Review: DON'T WORRY DARLING Is Okay for an Uninteresting Thriller
As you know, there’s been a lot of drama surrounding Olivia Wilde’s upcoming film Don’t Worry Darling. Well, the movie is now in theaters and you can see for yourself if the film is worth all of that drama. This was a passion project for Wilde and it’s kind of been overshadowed by reports of Shia LaBeouf's firing/quitting and Harry Styles not spitting on Chris Pine.
Well, I recently had the opportunity to see the film, and I’m here to tell you… it’s okay. The trailers did a great job of selling me on the film and making me want to see it, but the movie didn’t blow me away. It told a decent story that, for me, was predictable. I wasn’t really surprised or shocked by any of the twists in the story.
The story is set in a 1950s community called Victory, which is an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top-secret project. While the husbands are doing their jobs, the wives get to enjoy the beauty, luxury and debauchery of their perfect paradise. However, one woman named Alice starts to see that something isn’t right and begins to believe that something sinister is happening to her. She starts to question things, and the men in charge don’t like that.
It’s hard to talk about certain things without giving anything away, but I won’t reveal anything more about the story. I’ll keep this review spoiler free. But, the story does put focus on men’s abusive control over women and breaking free from that. I will also say that I would have liked to have a little more closure with the ending.
The movie stars Florence Pugh, who gives a fantastic and captivating performance. She is actually the best part of the movie! She’s such a great actress and I loved her in this. On the other end of the spectrum, Harry Styles is not a very good actor, and his performance was distracting. No wonder Wilde tried so hard to get LaBeouf back on the project after he left. Styles just wasn’t ready to take on a role like this.
It’s interesting to see him work opposite a talented actress because Pugh’s strong talents amplified Styles’ weaknesses. It definitely wasn’t a good pairing.
The movie also stars Wilde, Chris Pine, Kiki Layne, Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll, Douglas Smith, and Sydney Chandler and they all give decent performances. Most of their characters weren’t all that interesting. Pine had a couple of good scenes, but the film completely revolves around Pugh and she pretty much carries the whole movie on her shoulders.
The film was written by Katie Silberman, and directed by Wilde. The script was solid, and the film was beautifully shot. I really liked the setting and visual style of it. This isn’t one of the best or most interesting films of the year, but I did enjoy aspects of the story and Pugh’s performance. I will say the drama surrounding the film was a bit more entertaining.
