MPAA Rating: R/Genre: Psychological Thriller/ Stars: 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, Dita Von Teese, Sagar Sujata, Marcello Julian Reyes, Mariah Justice/Runtime: 123 minutes
I think it is a fairly safe statement to make that the new slice of cinema Don’t Worry Darling from actress/director Olivia Wilde is one that has no qualms about keeping to itself that there is going to some type of huge curve planned, but that’s also because by and large it is unable to do so. Indeed that’s because the fact that the very peaceful and seemingly perfect 50s Americana mood and design present here is one that should immediately flare up in your mind a fear that there is something ominous just under the surface. As a result, I guess this slice of cinema really doesn’t seem to be one that wants you to question if everything is what it appears to be and instead wants you to ask “ok just what in the heck is going on in this movie?!” Yet despite the fact that we are very much ahead of our main heroine seemingly from the word go, we also see the first act operate at the speed of the Looney Tunes’ Road Runner in order to allow her to catch-up to us. It is after the stage is set however that tragically this slice of cinema falls flat on its face and desperately loses its footing. Indeed even though the beginning puts you on alert for both an ever-growing puzzle as well as for a rising feeling of fear things stop rising pretty swiftly. Thus, without either the stakes going up or new information that helps grow our comprehension on just what is occurring, the midsection of this movie just wanders aimlessly and throws our way some weird symbolism, creepy images, and literal piles of exposition excrement instead of moving the story forward. As a result, by the time this film chooses to reveal what’s going on you don’t find yourself caring all that much beyond merely nodding since not even 10 minutes before you might have been tempted to nod off instead. Suffice it to say therefore that yes there is a style and flair to this slice of cinema that lovingly manages to recreate the 50s phenomenally well and yes there are a pair of standout performances from both Florence Pugh as well as Chris Pine, but other than those positive attributes there is no denying that Don’t Worry Darling is not a terrible slice of cinema by any means yet is also very much the dictionary definition of a “missed opportunity” in every sense of the word.
The plot is as follows: Taking place at an undetermined point in time, our film takes place in a location known only as Victory, California that happens to be a seemingly perfect community which, in many aspects, feels like the ultimate throwback to the decade known as the 1950s. A place where at day the men go to work at the top-secret Victory Project and the women tend the house, cook the meals, gossip, have a drink or three, lounge by the pool, and then greet their husbands when they get home with a kiss on the cheek, dinner on the table, and a cool drink in their hand. To that end, we see that our guides through this idyllic world are a young, and still very much in love, married couple by the names of Alice and Jack Chambers and who are very much loved and cherished by their neighbors and close friends within the community. Yet, despite how blissful things seem, we rather quickly see things start to take a turn for the….strange when another one of the wives by the name of Margaret starts to show signs of a mental breakdown. It appears that she may have, by her own admission, seen something that perhaps she shouldn’t have and now she’s seriously struggling to come to terms with it. Yet, despite Alice doing the best she can to push the incident out of her mind, we see that fate has other plans in mind. Plans that set themselves in motion when Alice terrifyingly finds herself witnessing Margaret attempt to kill herself….only for the security team at Victory to proceed to eerily go hush-hush about it. Suffice it to say that with her empathy-laced sense of curiosity as well as personal thirst for answers ignited, we see our heroine embark on a search for the truth. A search that will not only pit her against the enigmatic CEO of the company/town founder known as Frank, but also reveal certain things which could have the potential to change her life and the world around her forever…….
Now since you are all fairly smart individuals who are more than capable of putting two and five together, I think it should come as no surprise therefore to know that it is obvious right from the word go that there is something….off with this throwback suburbanite paradise on Earth. I mean not only are there more than quite a bit in terms of errors including the fact that the individuals residing in this community that feels straight out of the 50s don’t entirely act like they themselves are from the 50s, but we also get moments where community leader Frank inspires the couples (something this town has quite a few of incidentally) to chant about how being there is not only a sacrifice he is proud of them for making, but that what they are doing is their way of “changing the world”. Now under normal circumstances these sinister hints are all well and good, but usually the best way to make them work as effectively as possible they need to be would be to spread them out throughout before then pulling back the curtain and giving the movie goer the proverbial big reveal. Yet by planting these ominous seeds right from the word go, this slice of cinema unfortunately gives up too much too soon. This is because by, moving as quickly as it does, this slice of cinema not only dramatically undercooks the eventual dawning on the part of our heroine that there is something seriously amiss, but it also does leave you quite impatiently waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop as it were. I mean don’t get me wrong: I do feel that there is a fair bit of that previously mentioned build up that is slightly chilling. Indeed, Wilde does do a fairly good job of sprinkling throughout this slice of cinema a copious degree of macabre shots, bursts of violence, and blink and you’ll miss it subliminal images that aid to spook and showcase just what our heroine is having to endure with such moments as Alice eerily being smushed by a window and thinking she needs to use saran wrap in a manner that has to be seen to be believed. Along with that, I will point out that this movie is, for all of its issues, a very beautifully shot and looking film. Indeed not only does the 50s homes feel very much like they were just stolen right off the set of something akin to Leave It to Beaver and brought back to the present day (and with a wonderful selection of musical hits from the era to boot), but they also do a wonderful job of feeling deceptively comfortable and inviting. Thus I think with this film it is obvious that film helmer/co-star Olivia Wilde is desperately trying to show she can be a helming force to be reckoned with. The problem though is you can have all the style and flair you want in a film, but if you keep an audience waiting for too long it really does start to drive an audience nuts when every other scene is either someone trying to persuade our heroine she’s nuts, our heroine holding firm to the belief she’s not…. or a scene where Harry Styles “dances”….(or at least I think that’s what I optimistically would like to hope that was). Suffice it to say that, in terms of work behind the camera, this film is certainly stylish enough, but alas style can only take you so far.
