Review: DON’T WORRY DARLING. OR MAYBE DO?ACTUALLY, IT DOESN’T MATTER
Warner Bros
4/10
“You know my favorite thing about the movie? Like it feels like a movie it feels like a real like go to the theater film movie that you know you kind of... the reason why you go to watch something on the big screen.” Harry Styles wisely stated about his new movie Don't Worry Darling at its world premiere in Venice. I was skeptical going into the theater, not sure what to expect but I can confidently say, Harry Styles was not wrong. Objectively speaking, I think Olivia Wilde did a good job at making this movie entertaining, however, do I see Oscar award nominations in the future? I highly doubt it. Judgment day has arrived and the verdict is not looking good. With its Rotten Tomatoes rating being at a low of 38% and Metacritic at 48%, Don’t Worry Darling jumps belly first into its box-office opening weekend.
The question is, do I agree wholeheartedly with what the negative reviews have been claiming? No, but do I understand where the critics are coming from? Yes.
Aesthetically, you get lost in the beauty of the historically inaccurate costumes, the music, the cinematography, and the polished perfection of the fictional 1950’s California town, Victory. Olivia Wilde deserves credit where it’s due but did Wilde focus too much on those details that she forgot about the plot? Maybe.
Since the announcement made by Warner Bros in 2019 after winning the exhausting bidding war over this script, Don’t Worry Darling has been marketed as the most anticipated psychological thriller of the year. A gripping story that guaranteed to keep you at the edge of your seat from start to finish, a project to take Box Office out of its post-pandemic blues.
Unfortunately, it did neither. From car chases to scream fights, Olivia Wilde’s Don't Worry Darling attempts at executing thrilling plot twists, but when it delivers something— it neither twists nor thrills.
The plot itself is not exciting on its own; it’s a project that recycles ideas from previously successful projects such as American Horror Story, The Stepford Wives and Black Mirror; becoming crutches for the film to meet some expectations
The Wall Street Journal stated in their review Friday morning, “I'd certainly rather watch an ambitious film than an unambitious one. But Ms. Wilde's movie needs more discipline and less hallucination”. Don't Worry Darling dipped its toes into the deep dark waters of gender conformity and social oppression of women but it does not articulate itself properly to the point that a) it makes it revolutionary or b) it empowers women as intended by the director.
Actually, there is no message or morals at all. Let alone one that resonates with the target audience.
Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge the fine efforts of the cast. Harry Styles to start off, his first major Hollywood debut, contrary to critic reviews, I thought he did a decent job. His character, Jack Chambers, is a pretty boy with perfect hair and a two-dimensional personality. Being an amateur actor, it seems unfair to expect him to deliver much more. Styles has much to grow before delivering anything close to an Oscar-worthy performance. I am saying this as a Harry Styles fan, he wasn’t the best but he was bearable, even satisfactory in some surprisingly impressive moments.
Towards the end of the movie, Styles treats us to the psycho-thriller element we’d all been waiting for. During the confrontation scene between Jack and his wife Alice, there is a faint but visible change in his demeanor the moment he realized his wife, Alice was conscious of her existence within the simulation. He successfully conveyed a man so insecure in his relationship and himself that he refused to let his wife have any autonomy. To those segments of psychotic desperation, Styles deserves a little more praise and less criticism.
Secondly, Kiki Layne’s character, Margaret. Such an important storyline element. Her character is as impactful as when Pugh’s Alice discovers the reality behind the Victory project, she launches the plot into motion. However, when her character disappears, she becomes almost unimportant. Where did she go? Who knows. The level of insanity that is portrayed by Kiki is so captivating that it made me want a little more camera action for Margaret. I just felt as though the movie used their only black female character as a prop rather than a character whose power is incredibly significant to the development of the story. I think she deserved more than she got.
As for the star of the movie, Florence Pugh. From her improvised swerve of the truck as she is sped in a gorgeous 1953 silver Chevrolet Corvette through the final car chase scene, to her small but obvious storytelling expressions on screen, it is needless to say she carried the plot.
