Florence Pugh and Harry Styles. That’s it. That’s the article.
I’m just kidding, but honestly, not really. This past weekend I saw the long-awaited “Don’t Worry Darling” in theaters with some of my best friends and whew, do we have a lot to talk about. Let’s get into it.
Disclaimer: I am not a film critic. I went into this film with pure intentions of enjoying the film and that I did! I am simply a film major who loves psycho-thrillers and Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, and all of these views are my own.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Background
Now, my expectations were on THE FLOOR for this movie after all of the drama spilled out from the tabloids. Olivia Wilde this, “Miss Flo” that, and something about Shia LaBeouf??? If my girl Florence wasn’t going to promote this film, then was it even worth watching? Short answer: yes. Long answer: YES. If you have no clue what I am talking about, read this quick article to give you some background.
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/movies/a41017843/dont-worry-darling-drama-explained/
I was so absolutely intrigued (and confused) by the teasers and the trailers that I had no idea what this movie was going to entail. And throughout the entire movie, I had no clue what was going to happen next. Jaw = on the floor. (In my not-so-professional opinion, that is the very best way to watch a movie.) If you have not seen the movie yet, CLICK AWAY NOW!
Don’t Worry Darling (DWD) is about Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack Chambers (Harry Styles), husband and wife in a 1950s utopian society called the Victory Project, where the men go to work each day and the women clean the home and cook for their husbands. The leader of this society is Frank (Chris Pine) and he makes living in Victory feel euphoric with lavish dinner parties and exuberant soirées. Things start to take a turn when Margaret (Kiki Layne) begins to crack, spouting off that, “They aren’t telling us something,” and “It’s not safe here,” which in turn, has the residents of Victory worried, specifically, Alice. In addition to Margaret, Alice begins seeing things and feeling as if the walls are closing in on her. Eggs are empty, planes are crashing, she is seeing visions in the mirror, and Jack is not telling her the truth. Alice begins to spiral as well. All of this comes to a head when Margaret “slips” off of her roof and is rushed away by men in red suits, never to be seen again. The pieces of the puzzle fall at an alarming rate as Alice understands the truth to Victory and what she must do to escape. The twist and the ending are being highly criticized as predictable, leaving out loose ends, and ultimately frustrating- but we’ll discuss that later.
Costuming and Set design
For now, let’s start with my absolute favorite part of the film, the costuming and set design. All credit goes to Mary Florence Brown (art director), Katie Bryon (production designer), Adrianne Phillips (costume designer), and the entire makeup department! Set in the 1950’s, Don’t Worry Darling’s hair and makeup team outdid themselves. Florence looked especially dreamy with her pinup hair, cat eye sunglasses, and dazzling array of colorful dresses. The rest of the female cast were adorned in the same attire with their hair shining and laying perfectly voluptuous upon their shoulders, and their eyes lined in a cateye fashion. The men of the movie looked exquisitely sharp, fitted in dapper suits, their hair gelled perfectly in place, and sporting luxury cars as their accessories. Harry rocked a suit and tie for most of the movie as he left for work each morning, sent off with a kiss from Alice. In addition to costuming and makeup, the set design was also a notable feature of this film. Shot in the Palm Springs deserts, the Victory Project looked pristine. A modernistic utopia, the set of DWD was created to feel inviting as well as confining. Glass, earth tones, clean surfaces, and warm light made the Chambers’ home feel especially cozy, yet was starkly contrasted by the exterior of their house. The design was sleek, modern, and strong, showing the Victory Project’s control over its residents. Mirrors also played a big part in this movie, as Alice spends much of the time peering into a mirror trying to see if the things she’s seeing are real or not. The set design was nothing compared to a movie like “Everything Everywhere All At Once” or “The Grand Budapest Hotel” where the background/set design details the lives and personalities of its characters, yet DWD’s set design provided an atmosphere subject to change as the plot advances. The film’s soundtrack was also a fabulous addition to my experience as a viewer. You can listen on Spotify, and I’ve linked the playlist here!
Acting Performances
Next, let’s dive into the actors’ performances throughout the film. One of the biggest complaints from viewers was that Harry Styles gave a mediocre performance. Fair enough. I believe that his casting in the movie was solely for eye candy and engagement from fans of his music career. I think that if he had not been one of the main characters or even in the movie at all, it would not have gotten nearly as many views in theaters. That’s not to say I am literally the target audience they were trying to reach. I love Harry and I loveeee Florence. It is literally a bisexual’s dream film with so many pretty people in one place. However, I agree that the spinning fruit man should stick to his singing career. Florence, on the other hand, objectively gave her best performance to date. I’ve seen “Midsommar,” “Black Widow,” “Little Women,” and “Hawkeye,” and by far, her acting in Don’t Worry Darling reigns superior. I was in awe seeing her play Alice’s complex character with such gut-wrenching emotion and I think Miss. Flo excels in psychological horror/thriller films. Although I am partial to her character Amy, in “Little Women,” I love Alice Chambers with all my heart. She perfectly portrayed the smart and determined bad-ass character she was meant to play, and what would be a Florence Pugh movie without her signature frown? I literally spent the entire film enamored with her beauty and her acting skills – please tell me you agree. That woman is perfect. My friend said a lot of people are going to go into this movie for Harry but come out a fan of Florence too and I couldn’t agree more.
