‘Don’t Worry Darling’ Movie Review: An Unsatisfying Attempt at a Dystopian Thriller

Don't Worry Darling Movie

Don’t Worry Darling has been the source of no shortage of drama for all involved. The film has constantly made headlines as of late, and even after its September 23 release date, the drama is still unfolding. So does the movie live up to all the hype? Is it a film you should worry about seeing? Meh. 

The film, directed by Olivia Wilde, follows Alice (played beautifully by Florence Pugh), who lives in the idealized community of Victory with her husband, Jack (played by Harry Styles). The community is owned by the company that employs all the men that live there. As they wake up every morning to go work on the top-secret Victory Project, their wives and families are left to cook, clean, tend to the children, and occasionally go out shopping with the other women in the community.

The 1950’s Stepford-style life slowly starts to crack in front of Alice. And as she starts to ask bigger questions and seek answers, she finds something much more complex and sinister lurking just beneath the surface.

Don’t Worry Darling Movie Trailer

Don’t Worry Darling Movie Review: What I Did and Didn’t Like

Buckle up. There’s a lot I didn’t like and not much I did. With a 2 hours and 3-minute run time, I hoped that we were going to see Olivia Wilde’s sophomore film bring something to the table that was equally as compelling as all the drama surrounding the movie.

However, that’s not the case. And sadly, there are no plans for the documentary around the making of Don’t Worry Darling, which I think virtually everyone would find far more interesting than this ultimately unsatisfying attempt to challenge gender roles and toxic masculinity.

Storyline

At a high level, the concept of this film is a good basis for a movie. It’s not a new idea, but it did introduce some new elements into the well-played-out theme. The key word there is “introduce”. Because it did nothing more than introduce those elements.

It’s Matrix meets Stepford Wives. However, it really only gives you the Stepford Wives piece of it without explaining any of the Matrix. And if the Matrix never left the Matrix with viewers, it would have been a much less rad and enjoyable film, much like Don’t Worry Darling.

Without diving into spoiler territory, there’s not enough substance to the script and the overall concept of the film to justify interest from movie-goers. If you want to make a dystopian thriller that truly provokes talk, you have to actually develop the ideas that bring something new to the table instead of lazily rehashing tropes we’ve seen before.

Don't Worry Darling
Photo Credit: Warner Brothers

Acting

The real star of this film, and pretty much the only good part of it, is Florence Pugh’s exceptional performance as Alice. The rest of the cast delivers fine performances as well. However, none of them can hold a candle to the emotional range that Pugh brings to her character.

At the end of the day, actors can only do so much with the script they’re given. Not even the best performances in the world can save a bad script.

Don't Worry Darling
Photo Credit: Warner Brothers

Overall

Unfortunately, no amount of Florence Pugh’s beautiful performance can’t turn this train wreck around. Despite an impressive cast, it’s a mess of a film throughout. And while Don’t Worry Darling is beautifully shot, it’s an overall disappointing watch.

Don’t Worry Darling Movie Review:

Grade: C-

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