Don't Worry Darling

Don’t Worry Darling has been written about mostly in the context of major and minor on-set scandals lately, which is a bit of a shame that Olivia Wilde's new film doesn't deserve. She changed the genre dramatically after the fairly clever comedy drama Booksmart, and her new film certainly manages to impress. Matthew Libatique knows how to evoke the atmosphere of the 1950s as they may never have been, but as people want to see it through the filter of nostalgia. John Powell, on the other hand, has done one of his best soundtracks ever, and visually and musically there is nothing to fault the film. It manages to be mesmerising and then again a few seconds later very disturbing. Florence Pugh is excellent in the lead role, as is Chris Pine; in fact everyone here tries their best in front and behind the camera. It's just that they are being tripped up by the story, which, while not bad at all, unfortunately, as the runtime progresses, it becomes clear that Wilde doesn't have a new The Truman Show, Dark City, Inception or The Matrix in her hands, but just solid and functional material from which she can squeeze a technically brilliant film, but one that lacks emotion, surprise or any worthwhile message, especially at the end. The result is good, though exceptional, but I will certainly be happy if Olivia Wilde continues her directorial career. (09/20/2022)

As a mystery thriller one-shot from The Twilight Zone, totally fine. It's beautiful to look at, great craftsmanship, and I have a soft spot for Florence Pugh, she improves the rating of every film by at least one star. On the other hand, if their ambitions were higher, well we can’t speak of a success. The concept is fine and could have been the basis for a more substantial piece of filmmaking, but it would have needed from sharper edges and a more focused script (actually, it's a terribly perverse outcome, but Wilde and the writers failed to fully capitalize on its power). The handling of the reveal of the twist seems a bit shallow, and if you start digging into the individual scenes, you'll find that they may not even make much sense in the end – I really don’t understand what the plane wreck was doing there. 7/10 (10/03/2022)

(Spoiler alert!) It’s probaly impossible not to compare Don’t Worry Darling with The Stepford Wives and similar films in which an apparently perfect reality is not what it seems. Since the similarity to The Stepford Wives is very obvious, you get a relatively early idea of what the film is actually about, and expect perhaps to get some more fundamental and shocking twist at the end, which doesn't quite happen. Still, I must commend the good production and costume design evoking the 1950s, as well as the unmistakable and truly oppressive soundtrack. Three and a quarter stars! (09/27/2022)

A shallow, dumb and unspeakably boring variation on The Stepford Wives. The two-hour running time is truly mind-numbing given the emptiness of the whole story. It's also a tacky, fatuous and shallow film, just like the world it's trying to satirize. The high rating on this one is downright shocking to me. (02/10/2024)

Don’t Worry Darling would have a lot more power as a (shorter, for God's sake) episode of Black Mirror. As it is, it's an overlong and quite easy to see through metaphor, pulled off by the wonderful Florence Pugh. Thanks to her, thanks to Olivia Wilde's direction and thanks to the beautifully kitschy production design, the two hours pass quite briskly, and it doesn't matter so much that the ending doesn't have a great twist. (11/14/2022)