DON’T WORRY DARLING Review

Sci-fi thriller aims for Jordan Peele but ends up closer to lesser Shyamalan

At times, it feels like the behind-the-scenes hub-bub regarding Olivia Wilde’s second feature as a director, Don’t Worry Darling, was going to completely dominate and overpower any discussion about the actual movie. I finally had a chance to see Don’t Worry Darling last week, and I have to say that I did a pretty good job avoiding spoilers about what the film was about, other than seeing the full trailer maybe once. After seeing the movie, I have a feeling there are things to like about it, sure, but some might feel disappointed in the fact that the movie is closer to sci-fi than actual horror.

Florence Pugh and Harry Styles play Alice and Jack Chambers, living in the suburban town of Victory, which is right out of a ‘50s Douglas Sirk film. The husbands take part in an enigmatic endeavor called the Victory Project, led by the company’s CEO Frank (Chris Pine), but the women generally spend their time being good housewives or taking ballet lessons from Frank’s wife Shelly (Gemma Chan). When Alice’s neighbor (KiKi Layne) starts expressing her doubts about the set-up – and getting quite manic about it – Alice starts wondering about their “perfect” idyllic lifestyle, and things start spiraling out of control from there.

Other than knowing the general surface story, I really wasn’t sure how much of a “horror” movie Don’t Worry Darling might be. Frankly, it’s really more of a psychological thriller, because there’s nothing particularly scary or even supernatural about anything we see. It definitely gets points for being an original thriller in a market where IP and known properties tend to flourish over anything even remotely original or experimental. Sometimes, that works and can win over a skeptical audience, but this wasn’t one of those cases.

The general premise of the women of Victory having to be the perfect housewives certainly harks back to things like The Stepford Wives, but only Pugh’s character has any real knowledge that something is wrong and sets out to do something about it. Intended or not, Don’t Worry Darling ends up being a fantastic showcase for Pugh’s talents and abilities, but that spotlight on Pugh, also makes some of the weaker performances by others stand out. I’ve seen many of the actors here do much better work, and that includes Wilde herself, who plays one of their neighbors, married to Nick Kroll, although neither of them have that much screen time.

The movie looks fantastic, thanks to the camera and lighting of the great Matthew Libatique, best known for his work with Darren Aronofsky on films like Black Swan. The movie is certainly well directed in terms of what Wilde and her team did to create the environment of Victory in which the actors could “play.” Unfortunately, the way the whole concept is introduced is done in such a dull and lifeless way, it’s hard to stay invested.

There’s no way to avoid mentioning the film’s big reveal – the “twist” if you will. Either you’re on board or you’ll think it’s the stupidest idea ever put on camera. I was in the latter party, because once I realized that the movie was going exactly where I thought it was going, I began to tune out even more.

I’d like to think I went into Don’t Worry Darling fairly open-minded, all things considered, but there’s just nothing particularly fun or entertaining about this movie, other than to marvel at Pugh’s continuing progress into the leading lady status seen by the likes of Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams, and others. Pugh’s Oscar nomination for Little Women was only the start, and I don’t think anyone who either outright hates or just gets annoyed by Don’t Worry Darling’s big reveal is going to hold any of this movie against her. I’m pretty sure Wilde will recover as well, especially if the movie does well.

In fact, I do hope that Don’t Worry Darling does well, if only because I would like to see Wilde have enough box office success on her scorecard that she’ll get to make more movies. But Don’t Worry Darling only works so far until it gets to its big reveal, and then you’re either on board or you’re not. Clearly, I was not.

Rating: 5.5/10

Don’t Worry Darling hits theaters nationwide on Friday, Sept. 23.