Name: Don't Worry Darling
Released: 2022-09-21
Rating: 6.769

Don't Worry Darling

Are you ready to live the life you deserve?

6.8Sep 21, 2022123 min

Alice and Jack are lucky to be living in the idealized community of Victory, the experimental company town housing the men who work for the top-secret Victory Project and their families. But when cracks in their idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something much more sinister lurking beneath the attractive façade, Alice can’t help questioning exactly what they’re doing in Victory, and why.

CinemaSerf

Sep 26, 2022

6.0

So imagine the scenario. A boozy lunch with with some screenwriters who had just seen "Vivarium" (2019) and began to recall "Stepford Wives" (2004) and the "Truman Show" (1998). We know, say the assembled talent - let's write a pointless hybrid of these stories, making sure to avoid the best bits of any of them then get two gorgeous people to take part. We'll end up minted! Well they may well have ended up making loads of cash, but what they have provided for us is an heavily stylised story that goes nowhere fast. To be fair, Florence Pugh tries quite hard as "Alice", the increasingly disturbed wife of "Jack" (Harry Styles). They live in an Utopian desert community where the men all head to work for "Frank" (Chris Pine) in the morning and the women do the standard middle class housework, shopping and networking things. All is idyllic until "Alice" notices that one of their neighbours "Margaret" (KiKi Layne) is convinced that something is amiss amidst their perfect lifestyle. When an inexplicable tragedy ensues, "Alice" starts to have nightmares and soon her marriage and his career prospects are in jeopardy. Pine isn't the least menacing as the duplicitous "Frank" and though the camera really does love Styles, he has little here to demonstrate whether he can actually act or can just fill a perfectly tailored suit as well as Daniel Craig. That's really the problem here. The film looks good, but the plot is completely undercooked. We are delivered of a partially formed plot that is derivative and, frankly, rather dull. The last few scenes with the guys in red reminded me of a television commercial for Vodaphone and at just over two hours long, I was just unengaged with it all. Styles' looks will take him far and working with the likes of Pugh and Pine will only help him, but unless his people work harder on the scripts and characterisations, then he will just end up Zac Efron-light. This is a film for television in due course, I'd say.

Nathan

Oct 14, 2022

7.0

It is no surprise that _Don't Worry Darling_ has been marred with public controversies and poor critic reception, but is it really bad as the media would want you to believe? While I admit, there are plenty of issues in the story department, like completely abandoning certain plot details as they are introduced or leaving certain character plots half-baked to name a few, the other aspects of this film really make this an enjoyable viewing experience. Olivia Wilde's direction is actually really well done here. I could tell that certain shots and elements were done with the specific intent to create a romanticized version of the 1950's while still giving glimpses of something sinister hidden underneath. Although it is a shame that these elements didn't lead to much in terms of a reveal at the end. The acting is a mixed bag here. Florence Pugh and Chris Pine absolutely carry this film. Pugh carries such complex emotions and is able to show her internal struggles while putting on a pretty face for appearance sakes. It is captivating and the audience can completely be resonant with her, this connection makes her character easy to root for. Chris Pine was really sinister in this role. I have not seen him as a villain in many shows and he does a fantastic job. For whatever reason, his mannerisms really reminded me of James Spader in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and that is a complement. Pine was not giving much screen time or character development, but he does the most with what he has. Olivia Wildes was fine, do not really have any complaints really, wasn't great but wasn't bad. Harry Styles' performance is hard to pinpoint. While I don’t think he did bad, but when he is constantly sharing the screen with Pughe, he is overshadowed a lot and his deficiencies show much more. Overall, I was disappointed with _Don't Worry Darling_ and the potential that was there to be such a special film. But it was still a good film that I had a fun time in. **Score:** _69%_ **Verdict:** _Good_