There are too many scenes to discuss in detail without fangirling but I will say and bow down to the scene where she goes head to head with Styles’ character. Her aptness for character development and emotional control, accent modifications, impressive delivery of lines, it is no wonder critics are giving this film some sort of positive review. CNN said in their review yesterday, and I quote, “she [Florence] is the strongest case for seeing the film”. I feel bad for Styles though, in his first lead role he was overshadowed by the future of the industry herself. Had it not been for her natural ability to reel in an audience, Don’t Worry Darling would have been as flavourful as a slice of stale bread.
I could praise each performance but this review would be never ending, however, I will say that Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, Kiki Layne, Kate Berlant, Asif Ali, Nick Kroll and Gemma Chan all did a terrific job at playing their assigned roles. Now, Don't Worry Darling a career changing move for any of these actors?
No.
Don't Worry Darling felt more like a wannabe project than anything else, an attempt to being well-rounded psychological thriller experience to life but in the end it felt more like a bad episode of American Horror Story whose attempt at filling the shoes of Black Mirror failed miserably. I mean, CNN said it more eloquently, “‘Don't Worry Darling’ feels more like a modest setback than a major disappointment, but ultimately, it's hard to call this project a victory”.
From overhyped sex scenes to the textbook PR Romance between director Olivia Wilde and singer/star of the movie, Harry Styles, everyone has had Don’t Worry Darling content shoved down their throats for almost two years. Florence Pugh even spoke out and expressed her discomfort with the way the movie was being marketed to the public, but Wilde ignored her concerns and continued to sell it as a soft-porno opportunity for Harry Styles fans to experience on the big screen. One must ask themselves whether Warner Bros or Olivia Wilde had any faith in the actual movie selling solely for the plot, because the lack thereof explains the allocation of attention to their nauseating advertisement of the film. They even resorted to using Styles as their most attractive attribute, promising tickets to his Love On Tour Residency shows taking place in the United States later in the year, to those who attended a screening of the film.
Don't Worry Darling left me with too many unanswered questions as a result of the plot holes the screenwriters and director carelessly neglected.
Where did the red plane come from? What were the promotions for? What company is behind the Victory project and why did they start it? Can someone explain the random earthquakes? Do only men die in the simulation? Who are the men in the red suits? How does Alice get free after she wakes up?
All of which will be left without resolution, much like the movie.
Truthfully, Don't Worry Darling took off with a big bang and left the story anticlimactically unfinished. Maybe they should have taken the original script route and let Alice find, after escaping the simulation and waking up next to Jack’s corpse, that she had indeed divorced Jack, only that he kidnapped her, faked her death in a manner so careful that authorities called off the search for her body, and hooked her to “The Victory Project” simulation in their basement. Fucked up? Yes, sure but that’s what a psychological thriller is supposed to be. Considering they went through three extensive script rewrites and 18 months of re-editing, it was truly a wasted opportunity to keep the audience at the edge of their seats. The version we got was bland and stale, it felt as though Wilde ran out of production money and time.
It could be that this movie was intended to have a sequel but after the negative reaction this project has gotten, I highly doubt a studio is going to risk bleeding money for another. As a big fan of psychological thrillers and Harry Styles, it’s safe to say that I was under-stimulated and unsurprised.
Opening weekend is upon us as Don't Worry Darling debuts in theaters across the world. The revenue predictions are as low as review ratings. Experts on the New York Times stated on the Wednesday prior to the Friday release, “Don't Worry Darling is in jeopardy of falling flat. Based on pre-release surveys that track consumer interest, box office experts had predicted roughly $20 million in opening-weekend ticket sales. In recent days, those estimates have cooled to about $18 million. Surveys have shown that ticket sales could be as low as $16 million and that interest has not fluctuated”.
Trouble in Victory? Absolutely!
Ultimately, Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling has a few positive attributes that don’t necessarily outweigh the negative. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the film— to some extent. It's a pretty motion picture with colorful action sequences and cool cars… but it’s a film that will most probably, as the Washington Post put it, “end up being as forgettable as its own bizarre publicity.” I think Wilde got lucky she got a majority A-list cast to starr in it, because I’m not too sure this movie would sell much otherwise. The off-screen drama was worth more than the actual product itself.
Again, do I agree with all of the negative reviews?
No, but a friendly piece of advice…if you are worried about missing this one in theaters, don’t worry darling, you’re not missing much.
Warner Bros
