Alright Netflix, Let’s Talk About Darby
Why transgender men need not apply.
If you don’t know, I’ve been attempting to compile a comprehensive list of transgender characters in horror for the last two years of my life. It’s getting pretty extensive. I’ve got a second piece about the topic coming out at the end of October, but until then, you can check out my original examination here.
Originally a novel by Stephanie Perkins, There’s Someone Inside Your House was picked up by Netflix in early 2018 for this film adaptation, which released on October 6th. It’s a slasher set in Nebraska, where a high school senior (Sydney Park) finds herself in the center of a series of gruesome murders where there is a running theme of exposing secrets. The book itself earned mixed reviews upon release, and the film followed much in the same tradition. It’s a wannabe Scream 2 meets I Know What You Did Last Summer, another soulless Netflix original that is toothless despite its desire to provide biting social commentary.
Now, let’s talk about Darby.
I found out about this film because of the Darby character, in regards to the previously mentioned transgender horror research I’ve been doing. In the novel, Darby is a young transgender man, one of our main character’s, Makani, good friends upon her arrival in Nebraska. Admittedly, there is…