What actually happens
House rules for a one-night stand
The film shuffles its chapters, and this retelling puts them in story order. In Hood River County, Oregon, a woman called the Lady meets a man called the Demon, and they go to a motel. Before she rents a room, the Lady lists the dangers women take on in situations like this and makes the Demon say he is not a serial killer. She then asks for an intense roleplay in which he plays a murderer and she plays his victim. After hours of this, she insists they use cocaine before sex, then goes cold and admits she has dosed him with ketamine. The Lady is a prolific serial killer the media calls the Electric Lady, and she carves the initials E.L. into the Demon's chest. Going through his things, she finds a badge and learns he is a police officer. She is about to stab him when he comes around and shoots her ear off with a concealed pistol. She stabs the desk clerk to death and flees in a stolen car, with the Demon chasing her in his truck.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
Doomsday preppers and one chest freezer
On a rural road the Demon shoots at the stolen car, and the Lady crashes and runs into the woods. She finds the farmhouse of Frederick and Genevieve, two eccentric hippie doomsday preppers, who take her in. Genevieve goes to fetch some medicine for her, and Frederick tries to call the police. The Lady stabs him, forces Genevieve out of the house, and the Demon turns up on the property with a rifle. Genevieve takes the chance to run into the woods. The Lady goes back into the farmhouse and climbs into a chest freezer to hide, which is a lot of faith to put in a freezer lid.
A cat call through a chest freezer
The Demon searches the house, shooting into places where the Lady might be hiding and calling out "Here, Kitty, Kitty" in a taunting voice. He finds her and shoots through the chest freezer, hitting her arm, then handcuffs her to it and calls fellow sheriff Pete and a deputy named Gale for backup. The Lady tells the Demon she always hoped to die the way Gary Gilmore did, and she tearfully says she felt a flicker of real love for him during their night at the motel. Then she sprays him with Genevieve's bear spray. In the struggle, the Lady bites into his neck and tears his carotid artery, and the Demon bleeds to death. She takes his pistol as he dies. That is the scene to brace for. It happens late in the story, in the farmhouse, and it ends with the Demon dead.
A very cooperative victim
Pete and Gale arrive and find the Lady handcuffed to the freezer. She tells them the Demon was high on cocaine and took her to the farmhouse to hurt her, not knowing anyone lived there. Pete doesn't buy it and wants the homicide unit to look at the scene before anyone releases her. Gale talks him into getting her medical attention right away. As the officers drive her toward town, Genevieve turns up beside the road and waves them down, and the Lady shoots her before she gets a word out. The Lady takes both officers' guns and orders Gale out of the car.
The ending, explained
Pete drives the Lady a little farther before she has him stop to think. When Pete asks why she kills, she says that sometimes she doesn't see humans, just devils, and then she kills him. She walks on down the road until a woman in a truck stops to pick her up. The Lady glimpses what looks like a devil in her own reflection in the side mirror and draws the pistol, but the driver fires first. The driver calls the police, says she shot a stranger in self-defense, and says she is on her way to the local hospital. The Lady convulses from the gunshot, loses consciousness, and dies.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed either way.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Strange Darling scary?
Yes, Strange Darling is a 6 out of 10 with medium dread. It is a tense chase with mild jump scares and sudden, graphic violence, and the story is told out of order.
How does Strange Darling end?
The Demon bleeds to death in the farmhouse, and the Lady kills Pete. She is picked up by a woman in a truck, who shoots her first when she draws a pistol, and the Lady dies.
Does the dog die in Strange Darling?
No, no dog dies in Strange Darling.
Is there a post-credits scene in Strange Darling?
Nobody has confirmed whether Strange Darling has a scene after the credits.
Who is the Electric Lady in Strange Darling?
The Electric Lady is the name the media gave the Lady, a prolific serial killer. She carves the initials E.L. into the Demon's chest at the motel, then learns he is a police officer.
