DON’T WORRY DARLING REVIEW

 *MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

In 2019, Olivia Wilde, who was best known for her roles in films such as Tron: Legacy, Her and Rush, impressed with Booksmart, and established herself as a skilful filmmaker. Because of this, expectations were high for her follow up feature, Don’t Worry Darling. The teaser trailer gave little away about the premise, however, it revealed the star studded cast, Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Gemma Chan and Wilde herself. As a result, Don’t Worry Darling quickly became one of the most anticipated films of this year. Prior to its release in September, Don’t Worry Darling had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, unfortunately, behind the scenes drama involving the cast and Wilde had caused a controversy that soon led to the film being one of the most widely talked about and all for the wrong reasons. Despite all the shocking drama that occurred off screen and the disappointing critical response, I was still looking forward to watching Don’t Worry Darling. 

Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack Chambers (Harry Styles) are a young, happy couple in the 1950s, living in the seemingly perfect company town of Victory, California, which has been created and paid for by the mysterious company for which Jack works. Curiosity about the nature of her husband's work on the secret "Victory Project" begins to consume Alice. Cracks then begin to form in their utopian life as her investigation into the project raises tensions within the community.

Since its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Don’t Worry Darling has received a mostly negative critical response with most of them praising the unique premise and Pugh’s committed performance but finding flaws within Katie Silberman’s screenplay and the puzzling ending that left them with more questions than answers. Although I don’t think that it’s as bad as the critics are making it out to be, I can understand why a lot of people were disappointed with what Wilde had created with Don’t Worry Darling as it had the potential to be an exciting and mysterious thriller, unfortunately, after building tension for most of its 123 minute runtime and, after revealing the twist, it ends anticlimactically. 

Despite the confusing conclusion, there’s still a lot to admire about Don’t Worry Darling, including Pugh’s leading performance. In just the last few years, the young actress has impressed with her performances in Fighting With My Family, Midsommar, Little Womeb and Black Widow. Despite all of the drama that occurred behind the scenes, Pugh still manages to deliver a strong performance as Alice, who becomes suspicious of her seemingly perfect lifestyle and the idyllic setting. As the story progresses, Alice becomes more confused and determined to find out what’s really going on. It’s not her best performance, however, Pugh’s role as Alice further proves that she’s one of the most talented actors. Of the supporting cast, Pine is the most memorable and brings charm to his portrayal of Frank, who is the leader of the mysterious Victory Project. Despite Pine’s performance, the character of Frank is only seen from Alice’s perspective and it’s never really explained who he is, what his motives are and how he made the Victory Project. Styles’ attempt at acting made me think that he should stick to his career as a musician. He’s not bad, it’s just that he’s not as good as Pugh who is clearly a more skilled actor than he is. The rest of the supporting cast, including Wilde, Gemma Chan and especially Kiki Layne, are all underused.

Following the success of Booksmart, I can imagine everyone expected Wilde to make another comedy, however, I think everyone was surprised when she made Don’t Worry Darling which is completely different in tone, as it is more of a serious, twisted thriller. Wilde succeeds at building suspense and keeping viewers guessing with subtle hints that give them an idea of what’s going on and striking and surreal visuals that remind them that the world Alice is living in isn’t as perfect as it looks. The bright and colourful settings, including the immaculate houses, retro cars and paradise like landscapes, makes it easy to understand why anyone would want to live there. The fantasy quickly becomes a nightmare for Alice who wants to return to reality, even if it’s not as perfect as her new lifestyle.

Don’t Worry Darling is a film that’s more easy to admire for its originality and providing audiences to an alternative to superhero films, sequels and remakes. It’s best going into the film knowing as little as possible as knowing too much about it will ruin the mystery and result in the viewer being disappointed. Because I only knew about the premise and what I’d seen in the trailer, I wasn’t as disappointed by Don’t Worry Darling as I was initially expecting, however, I do think that with an ending that provided viewers with an explanation, it could have been better.

7/10