Don't Worry Darling (2022)
Out of the numerous new filmmakers to break onto the scene with impressive debuts, none stood out quite as much as Olivia Wilde when her first feature, Booksmart, was released in 2019. Providing an impressive convergence of genuinely funny humor and authentic deeper emotions, Wilde seemed destined to be one of the brightest filmmakers of the next generation. As details began to develop regarding her next film, anticipation immediately grew. Building an ensemble cast including Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, Nick Kroll, KiKi Layne, Gemma Chan, and Wilde herself; Don't Worry Darling quickly became one of the most anticipated films of 2022. The curiosity many held for the film only widened after a very public display of drama formed regarding how the production was handled behind the scenes. Stories of inappropriate sexual relations and a falling apart lack of direction, the supposed horrors of production sadly seem to have translated to the final product as Don't Worry Darling is a complete mess.
Set in the seemingly flawless desert town of Victory, California, Don't Worry Darling follows a young couple made of the hardworking Jack Chambers (Harry Styles) and his supportive wife Alice (Florence Pugh). While Jack and the rest of the men go off into the desert every day to complete their mysterious work on something known as the "Victory Project", Alice and the rest of the women stay in town and enjoy the amenities provided for them. They lounge in the sun, swim in the pool, spread gossip, and of course have dinner ready for their loving husbands by the time they get home. This utopia begins to be challenged however when a woman named Margaret (KiKi Layne) begins to claim they are in danger after she loses her son in an accident that saw them break the biggest rule of Victory, to go into the desert. Alice and the rest of the women put her down as being blinded by grief and delusions, but Alice starts to notice more strange things occur and begins to think that Margaret might be onto something.
The immediate elephant in the room that needs to be dealt with is Harry Styles. In a matter of weeks, Styles has largely gone from being seen as a bright up-and-coming actor to being seen as a rather large dud in the industry. Led by a supposed spit seen around the world to the now iconic line "You know, my favorite thing about the movie is, like, it feels like a movie,”; Styles' quick promotional trip to the Venice International Film Festival was nothing short than disastrous for the young man. This is somewhat shameful as, in execution, Styles is actually one of the more consistent parts of the feature.
While Styles does still have the occasional awkward expression or forced outburst of emotion, the biggest reason Styles tends to feel out of place is because of the failure of those around him. From some absolutely atrocious ADR work that is highlighted by one of the worst sound mixing jobs in recent memory to the screenplay Styles has to work with, nobody is doing Styles any favors, and the results of this show. What is even more shocking however is how out of place Florence Pugh is throughout the film. Pugh is undeniably an amazing actor with some of the best performances of the last decade being a direct result of her talents. Pugh is once again giving an empathetic and emotionally charged effort throughout Don't Worry Darling, but the issue is more fundamental.
There is not a single frame in this film where Pugh feels like she belongs to the world her character does. There is not a single scene where it feels like she belongs in this sexually charged relationship with Styles. This is a role that requires a maturity and sensuality that Pugh simply lacks. As a result, Pugh feels like she is on a completely different wavelength than everything around her. This yet again plays into opposition with the work Styles is doing and causes the entire on-screen dynamic to fail. It also doesn't help that much of the ensemble is completely wasted. To know the talents of those like Layne or Chan and see how little they actually get to do is shocking. Pine is easily the MVP of the project, but even he only gets a handful of scenes where he is given something of substance to truly do.
The screenplay is equally frustrating. Don't Worry Darling presents itself as a mystery. Alice begins to notice deeply uncomfortable and disturbing things in the film asking both Alice and the audience to question the world presented. While there are eventual realizations that change the context of how one views Victory, the explanation fails to explain nearly anything that happened within the plot itself. Why was Alice having these visions? Why does she witness the events she does? Don't Worry Darling is a film that wants to use unsettling iconography but sadly is also a film that is too lazy to have it make sense. This is a disturbing trend that has started to plague the horror genre, but even then, most films that have these types of meaningless thrills will at least explain them as being a dream. While that is an unsatisfying and lazy answer, it at least is an answer. Without getting into spoilers, the grand reveal is also rather poor. On paper, there is some potential for a strong message to form from the ideas presented within Don't Worry Darling, but in execution, it becomes almost on par with failures as big as Serenity.
The one bright spot here is some of the visuals that are created. While ultimately meaningless, some sequences are genuinely stunning on the big screen as the film showcases more abstract and artistic visuals. The entire feature contains a solid eye for aesthetics with the 50s period piece being wonderfully brought to life by the film's standout production design and costume design. This is the only consistent positive found within the film, which really says a lot about the production as a whole.
