DON’T WORRY DARLING (2022)
Don’t Worry Darling, this year’s most talked about movie is finally here but was all that drama even worth it? Is the movie actually any good?
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Ever been watching a movie and thought, “Why did they make this? Surely someone, at some point, asked, ‘Isn’t this dumb? Hasn’t this idea been done a million times? Isn’t this just a really dumb take on an over-used idea?'”
The answer, in this case, is that someone almost certainly did – and the response was “don’t worry, darling.”
Olivia Wilde’s movie Don’t Worry Darling has been mired in controversy. An actor was begged to join the project then fired. Lead actor Florence Pugh gave the film limp-wristed promotion. Chris Pine appeared to be in a state of transcendental meditation during every press junket. Harry Styles, famously shagging his married director, tried to pitch the film to one interviewer and, in doing so, appeared to suffer a stroke on-camera, resolutely claiming that it was, indeed, a movie (it’s not).
This tepid promotion makes sense when you watch Don’t Worry Darling. What you’re witnessing are fine actors realising, in real-time, that they should have known better. You’re seeing established, bankable thespians wonder why they didn’t trust their gut.
So why they’d do it? Money? No. It was to hang with Harry Styles. That’s all. They wanted to circle in his seductive orbit. Share a bottle of Malibu. Get hello and goodbye hugs. Pine, Pugh, Chan, Kroll… they just wanted to wave their Geiger counters in his radioactive personality, be the fleeting subject of those baby blue eyes that could power a small town.
But what happens when you compromise on your work ethic? You sell a piece of your soul. Pugh, Pine and the gang watched Don’t Worry Darling at the premiere and, in harmonious telepathy, thought, “Oh, Christ. What have we done?”
Their admiration for Styles became white-hot resentment. Pugh won’t go near the 1D alumni. Pugh won’t go near Wilde – she blames Liv for convincing her to make this “movie”, this middle-school essay on gaslighting. Pine can’t even look at Styles, his disdain manifested in increasingly daring projectiles of saliva. Gemma Chan shat in a gift box and mailed it to Styles’ home address (unsubstantiated).
It’s Pugh you should feel for… she gives everything to her performance in this movie. She’s electric, even when her character frustrates. It’s incredible that she did any interviews for this film at all, surely tempted to pretend she was still on the press circuit for Midsommar.
Don’t Worry Darling is out now.
Don’t Worry Darling (2022)
Directed by: Olivia Wilde
Starring: Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, Gemma Chan, Kiki Layne, Nick Kroll
Opening on: September 23, 2022
Director Olivia Wilde follows up her critically acclaimed feature debut Booksmart with this period thriller about a 1950s housewife (Florence Pugh) who begins to suspect that the perfect suburban life her husband’s mysterious job provides for her — and her husband’s mysterious job itself — may hide a sinister truth.
Don’t Worry Darling review
For all the hype and controversy that came with the press of Olivia Wilde’s feature film, this movie is pretty terrible. It’s like buying a can of peaches only to discover there’s nothing but juice inside. It takes quite a while to figure out what the movie is about, a nagging build up to a seemingly grand reveal and yet it doesn’t quite happen. Then you figure out that it’s really about feminism and how they’re all metaphorically and literally trapped in a world of patriarchy and misogyny. Only the themes used have been done before and executed way better than this. There’s really nothing new and there’s really nothing there that carries weight.
Masyadong pa-profound. It’s too obvious and intentional. To the point of indulgence. Wala namang lalim at laman. Wala ring excitement. It’s kind of a dud. The only saving grace, apart from the stellar cast, are the performances of Harry Styles and Florence Pugh.
Don’t Worry Darling – 9/10
Didn’t really know what to expect going into this one, but it didn’t disappoint (me, at least). The story focuses around a seemingly newly wed couple and their suburban life.
All of the men in the neighborhood work at the same place and the women are stay at home moms. Throughout the movie, you just get the sense that something is wrong and after the neighborhood meeting, the movie picks up a lot.
The main character begins questioning the job that the husbands work and it spirals from there. If you like thrillers and twist endings, it’s definitely worth checking out. I wouldn’t classify it as horror so even if you’re squeamish you should be good to go with this movie. The movie does end kind of abruptly, potentially a set up for a sequel, but they do resolve the main conflicts.
About movie
“Hollywood has discovered Tradwife! They are so afraid of our way of living. You should read this feminist comment on this movie and enjoy your family weekend.”
“Don’t Worry Darling’ Is the Antidote to the Obsession With Being a #tradwife
The film premieres amid a growing social media trend that romanticizes tradwives. But being a 1950s housewife is anything but romantic.
As a film that initially presents as a glowing tribute to the orgasmic joys of 1950s domestic bliss for women, it’s very well-timed, as it premieres in the midst of a viral social media trend of young women romanticizing tradwifery in its ‘50s heyday—which feels vaguely like a horror movie in itself.
Tradwife promotes the narrative that feminism scammed women—and that not working outside the home and having a man provide everything for you is empowering.”
If you weren’t a straight, decently wealthy, white man, the 1950s weren’t exactly a glamorous time.
Then, of course, there’s the movie’s ultimate, deeply weird twist: We learn all of this is actually taking place in the modern day. It seems in the real world, many of the “husbands” kidnapped or quite literally forced a woman into a situation—where their memories are wiped and they’re wired to believe their sole purpose is to slavishly wait on their husband and live out a perpetual 1950s domestic fantasy.
To that end, Darling is loaded with warnings: of the enduring perils of ‘50s-era tradwifery.
Its release comes at a moment in which young women are increasingly being socialized to embrace anti-feminist beliefs—who can forget how many of Johnny Depp’s most vocal supporters during his defamation trial were, indeed, young women”