“Don’t Worry Darling” is a new film by Olivia Wilde, released on Sept. 23, 2022, by Warner Bros Pictures. Set in an idealistic 1950s suburb, Harry Styles and Florence Pugh take on the role of a happily married couple living the American Dream. This movie gives insight into a stereotypical patriarchal society through the eyes of the main character, Alice.
Quickly following the opening scene, it is clear that the perfect desert town of Victory has dark undertones. The uniformity and tidiness of the town is unsettling to audiences and the main character as well, thus giving way to the main plotline of the movie. Every day, the men go to work and leave the women at home to clean, cook, and shop. There are many aspects of this utopian reality that don’t sit right, and many questions arise early on. None of the wives know what their husbands actually do for work, none of the couples fully remember how they met, and everybody lives by only one rule: don’t go into the desert.
As Alice works to uncover the secrets of Victory, every supporting character does everything in their power to stop her. In what looks like a mental breakdown, Alice finally discovers the truth of her reality after wandering into the desert and finding the headquarters. This thrilling movie leaves you on the edge of your seat until the closing credits.
After watching the movie, the poor reviews from critics contradicted my initial opinions of the film. Many reviews mentioned how the themes portrayed in this movie were overused and dull. However, I found that despite its predictability, the film draws the audience in and leaves them wanting more.
The casting choices and direction of the film made “Don’t Worry Darling” a good movie in almost every aspect. Although one of the main draws of the movie was Harry Styles as a lead actor, it was Florence Pugh’s acting that stole the show. Pugh was tasked with performing an incredibly intense and emotional role, and she portrays it perfectly.
Compared to Pugh’s performance, Styles lacks depth. The role of Jack is multidimensional; however, Styles does not quite live up to the expectations that were built up during the movie’s advertising. In a few scenes, such as the party scene where Jack is asked to give a performance, Styles’ acting is able to reach a higher caliber than it does in other scenes. Overall, his role in this movie is of lower quality than that of the other actors.
The movie comes to a fast-paced ending after a very slow beginning. The plot twists that the movie worked up to for the majority of the two-hour-long film spiral into a thrilling ending that leaves the audience with many unanswered questions. Although this could be seen as a negative aspect, I found that the mystery contributed to the fantasy aspect of the movie. The unsettling ending is coherent with the puzzling themes that describe the film as a whole.
