked door upstairs and is horrified by what she sees, but it is not shown to the audience. Darling paces the hall, cuts up all of her clothes and dons the cross necklace. A woman arrives at the house with two police officers, presumably having been alerted by Madame via telephone, and they find the bag of body parts after entering with a spare key. Darling hears them, climbs up to the roof and jumps off - her visions now coming full circle.
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