Adin Linden, Grade 11, Staff Writer
In the idyllic “Victory Project” live husband and wife Jack (Harry Styles) and Alice (Florence Pugh). After some time in their new home Alice begins to notice that everything is not what it seems with the Victory Project and its leader, Frank (Chris Pine).
Don’t Worry Darling received a lot of media attention, mostly due to the supposed drama surrounding its cast. So, was it a good movie? No.
Don’t Worry Darling definitely had several good aspects. Florence Pugh shined in her role as Alice. She was arguably the best part of the movie. The acting choices she made worked perfectly for this movie. Pugh cleverly portrays Alice, the wife looking for an answer.
The movie's special effects, costume, cinematography and overall aesthetic were very cohesive. The 1950’s setting was beautifully portrayed through the set and costume design. The cinematography and buildup conveyed the thrilling idea that Victory was an ideal world where something was just a little bit off. In fact, the majority of the first two acts were devoted to building up the suspense and mystery. Much of the behind the scenes work of the movie was very well executed.
So why was this movie bad?
The biggest reason was the ending. It felt like you watched an entire hour and half of buildup just to get no pay off. The ending, specifically the twist, was very predictable. There could have been a much more interesting and satisfying direction for this movie, but it instead became a really bad version of “Truman Show.”
Another unsatisfying part of Don’t Worry Darling was the underuse of good actors. Pine, Kiki Layne (Margaret), and Olivie Wilde (Bunny) could have been used to a much higher degree. Pine delivers in his role as the evil leader of the Victory project, with just the right amount of sinister evil, but his character isn’t in the movie enough to ever be an active threat. Wilde directed the movie and starred in it as Alice’s jaded best friend Bunny.
Bunny was a good character to present a foil to Alice, having very different backgrounds and motives, but throughout much of the movie she wasn’t given enough to do. Layne plays Margaret, the woman who already figured out the secret behind Victory, but is silenced by Frank. Layne said after the movie came out, many scenes with her character were cut, and it shows..
Last but not least, what can I even say about Harry Styles. I’m sorry to the Harries out there, but he was just not good in this movie. He is not an actor. There were many moments where I had to stop from laughing at the way he said the lines, like a scene in which he was in his car and supposed to act angry, but instead he just grabbed the steering wheel and yelled “F%&$.” Styles’ acting choices made it feel like he wasn’t trying very hard to be subtle or to act well.
So would I suggest that you go watch Don’t Worry Darling? Honestly, yes. Despite the terrible ending, the underutilization of good actors, and Harry Styles I think that the good outweighs the bad and it is still an enjoyable movie to watch for the first two acts.
The Don’t Worry Darling cast at the Venice Film Festival