"Don't Worry Darling" Worries Me, Darling

To be completely honest, I was really excited for Don't Worry Darling. I love stories with an idyllic society that is broken down over the course of the film. When I saw the trailer, I couldn’t wait to see what this story was all about.

Now that I have, I’m disappointed with what became of this story.

Don't Worry Darling stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, pictured here.

I first feel the need to point out the Venice film festival situation, which gave this film a lot of press and drama that wasn’t needed for a film of this caliber. I wonder, however, if this situation that had happened to get people to see Don’t Worry Darling, because the film doesn’t stand well on its own. But this is not about the Venice film festival because that honestly needs a whole article of its own. Here, we’re taking a look at what is considered to be directors Olivia Wilde’s “sophomore slump.”

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD.

Florence Pugh as Alice, the protagonist.

To give a very quick synopsis of what the film is about, Don’t Worry Darling stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles as Alice and Jack, a couple living in postwar America in a town called Victory. Jack works for Frank, the leader, as a part of the Victory Project, just like all the men who reside in the town. The women have two rules to follow: Don’t talk about the Victory Project, and never leave the town of Victory. Alice starts to really question everything after seeing a plane crash and leaving the town to help. She gets these visions she doesn't recognize, and she starts recognizing that things are not all right in Victory.

Things get really twisted when Alice figures out that her life in Victory is a lie. As it turns out, she is actually living in the modern world with Jack. He turns to the Victory Project, created by Frank, a simulated world both he and Alice could live in. Jack forced Alice into the simulation, believing she is miserable in real life. Alice kills Jack after realizing what he has done. Her neighbor and friend Bunny tells Alice to flee to Victory headquarters to escape the simulation. The film finishes out with an action sequence of Alice successfully escaping Victory.

Symbolism that "fails to launch" in the film.

There is a bunch of symbolism in this story, which rarely pays off. Much of the film has these beautiful moments of imagery between hollow eggs, red planes, and even mirrors and walls. However, the film never fully explains visually why it uses these images. It’s almost like they had way more to show, but many parts of the film was left on the chopping block. There's not enough of the story here, and even though we get beautiful visuals, it all feels hollow.

There's so much that feels empty when it comes to this story, but I don't think the problem is the visuals.

A big glaring problem is the world building. In film, we call it the "rules of the road"; where the first 20 or so minutes establishes the normal world and the rules the society abides by. The rules are not really stated at the beginning, and we continuously get new rules all the way to the end of the story. I thoroughly dislike that Alice's best friend, Bunny, decides to dump all this new information right at the last 20 minutes of the film onto Alice while she’s trying to escape. It makes the end feel very clunky, as if they couldn’t find a better point to say all these new rules. In all truth though, there is!

Additionally, there is a lot of characters that play a part in this story. However, a lot of these character roles could be consolidated or taken away altogether. For instance, Bunny's part could have been split into the other women, like Shelley and Margaret, and it would have made just as much sense as having Bunny. Margaret should have also had a larger role to play because she was the first to break the rules in this story. Unfortunately, she's removed from the project, so we never know her story. This is part of the over arching problem of this film which is the script. However, this wasn't always the case.

Florence Pugh as Alice and Olivia Wilde as Bunny in an intense conversation.

In the film industry, there is something called the Black List, which is a list of the highest rated film scripts of that particular year. In 2019, Don't Worry Darling, was one of the top contenders. I have the original script linked here if you want to check it out that was written by the Van Dyke brothers (and if you're wondering, yes they are related to Dick Van Dyke). It is surprising to see how much has changed from the original script that caused a multi studio bidding war. The story is so much clearer in this version and the three act structure is well followed in the original version. Granted, it had some issues to fix, but nothing compared to what the final product is.

There is so much that is not right with second version of the script that was rewritten by Katie Silberman.

We know in this industry that if there isn't a good script, there isn't a good film. Much of what was put on screen felt so muddled. The theme isn't clear and the structure was messy, which only makes it harder to understand. In films of a similar nature like Pleasantville or The Truman Show, the theme and story structure is clear, making its progressive message clear for the audience to understand.

When director Olivia Wilde was asked during the press tour for Don’t Worry Darling what her film’s message is about, she explained that it was about topics such as "female pleasure" and considered to be a "distinctly feminist" psycho-thriller. I don't think that Alice is the feminist figure Wilde imagines her to be. She is someone who is controlled by her husband Jack and trips on a way to escape the control of Victory and Jack by the end of the story. She is a mostly passive character, and her whole story is based on the fact that she is preyed on and suppressed by a man to forcibly live what he believes to be the traditional family life.

Harry Styles as Jack, Alice's Husband.

We obviously know from who Alice is in the modern day that she doesn't believe in these ideals as she is the main breadwinner working as a surgeon. Jack, however, is upset by this and turns to the Victory project as a way to gain control in his relationship. He forcibly makes Alice live in the world of Victory as his wife ( which is DEFINITELY ASSAULT) and she never questions it until by chance she sees a plane crash and she breaks a rule.

This film leads me to wonder if women will always "need to be fixed or taken care of by men" in the film world.

I understand that because of the ending, this film can read as feminist, but I read it as bigoted. Watching this film doesn't provide clear goals of equality between genders, but rather a stubborn attachment to certain beliefs. You may see a feminist, but I see a damsel in distress, or better yet, a woman scorned; both very anti feminist film tropes. This again comes back to the story not being clear in its theme and message it wants to leave the audience with.

Pugh and Styles in an intense conversation as Alice and Jack.

Though it may seem that I do not like this film, there are some redeeming qualities. The biggest one is Florence Pugh's performance as Alice. Pugh has blended perfectly into a multitude of roles; Don't Worry Darling is no exception. By the end, even though I couldn't fully understand what was happening, I was still rooting for her to win. She is an absolute gem to see on the screen as the main character of this story. Additionally Chris Pine is so strong as Frank. His performance was believable and unsettling, which I felt was the strong antagonist this film needed. You may disagree with me here, but I believe that this was a solid debut for Harry Styles as a leading actor, but he definitely is overshadowed by Pugh in this film.

On the technical side, the production design is beautiful and really captures the beauty of the 1950's style. The fashion, the buildings, and even the cars add so much color and beauty to the film. Along with that, the cinematography is so expertly crafted. In fact, every department does a very good job bringing this story to life.

Where it falls flat is the story, which can make, or in this case break, a film.

In summation, I spent several hours watching and rewatching this film, and I STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M VIEWING. As a viewer, I'm frustrated that there is no clarity, which is why Don't Worry Darling is not a film I would recommend spending time on.

Alice at the Victory Project.

All images sourced from thekoalition.com.