This therefore brings us to the performances in front of the camera and honestly they themselves are a mixed bag as well dear reader. Not because the performances themselves or the people in those respective roles are legitimately bad mind you, but because so many of the cast members from Wilde herself in a key co-starring role all the way to Gemma Chan and Nick Kroll respectively are as significantly underused as they are, it really is difficult to gauge what exactly they brought to the table here. With that said however, there is one performer that I would like to address before I get to the pair of performances that I did feel actually work to some degree or another. That performer would be Harry Styles in the role of Jack and honestly he’s not terrible, but I still don’t think he was entirely right for this part. Yes he’s got the good looks and yes he’s got the charm down pat, but as this slice of cinema goes along this is a character that goes to some….distinct places that honestly I just couldn’t for the life of me buy a guy like Styles going to. With that being said, I will even go a step further than all of that and say that, for all the issues he is stricken with in his personal and professional life, Shia LaBeouf might (keyword being might) actually have been able to play this respective part better than Styles did because of those aforementioned places. No it’s not the worst performance I’ve seen in a movie in the thriller genre let alone in a film from this year, but honestly this is still a performance that definitely left me wanting for a slightly more seasoned performer to play the role. With that out of the way however, there are a pair of performances that I am definitely impressed by and the first of these is from Florence Pugh as our main heroine Alice. Indeed, ever since her turn as iconic wrestler Paige in 2019’s Fighting With My Family, Pugh has quickly become an actress who with every performance has continued to impress me with the range that she is operating with and here is definitely no different. I say that because if there was at least one reason I could give you to see this movie it would be for Pugh’s phenomenal work here as she manages to go from happy and relaxed to fiery and even scared and vulnerable with an ease that a lot of other actors only wish they could pull off. Suffice it to say that yes this slice of cinema is very much a flawed affair, but Pugh manages to walk away with as much of the movie as she possibly can whilst also showing that without a doubt she is one of the definitive actresses of her respective generation. The other big performance that I happened to enjoy here is Chris Pine in the vital role of the community’s enigmatic leader/founder of sorts Frank. Indeed, right from the very first time he shows up in the movie it’s clear that there is something sinister about this guy. Yet Pine ingeniously chooses to not make this guy the kind of over-the-top moustache-twirling villain that so many other movies would have made him and instead does a great job at masking this already apparent sinisterness with a seemingly genuine sincerity and decency (albeit with at least one over the top moment thrown in for good measure) so that way you are spooked by him even more as the film goes along whilst also eagerly waiting for him to get his comeuppance at some point. Suffice it to say that I know this movie has its issues, but I would love to see Pine play some more antagonist roles in the future because I definitely think with the right material he could definitely make for one heck of a bad guy.
All in all I’m not going to lie to you dear reader: I desperately did want to enjoy this slice of cinema, drama from behind the scenes be darned. Indeed not only did I enjoy Olivia Wilde’s first directorial effort, Booksmart from 2019, but I was also very intrigued by the trailer and the cast that was assembled here does seem like a talented bunch of people based off past work that I had seen them do in previous cinematic endeavors. Tragically, I also promised when I started doing this all those years ago that I would never lie to you dear readers. I say tragically because if I’m being honest the slice of cinema that is Don’t Worry Darling is one that is more than just a wee bit of a mess. Yes there is style and flair to spare behind the camera and yes I did find myself impressed with the work done by both Florence Pugh as well as Chris Pine in front of the camera. However, even with those positives working in this slice of cinema’s corner, there is no denying that the rest of the cast is sorely underutilized, the foreboding hints toward the twist begin tumbling out too quick for this slice of cinema’s own good, and as for the twist….ah well I won’t think I’ll be going into that particular aspect of this film in this review. Not because I don’t want to, oh believe me I really really really do, but because I know there are some of you out there who won’t give a care in the world about what I have written here and will go see this slice of cinema regardless. As for the rest of you however, I would like to make this plea. That being that, unless someone drags you kicking and screaming to the theater to see this, then please know that you can literally read the plot synopsis for this whenever it is put up on IMDB and/or Wikipedia and be able to read in 5 minutes what this slice of cinema dragged out for 2 hours and 3 minutes (including credits) and be just as satisfied if not more so. Thus no Don’t Worry Darling is by no means the worst film I’ve ever seen, but with the people who worked on it on both sides of the camera it easily could’ve, and should’ve, been a lot better than what we ultimately have here. Make of that what thou will dear reader. On a scale of 1-5 I give Don’t Worry Darling a solid 2.5 out of 5.
