SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for “Strange Darling,” which is in theaters now. Seriously — there are some great twists and turns in this film. Go see it first, then come back and read this!

JT Mollner is receiving rave reviews for his new thriller “Strange Darling.” The writer-director, however, didn’t even feel the need to make a film unless he could do something unique.

“There are so many great horror films that are better than anything I could ever make because they’re just so perfect that I felt like if we couldn’t find another angle and turn it inside out, there was no reason to do it,” he says. “I was excited because it felt like, ‘Oh, this is a way to play with people’s expectations and assumptions.’”

Fortunately, Mollner wrote a sexy and shocking script for “Strange Darling,” whose strength lies in manipulating stereotypes audiences have seen in dozens of films. A beautiful woman covered in blood running from a man with a gun? It must be a predator stalking its prey. Indelible images like these are artfully woven throughout the film, but this nonlinear feature does its best to keep things askew.