''Darlin is a 2019 American film written and directed by

Pollyanna McIntosh Pollyanna McIntosh (born 15 March 1979) is a Scottish-American actress and director known for her roles in films ''Exam'' (2009), '' The Woman'' (2011), '' Let Us Prey'' (2014), the first season of Joe R. Lansdale's '' Hap and Leonard'' (2016) ...

, who describes it as "a social issue horror film". Besides McIntosh, the rest of the cast consists of Lauryn Canny,

Bryan Batt Bryan Batt (born March 1, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role in the AMC series ''Mad Men'' as Salvatore Romano, an art director for the Sterling Cooper agency. Primarily a theater actor, he has had a number of starring roles in mo ...

, Nora-Jane Noone, and

Cooper Andrews Andrew Lawrence Cooper (born March 10, 1985), known professionally as Cooper Andrews, is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Jerry in '' The Walking Dead''. Early life Andrews was born in Smithtown, New York on Long Island. His f ...

. It is the third standalone part of a trilogy that includes ''

Offspring In biology, offspring are the young creation of living organisms, produced either by a single organism or, in the case of sexual reproduction, two organisms. Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way. This ca ...

'' and the

Lucky McKee Edward Lucky McKee (born November 1, 1975) is an American director, writer, and actor, largely known for the 2002 cult film ''May''. He is best known for his work in horror films. Life and career McKee was born in Jenny Lind, California. He has ...

film '' The Woman'', in which McIntosh played the leading roles.

Plot

At the end of the previous film, Darlin', Peggy, and Socket Cleek joined the feral woman to live in the wilderness. Years later, Peggy and Socket are gone while the now teenage Darlin' has developed a

feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

personality while sporting copper hair halfway down her thighs. She and the Woman had killed a skier and are shown carrying his body while barefoot and in tattered clothing despite the wintry conditions. One day at the insistence of the Woman, Darlin' arrives outside a hospital and accidentally gets struck by an ambulance. After being treated at the hospital, she is sent to a Catholic

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

called St. Philomena's, where the staff and other students attempt to civilize her. A nurse named Tony who was the first to find and befriend her at the hospital tries to look out for her, but is repeatedly turned away by the school for being

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. Though she has forgotten how to speak, she is renamed Darlin' after the name on her bracelet. She slowly regains her ability to speak, her hair is cut to being halfway down her torso, and she befriends some of the other students, especially a trouble-making

tomboy A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. Wh ...

named Billy, but has trouble adjusting to modern life and is disturbed by the school's teachings about the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

. A greedy

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

attempts to exploit her for fame and fortune. Eventually, the Woman enters the city and kills everyone in her path to retrieve her adoptive daughter Darlin' while wearing a brown dress and stolen sunglasses and a jacket, though she befriends a group of

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

prostitutes Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

. Tony cooperates with the Woman by telling her where Darlin' is and she spares his life. The bishop is a

pedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

who regularly preys on the girls, and had preyed on the school's Sister Jennifer when she was a child. He tries to seduce Darlin' only to discover she is pregnant. She reveals that her sister Peggy had died in childbirth after having a

stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. The term i ...

child (it is revealed in the previous film that Peggy was pregnant, although she denied it) which made Socket run away. A few months ago, she and the Woman captured a hiker and Darlin' mated with him before the Woman killed him. The Woman made her go to civilization so that she could deliver the baby safely. However, due to the school's teachings and what happened to Peggy, Darlin' believes the baby inside her is the Devil and repeatedly pleads with God to save her. When Darlin' is about to receive her

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Commu ...

, she attempts either

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and sub ...

or to induce a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...

by drinking

bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...

, but all it does is make her sick. During the ceremony, Sister Jennifer plays a recording of the bishop confessing his crimes which makes several people walk out in disgust. Darlin' bites a chunk out of his hand, but suddenly goes into

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

. The Woman and the homeless prostitutes storm the church and the Woman kills the bishop while the prostitutes escape. Tony, his boyfriend Robert, Sister Jennifer, and Billy help deliver Darlin's child which is a girl. Darlin' tells the Woman to take the baby far away. As sirens approach, Tony, Robert, Sister Jennifer, and Billy tend to Darlin', while the Woman takes the baby, puts it in a baby-carrying backpack, and walks out.

Cast

* Lauryn Canny as Darlin' Cleek, a girl who was raised by the Woman. She was previously portrayed by Shyla Molhusen in the last film. *

as The Bishop, an unnamed greedy bishop who is secretly a pedophile. * Nora-Jane Noone as Sister Jennifer, a nun at St. Philomina's Catholic School that takes care of Darlin'. *

as Nurse Tony, a gay nurse who befriends Darlin' *

as The Woman, a feral cannibal who took in Darlin'. * John McConnell as Dr. Grant, a doctor at the hospital that Darlin' arrived at. * Geraldine Singer as Sister Grace, a nun at St. Philomina's Catholic School. * Maddie Nichols as Billy, a trouble-making tomboy who befriends Darlin. * Mackenzie Graham as Bug *

Jeff Pope Jeff Pope is a British television producer and screenwriter who co-wrote the film '' Pierrepoint'' and the television drama ''The Fattest Man in Britain'' and who won a BAFTA in 2006 for the drama '' See No Evil: The Moors Murders''.

as Clown * Eugenie Bondurant as Mona * Sabrina Gennarino as Charity *

Thomas Francis Murphy Thomas Francis Murphy (December 3, 1905 – October 26, 1995) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Early life and education Born on December 3, 1905, in Manhattan, New Yo ...

as The Cardinal * Damon Lipari as Robert, the boyfriend of Tony.

Lauren Ashley Carter Lauren Ashley Carter is an American actress and producer. Personal life Carter grew up in Ohio and graduated from the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dramatic Performance in 200 ...

and Alexa Marcigliano reprise their roles as Peggy and Socket Cleek from ''The Woman'', respectively where they appear in flashbacks.

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 68% based on 31 reviews and a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

rating of 3.1 out of 5. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc D ...

, it was given a

score Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian ...

of 49 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "Mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * * {{Metacritic film 2019 films American sequel films 2019 horror films American horror films Films about cannibalism Films about pedophilia Films about rape 2010s English-language films 2010s American films