Don't Worry Darling

The concept of the movie was good, but needed to be taken a bit further in my opinion with detail. A lot happens in the movie that basically requires the audience to accept without question.

Over explained movies are obviously no fun, but this one just left me annoyed because in two hours, I feel like they could have done a lot more.

Florence Pugh gives an amazing performance. If anyone has seen Midsommar, they would be aware that she knows how to give an emotional performance with or without supporting leads. She is the body and soul of this movie and it would be a complete disappointment without her.

Pugh made the movie interesting, but the writing and directing did not excel in the movie. The cinematography was wonderful and there was some great acting from some people and that's about it.

As usual, I went into this movie knowing nothing, without watching any trailers. And as usual, I had a great time as I slowly learned what the movie is about. This is such a weird and cool movie. It's creepy and haunting but not in a horror kind of way. The story is fully intriguing.

I love the way it was directed. I kept wondering who it was, thinking it would be a director I'm already familiar with. But I was surprised to find out it was Olivia Wilde. Not sure if this is her directorial debut but I think she did a great job.

Florence Pugh is ultra-talented. I already knew this, especially after Midsommar. But she again reinforces it with numerous scenes where she conveys her emotions so well that I can feel them with her. She's a rockstar.

There are a few parts where it feels slow. And there were times when I felt like I wanted more. But I really enjoyed what I was given and had an overall great time with this movie. (1 viewing, opening Friday Dolby Cinema 9/23/2022)

This is the movie I was looking forward to most all year. I avoided all the behind the scenes drama and press surrounding it so that I would enjoy the movie for the movie itself because I was so excited purely based on the cast alone, plus the soundtrack too after hearing Ooogum Boogum song by Brenton Wood in one of the teasers. It starts off showing us this perfect life, too perfect so you have this too good to be true feeling and know that something's amiss throughout. It gave off 60's American dream life in the suburb's vibes.

Chris Pine really catches your attention with his charisma the way he speaks every time he's on screen, but he's not saying anything of actual substance. And that's how the whole movie feels, very captivating and pretty to look at, visually stunning; Olivia Wilde did a great job, well produced and has artistic direction but it all feels empty. The writing falls flat and it's hallow. Someone said Chris Pine is used to disguise mediocre movies after 'All the Old Knives' and I'm starting to see it, he just makes movies seem better than they really are. Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh did good, with Harry Styles doing as good as you'd expect.

Slow paced so it has a lot of suspense, arousing questions all movie long and when they finally start getting answered it's too little too late; the reveal is not big enough to justify the wait. It was an ambitious attempt and showing of Wilde's ability but ultimately underwhelming. It's just about better than mediocre with everything it does right but other aspects of the movie can't put it beyond a 6/10. Just feels like it's missing something. Not as bad as the press around it was, nor as good as those who were hopeful for it thought it was going to be.

Olivia Wilde's second directorial effort is nowhere near as bad as I expected it to be given the firestorm of behind-the-scenes drama and production troubles. But it's also just not nearly as interesting or as well-put-together as it ought to be given it's fierce, original, thrilling premise.

It's a sleek-looking production, and Wilde does some very smooth work behind the camera. Most of the performances are extremely good (especially Florence Pugh's), but some of the supporting cast does put a little too much ham into their work.

Despite some clunky dialogue that consists largely of repetitive empty platitudes, the story is able to build a lot of intrigue with its intelligent placement of bizarre happenings. It causes its audience to ask questions and tests their patience by withholding and bestowing information in just the right doses.

This intrigue lasts for the first two acts, although the film's character development unfortunately falls to the wayside because the mystery was given all the attention.

It's a shame, because the third act and final twists of the story make all the nuance and complexity of the mysterious characters and world-building slip away.

At the film's conclusion, I was left dissatisfied. Dissatisfied with the fact that the villains' motivations were oversimplified to the point that their actions no longer make much sense.

It's like they deliberately planned to go about achieving their goals in the most convoluted, difficult way possible and in a way that would make them the most vulnerable that they could possibly be. It's a laughable ending with hilariously half-baked twists.

Don't Worry Darling is one of those movies that's bursting with imaginative, intriguing ideas, but never quite finds a way to put them together in a satisfying, coherent way. It's messy and not particularly satisfying as a result.

It's just a rip off of The Stepford Wives, but worse. A trash screenplay that even talented actors like Pugh and Pine can't make convincing... and Harry Styles should stick to music.

I don't know what Olivia Wilde was thinking with this unoriginal premise, especially in terms of not giving credit where it's due and saying it's at least "inspired by" Ira Levin's work.

She should've just adapted his book directly instead of this confused, over-the-top plot that takes itself too seriously instead of being a satire.

As for the drama behind the scenes I really don't care about any of that. It wouldn't have changed the quality of the film, at least in my opinion.