Contains discussions of suicide.

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Strange Darling!

Strange Darling being one of the most fun thrillers of 2024, the film is incredibly dark and violent, with it centering around murders and other upsetting topics. However, this fan theory posits that Strange Darling was setting up an even darker fate for Willa Fitzgerald's The Lady, with her death at the end of the film stopping the movie from taking the character down an even more tragic past.

Strange Darling was one of the biggest surprises of 2024, with JT Mollner's low-budget thriller getting critically acclaimed upon its release. Strange Darling follows The Lady (Willa Fitzgerald) as she is pursued by The Demon (Kyle Gallner), who wants to violently get revenge on her after a one-night stand. Strange Darling's non-chronological storytelling and thrilling violence made the movie incredibly memorable, with it elevating a fairly straightforward story into a narrative masterpiece. However, the storytelling of Strange Darling may be even more interesting than it seems, with this theory explaining a hidden detail about The Lady's character arc.

Why The Good Samaritan Killed The Lady In Strange Darling

She Shot Her In Self Defense

Throughout Strange Darling, The Lady gets one over on almost every character she encounters, with her constantly using her quick thinking and violent means to escape trouble. The Lady manages to kill The Demon, Frederick and Genevieve, and one of the police officers, all of whom had guns and other weapons that they could have defended themselves with. However, the character who finally manages to put an end to the Electric Lady's string of killings is a character who hadn't been seen in the movie before, with the character simply being referred to as The Good Samaritan.

After killing the police officer, The Lady hopes to hitchhike back to town, with her being picked up by The Good Samaritan's truck. As had happened several times previously, The Lady soon had a vision of the so-called demon that had been tormenting her mind, something that preceded her previous murders. This causes The Lady to pick up her weapon, presumably preparing to kill The Good Samaritan. However, The Good Samaritan is quicker, with her fatally shooting The Lady. The Good Samaritan's shot of self defense caused The Lady to slowly die while in her truck, with Strange Darling ending with The Lady's death.

The Lady Was Going To Take Her Own Life According To Strange Darling Theory

She Saw The Demon In The Mirror

While Strange Darling seemingly sets up a situation in which The Lady is stopped from killing The Good Samaritan by The Good Samaritan's shot, this may not be the case. Instead, this Strange Darling theory sets up a different possibility, with it stating that The Lady was going to take her own life at the end of the film.

During previous killings, it is implied that The Lady may have seen her victims as the demons, explaining why Kyle Gallner's character is simply named The Demon. However, the ending of Strange Darling has The Lady see a demon in the mirror, implying that she would be her next victim. The Lady was at her lowest point near the end of Strange Darling, and due to the fact that the police had caught onto her, it may be the case that she knew she had no chance of continuing her murder spree without being caught.

This theory is ed by another major detail, with that being the fact that The Good Samaritan did not match up with the Electric Lady's usual modus operandi. As Strange Darling set up, the Electric Lady killed men after doing one-night stands with them. However, The Good Samaritan was an older lady who merely picked The Lady up, meaning that she had no reason to kill the truck driver.

This Strange Darling Theory Makes The Lady's Death Even Darker

She Had No Way Out

The theory that The Lady was going to end her own life in Strange Darling makes her death at the end of the film even darker, as there was no way she was going to make it out of the movie alive. There were only two options for The Lady, and neither of them were good for her. The first option was that one of the many characters who wanted to kill The Lady, such as The Demon or The Good Samaritan, would kill her.

The other option was that she would take her own life, meaning that she was not going to make it out of The Good Samaritan's truck either way. For a movie as fun as Strange Darling, this is an incredibly dark path for the film's protagonist to take. Although she is a murderer, having a main character who is doomed to take her own life or have her life taken is incredibly tragic. Strange Darling makes it clear that The Lady clearly cannot control her violent tendencies, something that haunts her to her end.

What Strange Darling's Director & Star Have Said About The Theory

Fitzgerald & Mollner Have Different Thoughts

Strange Darling star Willa Fitzgerald was asked about this theory during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, leading to an interesting response. When the interviewer mentioned the theory, here was Fitzgerald's response:

I think that’s a great answer, and I’m moved by your interpretation. I hesitate to give a definitive reading of the character, but what I can say about the Lady is that, fundamentally, she is someone who’s seeking out human connection and is thwarted by herself. And that final moment in the mirror and that recognition of self is deeply heartbreaking and deeply freeing. So I don’t think you’re wrong.

So, Willa Fitzgerald neither confirmed nor denied the theory, although she did state that it is a valid interpretation. According to the The Lady actress, this is an entirely valid interpretation, showing how complex the characters and story of Strange Darling are. The Hollywood Reporter also asked director JT Mollner about the theory, with this being his response:

I love The Hollywood Reporter, but I’ve made a deal with myself to never answer that question to anybody. I know how I feel about it, and there’s so many different versions of what people are getting out of that scene. So I love the complexity of that scene, and I like that that’s the conclusion you came to because it certainly could be the case.

So, while Fitzgerald is more open to discussing this interpretation of her character's fate, the film's director is less excited to do so. Mollner seems to want to keep things vauge, meaning that this Strange Darling theory will have to remain a theory for now.