Director: Olivia Wilde
Writer/s: Katie Silberman, Carey Van Dyke, Shane Van Dyke
Starring: Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, and more.

The Intro:
ALRIGHT YA’LL… This review of “Don’t Worry Darling” is going to be a straight up spoiler review. I don’t believe I can contain myself for this one in regards to the drama-filled lead up to its release, the divisive reception, the response to some actors I really appreciate, and ultimately the fact I think this movie is some hot fire. So let’s dig in.

IMDb Summary:
“A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets.”

The Oberrating:
AGAIN, SPOILERSSSSS!
WHERE TO BEGIN?!?!
Alright, so let’s start with what most of us are here for – Nick Kroll. KIDDING! No disrespect to Nick, he does his thing in a very supportive role as just about all the supporting cast does in their roles, but the main show most everyone is here for is Harry Styles, Florence Pugh, and Chris Pine.
Let’s address the HUGE elephant in the room – Mr. Harry Styles. Listen here you sons of bitches, I said this when “Dunkirk” came out and I still stand by it… Harry Styles is an excellent actor and I simply do not understand those that are going against him in “Don’t Worry Darling” saying that there was no chemistry, that he didn’t feel right, blah blah blah. I don’t know who should be in this role aside from Harry. I can’t even see Shia who was originally billed as the role as Jack. My guy puts on a show and I won’t be swayed otherwise. Honest to God, at this point I’m convinced the driving force for people saying that Harry performed bad is for the sake of his popularity as is the case with any male heartthrob who moves around in the entertainment business.
Okay, queen, step right up. My girl Florence Pugh EATS UP “Don’t Worry Darling.” Long story short, someone better send Flo to a masseuse cause her back must be hurting from carrying this movie like she did.
The flourish of the trio is the unexpected performance of Chris Pine. I am in awe of how absolutely sinister he looks in some scenes. This man has gone from the charismatic good guy to the sinister devilishly handsome bad guy. Excellent work by Mr. Pine.

The next biggest complaint that I seem to be catching wind of is that the story is lacking, sucks, is too long, etc. On one end, sure. I can get it being a bit too long. We get that Alice (Florence Pugh) has a stronger than the typical mental psyche and we get it with the frequent flashbacks up until the ultimate reveal. So some could’ve been cut in favor of a shorter runtime. Nonetheless, “Don’t Worry Darling” had such an interesting and intriguing story that really kept me locked in for the duration, despite it being long.

Now the biggest hook that was sunk into me to make me really appreciate “Don’t Worry Darling” was the moral dilemma presented with the final act. Now from what I’ve been gathering, the surface viewer catches the grand reveal as “Bad men want women in the kitchen.” Which to that, yes, that is ONE of the reasons that some characters choose to live in this alternate reality and force their partners to join them. However, the other reasons to be in this alternate reality came in the form of wanting the best life for you and your partner as opposed to the struggling paycheck to paycheck life and living in a world where you can keep the children that you lost. Now I don’t know about ya’ll, but that kind of moral conundrum is a hell of one to pick between. This morality question alone made this whole story and movie worth it to me.

HEY REMEMBER, SPOILERS!!!
My largest gripe with “Don’t Worry Darling” comes with its finale. Once the big reveal happens, everything comes to an end with this big flourish of an action-packed ending full of illogical decisions and simply a mismatched vibe compared to the whole movie. For me, it feels like this production worked so hard to make sure this intricate and mysterious story revealed itself in the way it wanted so that it was a huge reveal. Yet when it occurs, they figured it just had to end with a big spectacle and didn’t exactly think it through. As I said, just a mismatched ending although I wasn’t completely put off by it. I do really like the absolute ending of it where you hear Alice wake up from the simulation.

The Wrap-Up:
Riddled with pre and post-production drama, I can understand where skepticism comes in, but I can’t see being so infatuated or insulted by said drama that so many people enter their view of “Don’t Worry Darling” predetermined to hate it. Either I am really missing something or a large majority of viewers are just jackasses. Or hell, maybe it’s the fragile male ego upset at yet another male heartthrob superstar entering into the legit actor status and deciding to review bomb the movies. Whichever category you may fall under, you decided to pay money and or donate time to hate a movie. How sweet of you. ❤
For those here for my opinion, hey, it’s a good quality time thriller. I most definitely give it my vote and would urge you to give this a watch when possible whether that be in theater or holding out for the comfort of your home. Otherwise, let’s have a chat. I love talking movies!

Rating: 4/5

References:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10731256/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10731256/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm

Edited by Abby McNatt




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