"Don't Worry Darling" Review

Amid a seemingly endless amount of drama during the production and press run, “Don’t Worry Darling” was finally released. Whether it was reported controversies between director, Olivia Wilde, and Florence Pugh or the red carpet drama between actors, Chris Pine and Harry Styles, the film felt like it was doomed from the start. And doomed from the start, it was. “Don’t Worry Darling” is not quite a disaster; however, the drama on set clearly shows throughout this messy film.

Florence Pugh is a diamond in the rough here. We spend nearly the entire two-hour runtime with her character, and she makes the most out of every second of screen time. Pugh has an increasingly prevalent ability to carry weak scripts. This is shown in her role in “Black Widow” as well. Her slow descent into madness is masterfully acted. Much like her role in 2019’s “Midsommar”, Pugh does a wonderful job of acting tormented and under incredible amounts of grief and stress.

One aspect that I loved in the film was the costuming. The outfits worn by the entire cast were always on point, filled with bright colors and stylings that were true to the 1950s. The set design also was top-notch. Everyone and everything felt like they were taken out of a magazine from the ‘50s. The fashion alone was enough to satisfy one visually.

Speaking of visuals, “Don’t Worry Darling” has solid cinematography and camera work. Wilde seems to have a good eye for shot selection if nothing else. There were some neat shots using the sunlight to back light characters. The camera does have some interesting movement throughout dialogue scenes that keeps the scenes fresh visually.

Love or hate his music and general brand, it’s hard to deny Harry Styles’ popularity and influence on pop culture and music. However, Styles should stick to music and fashion. It sounds incredibly harsh, but he is laughably bad at times throughout the film. Whenever the script requires him to show strong emotions, he simply does not feel believable. There is a certain scene where he is breaking down and angrily crying that nearly made me laugh due to the clear incompetence of his acting ability. It’s distractingly obvious that Styles cannot act well during emotionally-driven scenes.

It was a bit jarring to see the large gap in acting ability between Styles and Pugh throughout the movie. I’m not sure how to perfectly describe it. It was like Pugh had chemistry with Styles, but Styles didn’t have chemistry with Pugh. Her line deliveries and overall presence in front of the camera are leaps and bounds better than Styles’.

Wilde’s direction throughout “Don’t Worry Darling” is not great. It honestly feels like a directorial debut from Wilde. However, she has previously directed the well-received “Booksmart”. Wilde doesn’t do much to elevate this film here. She honestly leaves Styles out to dry so to speak here. His acting ability is not great, but a good director could have worked around this. She also relies on the soundtrack and sound cues a bit too much. Whenever Chris Pine’s villain character is on screen, the score gets comically dark and apparent. It ultimately feels cheesy in a film that is not trying to be.

I think the pacing and structure of “Don’t Worry Darling” is where it mainly falters. The first half sets up the world that the characters are in and builds up intrigue but ultimately feels like it’s spinning its wheels, feeling repetitive. The second half doesn’t feel as repetitive, but the answers to the previously posed questions feel underwhelming. Don’t get me started on this film’s twist in the third act; it is utterly predictable and cliché. I won’t spoil anything here, but the twist itself has been done so many times. It felt so derivative.

Overall, “Don’t Worry Darling” is far from the worst film you’ll watch in 2022. However, it falls flat. It has interesting plot elements, a great performance from Florence Pugh and some lovely costuming and set designs. However, these are overshadowed by a cliché and predictable plot, wooden characters, a terrible plot twist and a horrendous performance by Harry Styles. This film could have been much better with a script revision and less on-set drama. This leads to an ultimately frustrating viewing experience.

4/10