DIRECTOR: Olivia Wilde
CAST: Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Olivia Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, Chris Pine, Sydney Chandler, Kate Berlant, Asif Ali, Douglas Smith, Timothy Simons, Ari’el Stachel
RUNNING TIME: 122 mins
CERTIFICATE: 15
BASICALLY…: A young housewife (Pugh) discovers some unsettling secrets about her suburban lifestyle…
NOW FOR THE REVIEW…
They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, and for the makers of Don’t Worry Darling, these last few weeks and even months of tabloid drama and behind-the-scenes gossip surrounding the movie have surely been rather beneficial to the final product. After all, with stories about alleged on-set clashes between actors and directors, and online speculation that has grown so desperate for drama that “Spitgate” was a recent trending topic on Twitter, you’re bound to be more than a little curious to see if the film itself is worthy of all this commotion.
The short answer is, it is and it isn’t. On the one hand, Don’t Worry Darling is a rather gorgeously made film, with some stunning cinematography, costumes and sets that are both colourful and filled with personality, and performances that tend to be quite outstanding at times. However, the other hand reveals a rather underbaked script filled with interesting ideas that are never as deep as the filmmakers think they are, and gradually becomes more and more derivative as it finally peels back the curtain on this blatant, and honestly rather nonsensical, mystery.
The film takes place in a 1950s suburban community named Victory, which is run by its mysterious figurehead Frank (Chris Pine). Our focus is on young couple Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles), who like all the other couples have a traditional (for the era) dynamic; while Jack and the other husbands are away doing top-secret work, Alice and her fellow housewives stay at home and clean, buy groceries, cook meals, attend ballet classes, and wait patiently for their spouses to come back. However, Alice begins to notice some inconsistencies in her seemingly idyllic lifestyle, which slowly leads her to believe that something is wrong – a belief that is only exacerbated by everyone around her, particularly the men, dismissing her concerns as crazy and, yes, hysterical. From there, Alice – and, by extension, the audience – is left to slowly figure out the true nature of this very Stepford Wives-ian suburban utopia, and if there is anything to be done about it.
For all of the movie’s flaws – which shall certainly be detailed later on – one cannot deny how impressive the movie looks. This is Olivia Wilde’s second film as a director, following her acclaimed teen comedy Booksmart, and she has certainly stepped up her filmmaking ambitions which include a stronger emphasis on the cinematography, costumes, and set design, all of which are visually mesmerising whenever they’re soaked in desert sunshine, or the moody and sometimes unnerving indoor lighting. Characters will be wearing dresses and suits like they’re models in a glamour magazine, but they are so meticulously crafted and rather handsome, not to mention full of bright and pleasing colours, that a part of you almost wants to seek out similar fashion to wear in real life. Wilde and her designers also extend their imaginative style to the sets, with 50s-era living rooms and entire driveways not only looking of the period, but also so seamless in their many background details that it’s amazing to think that these are even sets at all (it’s also awe-inspiring to know that this was shot right at the peak of the COVID pandemic, with a production as intricate as this being practically unwise to pull off at the time).
Wilde has also cast actors who are capable of just about pulling off performances that neatly match the aesthetic she and her collaborators have injected into the production. Florence Pugh is great here, going perfectly from docile housewife to unnerved wreck within seconds, and carries the film with impeccable ease. As for Harry Styles – because let’s face it, he’s the one that you’re all really here to see – there are moments where he really does shine, but also others where he perhaps seems a little out of his depth, especially when acting opposite much more experienced, and phenomenally better, actors like Pugh who often act circles around him. He does have potential as a leading man (if nothing else, he’s got the looks of a classic movie heartthrob, and the initial signs of acting talent to match), and does fine enough here, but he perhaps needs to branch out a bit more with his acting range if he’s to truly become the movie star that he seems to be rather forced into at the moment. Elsewhere in the cast, you have Chris Pine unleashing his inner cult leader with a sinister turn that owes plenty to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s similar role in The Master, and even Wilde herself who gifts herself a rather meaty supporting role over an otherwise underused Gemma Chan and KiKi Layne, whose own and arguably more vital parts somehow give them very little to actually do than the character that the director ends up playing.
However, the movie really does fall apart with this script, credited to Katie Silberman who also co-wrote Wilde’s Booksmart. There are definitely a lot of interesting psychological ideas being teased here, but they are barely explored enough to really leave an impact, in favour of random and borderline pretentious artsy shots that create an unsettling mood, but sadly not much else. This is also the kind of psychological thriller that is largely derivative of similar movies like it, whether it’s The Truman Show or Get Out or especially The Stepford Wives, borrowing so heavily from them to fill its own narrative that half the time, you’ll just be thinking about those other, much smarter movies instead. Then, there is the matter of the big reveal, which is bound to either make or break the movie for a lot of people. For me, it really did bring the movie down quite a few pegs, because it’s one of those reveals where you keep trying to make logical sense about how it’s supposed to work, what certain characters’ motivations are, why particular things seem to happen at random moments, and so on.
There are plenty of other movies you could compare this movie to, but to get into those would be to suggest spoilers, and even though this movie isn’t very good, I’d say it’s still worth seeing as blind as possible in order to get the full experience of something that visually looks rather fantastic, but needs a lot of work in the crucial script department.
SO, TO SUM UP…
Don’t Worry Darling is a visually ambitious psychological thriller that boasts some rather excellent cinematography, colourful costumes and sets, and outstanding performances from the likes of Florence Pugh, but an undercooked script that fumbles its interesting ideas with a illogical twist gives slight reason to worry.
