‘Don’t Worry Darling’ misses the cinematic mark despite celebrity drama

“Don’t Worry Darling” was one of my most anticipated movies of the fall, but not for a good reason.

Amid a long and ugly press tour for director Olivia Wilde’s second feature film, a major Hollywood drama story unfolded between Wilde, Harry Styles, the male lead in the film, and Florence Pugh, who plays the female lead. Prior to the film’s opening, there were many rumors that the atmosphere on set was toxic and tense, particularly in Wilde and Pugh’s relationship.

Though we didn’t get many answers to our questions about the cast’s drama, we did learn one thing about the film itself — it wasn’t very good.

The film follows Jack Chambers, played by Harry Styles, and his wife Alice, who is played by Florence Pugh, and their utopian life in the fictional town of Victory, California in the 1950s. Jack and Alice have the same routine every day — Jack goes to work at the mysterious Victory Project, while Alice takes care of the house.

The other couples in Victory, including one pair played by Nick Kroll and Asif Ali, have identical lives. The town is also home to Victory Project founder Frank, played by Chris Pine, and his wife Shelley, played by Gemma Chan.

The audience quickly discovers that everything is not as good as it seems, and Alice starts to question if anything about her “ideal” life is even real. A series of sinister events follow, involving Alice, Jack, Wilde’s character Penny and Frank, all of whom try to convince Alice that all of her worries are unsubstantiated and that she needs to stop questioning her surroundings.

All of these scenes are meant to make the audience uneasy, but they are filled with clumsy writing and a lot of thriller cliches. A good psychological thriller creates suspense and makes the audience feel the same amount of uncertainty that the charterers do. Unfortunately, Wilde is unable to properly take the audience into Alice’s psychosis, and the elements of horror that we do get are flashy and don’t add anything to the overall plot.

For example, viewers see a recurring image of ballerinas dancing in black-and-white that is a little unsettling, but the film doesn’t explain where the ballerinas came from or what they are meant to represent to Alice. Every time Alice comes close to discovering a crucial part of the mystery, the screen and her mind go dark, and we are left feeling confused about what anything really means.

While it is better in thrillers to show and not tell, when it comes to the psychological torture our protagonist is going through, the film shows so little that the final reveal feels rushed and ends up leaving the audience with more questions than answers.

The film’s leads also display a major difference in acting abilities. While Styles is more famous than Pugh, his acting skills are nowhere near as close to that of the talented young actress. Many of their scenes together are meant to serve as the emotional crux of the film, but in several scenes Styles doesn’t match Pugh’s strong feelings.

A key moment in both the film and Jack and Alice’s relationship occurs when Frank’s men take Alice away as she begins to break free from the proverbial chains of the Victory Project. Styles is trying to show a serious amount of rage at what has happened to his wife, but he is unable to show that anger, and his performance is more comical than emotional.

Styles is criminally miscast in this role, and does not bring any of the dramatic elements needed to sell the film’s thriller nature.

On the other hand, Pugh is exceptional in this film and her performance transforms as Alice continuously uncovers the truth about the world she is living in. Although Pugh is playing the classic archetype of the woeful victim who is gaslit into thinking she is completely wrong about everything, she gives Alice a true sense of confidence that keeps the audience rooting for her throughout the film.

The other major standout performance in this film is Chris Pine as Frank. While he doesn’t have much to do besides being sinister and condescending, Pine does a tremendous job of making the leader of the Victory Project extremely detestable while still being an intriguing character that audiences want to learn more about.

Towards the end of the second act, Alice confronts Frank about the Victory Project’s true intentions. In this scene, Pugh delivers her lines with a sense of assurance and determination that is unmatched by the rest of the cast. Pine’s performance is equally as impressive, as he brilliantly plays a cunning and manipulative villain who is constantly trying to undermine Alice’s denial of her life in Victory.

While some moments in “Don’t Worry Darling” are genuinely interesting and entertaining, the overall story feels incomplete and the film abruptly ends without much resolution for the characters or the viewers. The supposed twist when viewers discover the truth about the Victory Project feels rushed and leaves the audience with more questions than answers.

After months of celebrity gossip, on-set turmoil and a disastrous marketing campaign, the release of “Don’t Worry Darling” can best be described as disappointing. There were plenty of talented people who worked on this film and will certainly see more success in Hollywood in the future, but only a few of them were right for this film.