Swamped by the publicity preceding the release of Don’t Worry Darling, the ongoings off screen began to distance the focus from the film itself. With the social media chatter surrounding fallouts amongst cast members and the infamous cast reunion at the Venice Film Festival, the film wildly chimed up a huge buzz ahead of its release. But don’t let the hype misguide you, as Don’t Worry Darling exceeds expectations in what is an eery thriller. Directed by Olivia Wilde, she also stars alongside Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne and Chris Pine.
Beneath the surface of a perfect town lies the claustrophobic tight knit community of Victory. Inhabited by Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles) they are members of an experimental company town where the men work for the top-secret Victory Project, which involves working on the “development of progressive materials”. Surrounded by dusty desert terrain the small community is cut off from the outside world as they live in a 1950s utopia.
The 1950s was synonymous with ideals of a quintessential society, modelling perfectionism as a facade of reality. A perfect backdrop for a thriller, Don’t Worry Darling unravels the lives of couples who have the same objective to serve and support the Victory Project. The men are the breadwinners as they escape the confines of their homes during the day to venture into the desert for work. The women hold the fort as they take care of their homes and prepare for their husbands return. The almost robotic and repetitive routine of perfectionism is almost too perfect where the imperfection starts seeping through the seems like an eye sore.
A poignant scene takes place at the house of the CEO of the Victory Project, who holds a soirée, inviting his men, along with their other halves. Gaining an understanding of his seniority and affluence he is well respected within his community. The party gets abruptly interrupted by Margaret, the wife of a worker who indicates that all is not what it seems and people should leave as it isn’t safe. Shattering the illusion that this is the picture perfect lifestyle that even Wanda from ‘WanderVision’ would be proud of creating, this incident made Alice question her time in Victory.
Planting a seed into her mind Alice begins to go against the grain and questions the town and the purpose of the Victory Project. Although Victory seems pretty chill (minus the pedantic way of living), the one rule is not to leave the confines of their neighbourhood. Venturing into the desert and ultimately making her way to the Victory HQ, marks the beginning of a downward spiral. Having no recollection of what happened whilst at HQ she is plagued by horrific visions and begins to slowly lose grip of reality. She begins having visions of warped ballerinas and starts to see and experience scenarios that are non existent.
The cinematography in combination with the bright wardrobe colour pallet reminded me of TV series ‘The Good Place’. Similar to the TV show, which swung between whether the good place was heaven or hell, my mind was flittering between realities of whether the reality of Victory was a dream neighbourhood or glamorous jail. Olivia Wilde orchestrated the perfect environment and the dry hot sun dripped landscape turned into a sweltering pressure cooker that began evaporating her life away.
Without giving away what happens and the reason behind her ascent into insanity, Don’t Worry Darling is a captivating thriller. Having to take a moment to fully digest the film after the unexpected ending the film, Don’t Worry Darling is worth the watch. At times feeling slightly flat and losing momentum in parts, the highlight of the film is watching Florence Pugh. An outstanding actress she carries the film and her compelling portal of Alice makes it all the more watchable.
