In an early scene of Strange Darling (2023), The Demon is seen searching a room with yellow carpet and wallpaper. This is a reference to “The Yellow Wallpaper,” a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman that foreshadows the “twist” of the movie.

Something I noticed right away while watching Strange Darling for the first time over this last weekend is the aggressively yellow room that The Demon explores as he searches for The Lady in the beginning of the movie.

The Yellow Wallpaper is a haunting short story written in 1892 about a woman's descent into madness as she is confined to a room with yellow wallpaper, told from the perspective of the woman. Kind of a neat detail, considering what the "twist" of the movie ends up being. Perhaps a coincidence but I like to think it was intentional!