“Don’t Worry Darling” (2022)

Don’t Worry Darling

Grade: C-

Don’t Worry Darling is punctuated by poor acting, strange tonal shifts and a needlessly confusing storyline that makes it hard to tell whether the film is trying to do too much or not enough. A few more notes on Don’t Worry Darling:

Directing:

Actress-turned-director Olivia Wilde, fresh off the critical success of Booksmart, is unable to replicate the triumph of her behind-the-camera debut, and Don’t Worry Darling is ultimately more famous for its offscreen production drama (including alleged affairs, cast conflicts and SpitGate) than its onscreen final product. Throughout the film, there are several unnecessary scenes that result in unusual changes in mood, unclear character motivations and, unfortunately, a boring aesthetic that would have you believe lens flares and tacky 1950s costume design are the pinnacles of cinematic art. It is a stylish film entirely without purpose.

Acting:

Harry Styles is a good singer but a bad actor, which is certainly not the first time this has happened in Hollywood history (see: David Bowie). But then what’s Chris Pine and Kate Berlant’s excuse? We could blame it on bad directing and terrible dialogue, but then Wilde herself wouldn’t have given such an uncannily unnatural performance also, right? At least Florence Pugh makes it work for the most part — her character’s hysteria matches our own bewilderment.

Writing:

The story about a too-good-to-be-true community hiding a dark secret is directly inspired by Jordan Peele’s Get Out and/or M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, which means you can see the final twist coming from a mile away. In the end, the twist raises more questions than answers and reveals numerous plot holes from the initial set-up (i.e., so there really wasn’t an explanation for that airplane, huh?). It’s a very superficial story. And The Village sucked, by the way.

Music:

Yes, Ms. Wilde, I get it, Don’t Worry Darling is supposed to evoke the “idyllic” lifestyle of the 1950s. Yet the non-stop array of pop hits from the era (including songs by Ray Charles, Mel Tormé, Santo & Johnny and many, many more) is a tired cliché when there’s no depth behind it. However, the score by John Powell is much, much worse (primal all-female humming that ends up being unintentionally hilarious).

Ending (SPOILERS):

Alice Chambers (played by Pugh) finds out that the town she’s living in is a lie. We suspected as much from the film’s opening frames. But then she also finds out that it is all just a virtual reality fantasy perpetrated by her apparently-incel boyfriend (Styles), who was indoctrinated by a 4chan user (Pine) to create a world where the patriarchy rules supreme. After a stupid chase scene, Alice finally breaks free from the shackles and returns to the real world as the screen cuts to black, which means…who knows? And who cares. Nothing was real anyways, so there was no point to the previous two hours. It was all just a lazy and long-winded way to say “men = bad,” which would hit home if it weren’t for the complete lack of logic.

“They’re not real.” – Alice Chambers

Why Don’t Worry Darling gets a C-:

As usual with failed sci-fi films, there is a good premise buried somewhere within Don’t Worry Darling‘s shoddy storyline. But the bad acting, self-serious tone and perplexing plot holes completely overshadow any interest we might have.

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