Don't Worry Darling (2022)

 

Genre: Thriller/Horror         Time: 2hr 3mins        Director: Olivia Wilde

Quick Summary: In the 1950s, Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top-secret project. However, when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister lurking below the surface, Alice can't help but question exactly what she's doing in Victory.

I really don't know how I feel about this film. It really stretched to become something it ended up completely missing, especially with how long the film goes on. 

This film looks absolutely stunning though, with the vibrant 50's aesthetic, amazingly framed shots that are really satisfying, and really cool visuals. Everything is very distinct, and sometimes a little bit wild.  Although, I think it focused a bit too much on that, sacrificing the plot which becomes a bit easy to predict which also takes forever to be revealed, and leaves a lot of plotholes. I also found that I felt like a lot of the information should have come a lot earlier in the film to create more tension, or that they were far too slow in building up to it I kinda lost a bit of interest.

Florance pugh is absolutely phenomenal in this film and carries an amazing performance that is very demanding both psychically and emotionally. She portrayed a lot of layers to this character and really brought tension to this film. On the other side, Harry styles really fell flat for me. He really did not match Florance's energy at all, which honestly is a real shame. Unlike Florance, who beautifully unfolded her layers smoothly and in style, Harry fumbled and was over shined by her. They really didn't work. 

The film has some very interesting things to say about modern masculinity and femininity, love, status, and the world as it is now. But unfortunately, because of a rather bottom-heavy plot (there are a whole bunch of twists that come thick and fast in the final act) and because of the film’s conspicuous similarity to a handful of other things (that honestly did it a lot better), those interesting points of discussion get a bit lost. 

The film's use of a wide expansive desert creates a snow-globe feel to the town, trapping the residents in their own lifestyle. However, this leads to much of my frustration I had. Wilde contributes such surrealist imagery of Alice being squeezed by her own home and shots of her drowning, although we have already been bombarded with the subtext that is already there from the technical material and ideas Wilde has already put in the picture. Again, she is really stretching for these 
ideas but completely misses the mark.

It feels as though Don’t Worry Darling, is building towards something momentous; a big reveal but instead, the climax reveals a very boring and really brief backstory, made worse by its randomness. It was honestly a really big letdown for me, as I was kinda hoping for more since it took basically the whole film to build up to it. It also didn't feel like it ended properly too, it was abrupt and almost like it had left on a cliffhanger with absolutely no closure.

Honestly, this isn't a bad film, it is somewhat enjoyable, but I really think it's only worth a single watch for Florance's amazing performance in it. 

6/10

• "Sink Deeper Into The Way Things Are Supposed To Be."

• "Or Is It Just A Desperation To Be Exciting?"