Don’t Worry Darling
Don’t Worry Darling follows Alice down the metaphorical rabbit hole as she discovers her idyllic 1950s life may not be what it seems. Leading up to the film’s release, many rumors have circulated about the supposed on set tension while making this film. While no one can confirm or deny such rumors, we can judge the film on its quality. Because no matter what drama may happen off screen, it’s what is captured on camera that counts.
Pros: The Set Designers and Wardrobe are some of the most consistently pleasing parts of this film. Every set piece feels like it came straight out of the 1950s and helps the audience feel that this world is real and lived in. The wardrobe designers likewise have dressed the actors in gorgeous dresses that feel like they came out of a catalog. Vibrant colors, beautiful tailoring, and flattering patterns, the audience almost yearns to be dressed half as well as this cast.
Florence Pugh & Olivia Wilde in Don’t Worry Darling (2022)
Cons: Don’t Worry Darling is a fascinating concept, combining a Stepford Wives feel with heightened intrigue. However, this film has a few more plot holes than one would expect from a film with a 120 minute run time. For instance, as Alice becomes more aware of the truth of the life she is in, the audience sees flashes of eyes dilating and 1950s chorus girls dancing. By the end of the film, it is revealed why the dilating eye was used, but not the chorus girls. Throughout the film, the audience sees Alice attending ballet classes. Thus, it would make more sense to use ballet dancers in these flashes as opposed to the chorus girls as Alice would connect more with the ballet dancers. This choice is unfortunately one of many choices that the audience does not understand.
Likewise, the pacing is slow starting out and then rushed at the end of the film. This leaves the audience feeling jolted around as they are almost lulled to sleep with boredom at one point, and then can’t keep up in another. The pacing is so amatuer level, one would think a college film student had directed the film.
While a great concept, by the end of the film, the audience is not sure if they need to blame the screenwriters or director for a highly confusing film.
Best Performance: Florence Pugh has now been hospitalized for back injuries sustained from carrying this entire film on her shoulders. Pugh was handed a script filled with plot holes, a pop star to act opposite of, and supposedly mountains of set drama, and she still delivers a powerful performance. Pugh’s performance as Alice breathes the struggles of her character as she moves from the innocent, happy housewife, to a terrified woman alone, to a desperate woman running to freedom. The audience is pulled in by her performance in a film where Pugh is essentially acting by herself caliber-wise, with the rare exception of her scenes with Chris Pine’s character Frank. Pine is the only actor who comes close to Pugh’s commitment to the performance, but even he falls short. From beginning to end, Pugh keeps the audience engaged in an otherwise sloppy film.
Florence Pugh & Harry Styles in Don’t Worry Darling (2022)
Worst Performance: In a film riddled with plot holes and stylistic issues, Harry Styles still stands out as possibly one of the worst parts of the film. Harry Styles’ character Jack is supposed to be wildly in love with his wife Alice, however Styles and Pugh lack the chemistry to make that love believable. Styles’ performance feels like he is acting, while Pugh is committed. Furthermore, Wilde chose to keep Styles’ accent in the film, which was a mistake. The cast comprises a total of two characters using a British accent and Styles’ is by far the more distracting. While Gemma Chan’s accent is smooth and blends with the American accents, Styles’ is sloppy and brings the audience out of the film experience. He somehow managed to make his actual accent sound fake. It would have been a better option to send Styles to an accent coach and have him do either an American accent or a high class British accent similar to Chan’s. Now, this is one of the few film projects that Styles has been in, so perhaps we could cut him some slack and say he is still new to acting. However, there is no excuse for putting such a novice opposite a powerhouse like Pugh, as his lack of acting skills are even more evident.
Having watched the trailer months before any set drama was mentioned, I went in thinking “Florence Pugh + Stepford Wives-esce thriller should equal a great film”. Post screening, the concept and Pugh are still a reason I would recommend seeing the film. However, the litany of issues the film has, would also lead me to recommend waiting for it to come to streaming as it is not worth the price of concessions.