Don't Worry Darling

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.

This film is full of ups and downs.

Florence Pugh puts on a hell of a performance and you can undoubtedly see that she is the best actor out of the bunch. This is the reason Harry Styles' performance is being criticised. His performance is decent however when acting with Florence Pugh the comparison and difference is evident.

The ending is where this film falls flat for me. The plot twist is ok however could have done with more development. Also 10-20 minutes or so at the end could have concluded the film a lot better. As a sequel is in doubt due to the controversy/drama on set, the film doesn't have a proper conclusion to its min story.

Good Cinematography Good Soundtrack Disappointing ending.

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.

While this film explored interesting elements, I found myself wanting more depth and detail in certain areas. Definitely a visually compelling and stylish ride, but one that ultimately felt like a drive around the block instead of an actual intellectual or emotional adventure. Using the pressure of social conformity to build suspense seems tired. The commentary on patriarchal structure and women resisting this came across as heavy-handed and cumbersome. The ending was too abrupt and left much to be desired. Characters were flat, even when the creepy secret was revealed. At the end of the movie, I had so many questions but then ultimately realized I didn't care about the answers - which means ultimately the film fell short in at least two important ways. Watch this for the visual style more than anything, because the vague sense of suspense as well as the underdeveloped characters and storyline are not enough to be a satisfying watch.

Jack and Alice move to the small town of Victory, a place where the men go to work on a project of national secrecy and importance, and the woman stay at home, cooking and cleaning, living a domestic life, not everything is as it seems.

I was seriously looking forward to this film, the trailers looked amazing, and the very presence of Florence Pugh and Harry Styles made it seem mouth wateringly good.

It's one of those films I'd say is ok, I was a little disappointed if I'm honest, I was hoping for a sharp thriller, and what I felt I was presented with, was a film that just didn't go far enough, they could have developed several threads, it felt like they held back.

I think pacing is one of the major issues, some of the scenes are so padded out, it could have been a lot sharper. It does at least end with some excitement, the pacing improves as it heads towards the conclusion. The car chase sequences are decent, and the revelation is pretty well done.

The best element, Florence Pugh, I would say she gives a dazzling performance, she really does deliver, Pine and Styles are good, though I'm not sure the film gets the best out of either.

The music and Cinematography cannot be questioned, it's a dazzling looking movie, so many incredible looking sequences, that moment at the club where Alice begins to catch on to what's happening is great, butt Jack's big party, is perhaps the film's best moment.

6/10.