My Complaints
Lastly, let’s talk a little bit about complaints about the film. In my opinion, if you paid attention, and were able to infer some details, the movie made complete sense and was incredibly clever. Viewers were dissatisfied by the ending as the screen cuts to black and we hear Florence breathing hard, (assuming) she’s made it out of the Victory Project simulation. People wanted more, understandably, to see what happens after Florence wakes up, however, I think it was pure artistry to end with a cut to black. We aren’t supposed to know what happens after she wakes up, the climax has happened and there is no falling action – it is a stylistic choice. In addition to the end, things that happened throughout the film seemed like they were for nothing i.e. the empty eggs, the plane crash, the earthquakes. I believe they were just glitches in the simulation. They were added to help us understand that not everything makes sense in the Victory Project simulation. When Alice goes to find the plane after it crashed, she can’t. It’s almost as if it never happened, and was just a ploy to get her up the mountain and to find headquarters. The eggs had people really irked, but they were just to show that the simulation was glitching! And the earthquakes have been reduced to either a glitch or the men leaving the simulation each day to go work for Frank. A valid complaint was that the film was a little too ambiguous for the sake of being ambiguous, which I understand, yet I really think you can get all of the information you need to understand the plot from the movie itself. However, it almost felt as if there was really no intro into what was happening at the beginning of the movie, which made it a little too vague for my preference. Another complaint was that one of the main plot motivators, Margaret (Kiki Layne), had a majority of her scenes cut from the final edit. This was disappointing to hear as I would’ve loved to explore her view of the simulation breaking down in her mind adjunct to Florence’s. I think Wilde wanted to only focus on the A-Listers as her main characters because she knew she’d profit off of them the most if they had the majority of the screen time. Wilde’s problematic past has also resurfaced with the coverage of this movie where a plethora of homophobic and transphobic rhetoric came to light (insert angry face).
One of the final complaints came from Florence, and in my opinion, is the biggest flaw regarding this film. Wilde continuously promoted this movie as a perfect depiction of female pleasure… where little about female pleasure is said. Now this movie was SO much more than the two intimate scenes that made the final cut. Wilde told Variety in an extensive interview, “Female pleasure, the best versions of it that you see nowadays, are in queer films. Why are we more comfortable with female pleasure when it’s two women in film? In hetero sex scenes in film, the focus on men as the recipients of pleasure is almost ubiquitous” (Variety). I completely agree with what she says here, queer films are really the only real depiction of female pleasure in film (that I have seen to this day), however, her extensive promotion of the intimacy in this film was negligent of the amazing performances Florence Pugh and the rest of the cast gave. Florence was upset with her performance being dumbed down to her intimate scenes (and rightfully so) as she told Harpers Bazaar in September 2022. “When it’s reduced to your sex scenes, or to watch the most famous man in the world go down on someone, it’s not why we do it. It’s not why I’m in this industry. Obviously, the nature of hiring the most famous pop star in the world, you’re going to have conversations like that. That’s just not what I’m going to be discussing because [this movie is] bigger and better than that. And the people who made it are bigger and better than that” (Harper’s Bazaar). While female sexuality/pleasure is so important to show in film today that has always revolved around men, it should not be the main focus of a movie of this grandeur! Wilde was reportedly “upset” with the number of sex scenes that were cut from the final edit of the movie and that is something to be worried about. I agree with Florence in that having Harry- a man with so much stardom- be intimate with her, would be a major means of attraction for a larger audience including Harry fans, and that is the only reason they see the film. Wilde’s depiction of how “love” was portrayed in the film is also hazy, a little troubling in terms of consent and intention behind it. All in all, I’m disappointed with the intentions behind the making of this movie. It seemed like Olivia Wilde thought she was accomplishing something groundbreaking, but definitely missed the mark. However, I admire Florence’s mindset in taking the challenge head on and making her performance the overall star of the show. Her refusal to do press in Venice for the Venice Film Festival was a stick-it-to the-man moment that reflected her value and intentions in being a part of this film, and she looked damn good doing so in her striking purple Valentino set.
My rating
To wrap things up with a nice bow like the one Alice adorned in her hair, I will give Don’t Worry Darling 4/5 stars. I was thoroughly impressed with this movie after not expecting much, to begin with, yet the press and intentions behind the making of the film knock down the rating. If you are a Florence/Harry fan, please go see this movie and make sure to prepare for the state it will leave you in afterward – I can’t stop humming that little tune. Thanks for reading this not-so-little review and don’t worry, Darling, I’ve got way more where this came from.