At the end of the day, Don't Worry Darling can be seen as nothing more than a failure. Whether it was due to behind-the-scenes politics or not, nothing in the feature ends up coming together. The film is largely miscast and the thematic weight simply fails to form. Maybe there are some ideas here that would hold something of value, but largely this is a 123-minute dud.
Set in the seemingly flawless desert town of Victory, California, Don't Worry Darling follows a young couple made of the hardworking Jack Chambers (Harry Styles) and his supportive wife Alice (Florence Pugh). While Jack and the rest of the men go off into the desert every day to complete their mysterious work on something known as the "Victory Project", Alice and the rest of the women stay in town and enjoy the amenities provided for them. They lounge in the sun, swim in the pool, spread gossip, and of course have dinner ready for their loving husbands by the time they get home. This utopia begins to be challenged however when a woman named Margaret (KiKi Layne) begins to claim they are in danger after she loses her son in an accident that saw them break the biggest rule of Victory, to go into the desert. Alice and the rest of the women put her down as being blinded by grief and delusions, but Alice starts to notice more strange things occur and begins to think that Margaret might be onto something.
The immediate elephant in the room that needs to be dealt with is Harry Styles. In a matter of weeks, Styles has largely gone from being seen as a bright up-and-coming actor to being seen as a rather large dud in the industry. Led by a supposed spit seen around the world to the now iconic line "You know, my favorite thing about the movie is, like, it feels like a movie,”; Styles' quick promotional trip to the Venice International Film Festival was nothing short than disastrous for the young man. This is somewhat shameful as, in execution, Styles is actually one of the more consistent parts of the feature.
While Styles does still have the occasional awkward expression or forced outburst of emotion, the biggest reason Styles tends to feel out of place is because of the failure of those around him. From some absolutely atrocious ADR work that is highlighted by one of the worst sound mixing jobs in recent memory to the screenplay Styles has to work with, nobody is doing Styles any favors, and the results of this show. What is even more shocking however is how out of place Florence Pugh is throughout the film. Pugh is undeniably an amazing actor with some of the best performances of the last decade being a direct result of her talents. Pugh is once again giving an empathetic and emotionally charged effort throughout Don't Worry Darling, but the issue is more fundamental.
There is not a single frame in this film where Pugh feels like she belongs to the world her character does. There is not a single scene where it feels like she belongs in this sexually charged relationship with Styles. This is a role that requires a maturity and sensuality that Pugh simply lacks. As a result, Pugh feels like she is on a completely different wavelength than everything around her. This yet again plays into opposition with the work Styles is doing and causes the entire on-screen dynamic to fail. It also doesn't help that much of the ensemble is completely wasted. To know the talents of those like Layne or Chan and see how little they actually get to do is shocking. Pine is easily the MVP of the project, but even he only gets a handful of scenes where he is given something of substance to truly do.
The screenplay is equally frustrating. Don't Worry Darling presents itself as a mystery. Alice begins to notice deeply uncomfortable and disturbing things in the film asking both Alice and the audience to question the world presented. While there are eventual realizations that change the context of how one views Victory, the explanation fails to explain nearly anything that happened within the plot itself. Why was Alice having these visions? Why does she witness the events she does? Don't Worry Darling is a film that wants to use unsettling iconography but sadly is also a film that is too lazy to have it make sense. This is a disturbing trend that has started to plague the horror genre, but even then, most films that have these types of meaningless thrills will at least explain them as being a dream. While that is an unsatisfying and lazy answer, it at least is an answer. Without getting into spoilers, the grand reveal is also rather poor. On paper, there is some potential for a strong message to form from the ideas presented within Don't Worry Darling, but in execution, it becomes almost on par with failures as big as Serenity.
The one bright spot here is some of the visuals that are created. While ultimately meaningless, some sequences are genuinely stunning on the big screen as the film showcases more abstract and artistic visuals. The entire feature contains a solid eye for aesthetics with the 50s period piece being wonderfully brought to life by the film's standout production design and costume design. This is the only consistent positive found within the film, which really says a lot about the production as a whole.
At the end of the day, Don't Worry Darling can be seen as nothing more than a failure. Whether it was due to behind-the-scenes politics or not, nothing in the feature ends up coming together. The film is largely miscast and the thematic weight simply fails to form. Maybe there are some ideas here that would hold something of value, but largely this is a 123-minute dud.