Don't Worry Darling

While Don’t Worry Darling isn’t perfect, the only baggage it deserves to be saddled with is the baggage of attempting to tell a story with an obvious twist in our twist-numbed culture. For in the end, the real twist is this: even in 2022, true equality between men and women still feels like a fairy tale.

The movie, whatever its pile of ideas about love, gender constructs, and modern living, never really transcends Stepford mood-board pastiche. It's all nefarious and gorgeous, Darling, and strictly nonsense in the end.

It feels as if there’s a better movie in here somewhere, lost beneath the wild-eyed freneticism and the unsatisfying exposition.

There’s nothing original in the movie. Indeed, the off-screen controversy that’s been consuming social media lately over the casting of pop superstar Styles and whether Pugh and Wilde are at odds overshadows the movie itself.

Boldness and ambition may get the best of the film, but just like Booksmart, which announced the promising beginning of an intriguing directorial voice, Wilde proves she’s not a one-hit-wonder, at least technically and artistically. Don’t Worry Darling may be a misstep, but Wilde’s still got a flair for cinema that feels worth keeping an eye on.

Crafted with style, and led by Florence Pugh’s redoubtable performance as a picture-perfect housewife who learns a horrifying truth, this glossy thriller draws unfavourable comparisons to a whole swath of different bygone films, cribbing their unsettling undertones without adding much new to the mixture.

A swing and a miss is too timid a dismissal. It’s a sumptuously dressed table that ends in a wet fart.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The nuance that the film had throughout the build-up simply disappeared at the end. The entire story twist is explained by a supporting character, which feels like a cop out. The resolution isn't even much of a resolution, and the concluding action felt forced. There are many unanswered questions for the audience, but in all honesty, I don't think anyone is interested in trying to find the answers.

Concept, story, setup and twist are actually interesting and refreshing. And the direction is jumping between holywood period film and auter in a nice way. Why did I rate it so low? The answer is easy: the performance of Florence Pugh is absolutely dreadful. She reminded me of these super angsty teen disney movies, so fake and so full of pretentious passion I was constantly rolling my eyes. When every single supporting actress in your movie plays so much better than your main, maybe it is time to switch your main?

Florence Pugh is doing a good job but the story is boring and the twist is lame.

This movie is nothing but a combination of the movies Held(2020) and Stepford Wives(2004).