Don't Worry Darling

Florence Pugh reading the script to Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling

As the lights dimmed inside a theater at the 79th Venice Film Festival on September 5th, it symbolized a culmination of a years-long process director Olivia Wilde and her team put into her second directorial feature, Don’t Worry Darling. Instead, it was more of a break from all of the airless drama and speculation that riddled the film prior to its highly anticipated release. Why was Shia LaBeouf abruptly dropped from the project? Was Wilde really served custody papers during a 2021 CinemaCon presentation of the film? When exactly did she and lead actress Florence Pugh have their alleged falling out? Did, as the cast filed into their seats for this exact premiere, Harry Styles (who replaced LaBeouf) hock a lougee onto costar Chris Pine? It sure looked like he did! In reality, all of the external noise created by Don’t Worry Darling is ironically just given how desperate the film is for love and acclaim but only offers shallow, cheap thrills.

The script originates from a 2019 Black List spec script penned by Shane and Carey Van Dyke and was soon tapped by Wilde and writer Katie Silberman. The two collaborated on Wilde’s debut, 2019’s Booksmart, a charming coming of age film with funny and engaging performances (especially Kaitlyn Dever, whose recent work has me hoping she fires her agent). Darling symbolized a chance for Wilde to expand her boundaries before she was pigeon-holed like so many successful female directors in the past. She stated her inspirations throughout the film’s cursed interview tour, most notably films like Inception, The Matrix, and The Truman Show, and the hype garnered by the film helped her gain a premature auteur status. That hype in large part garnered by the casting of Florence Pugh as well as pop star Harry Styles-an industry upon himself.

Don’t Worry Darling sees Alice Chambers (Pugh) living what seems to be a utopian life: all the material wealth she could ever need, a loving husband (Styles), and an overlying sense of security. This the world of Victory, a California community that is coated in slick 1950’s sheen. It is the pet project of Frank (Pine), whose presence and charm acts as the spark to every one of Victory’s never-ending parties. Slowly, Alice begins to see the cracks in Frank’s misogynistic world and has to break free to know what is actually real.

While Pugh is reliable, she is utterly underserved by Silberman’s script. Pugh plays Alice as independent, naturalistic, and intelligent, but her choices in the narrative fully contradict the performance. Many times I questioned Alice’s intelligence, and that is clearly not one of Wilde’s intentions. Styles, on the other hand, is a puppy thrown out into a lake; he is completely out of his element as Jack when the movie hinges on his competence and charisma. On top of this, he is sporting a distractingly bad faux American/British accent that the movie feels like it has to work around. This is especially evident when he shares the screen with Chris Pine, who is having a devilishly good time weaponizing his patented charm as the piece’s antagonist. It’s nothing revolutionary from Pine, but he does make an extremely one-note villain crackle at times. The rest of the supporting cast really hurt the tonal consistency of the film, as it seems they don’t collectively know what type of movie they're in. Gemma Chan and Nick Kroll are especially left high and dry as they try to dramatically elevate the shallow material. On the other hand, I quite enjoyed Kate Berlant and Timothy Simons leaning into the pastiche elements that I wish were more present.

I’ve seen a lot of people compare Don’t Worry Darling to Jordan Peele’s Get Out, but Peele was and is still able to integrate important social themes on top of earnestly and masterfully crafting tension. Don’t Worry Darling is neither: its feminist arguments are half-baked and verge on nonsensical at times all while the plot points that drive themes home are uninspired. There are potentially interesting moments, like Alice and Frank’s psychological duel at the dinner table, but they are rushed along in favor of a second act that has no narrative propulsion. In regards to that dinner scene, I think this movie would be a lot more thrilling if it focused on that dynamic for an entire act. Have your best two actors spar for more than 3 minutes! I think a more apt comparison is to the films of M.Night Shyamalan, where so much goodwill is riding on the twist. In my opinion, M.Night consistently is able to hook the audience into his settings and characters much more effectively than Wilde has done with Darling. The preeminent problem in her sophomore effort is the momentum, whether it be from the lengthy runtime or the aimless shots of dilating eyes and black-and-white dance sequences that really fail to capture the psyche of Pugh’s protagonist.

The film is predicated on its plot twists, but they feel empty because there has been no work done to make each character and their decisions engaging. The world is supposed to feel off, but the lack of attention put into the internal logic of Victory and its inhabitants became increasingly frustrating. Similar (better) movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind delve deep into how the fantastical elements work, even making the process of erasing one's memory feel like a 9 to 5. A big part of that has to do with how much care is put into the people working the gadgets and gismos, instead of hiding essential character details from the audience in the name of keeping them guessing. Specificity in world building is vital because, without it, you are left with a collection of unimpressionable dollhouses.

Wilde has come out and defended herself amidst the intense criticisms she’s receiving from this film and the drama surrounding. She believes that if this situation had involved a male director, it would not be the tabloid goldmine it has become. I agree with her. These Hollywood fiascos happen all the same with both male and female directors. Some of my favorite filmmakers were the subject of such scrutiny. The thing Wilde fails to realize is that both her critiques of the entertainment industry and the criticisms of her film can both be true. It is also indicative of how she directs the world of Don’t Worry Darling, presenting the story in the most snarky, self-congratulatory manner all while having the nuance of a mediocre episode of The Twilight Zone.

Rating: 2/5