Don't Worry Darling

Jack and Alice move to the small town of Victory, a place where the men go to work on a project of national secrecy and importance, and the woman stay at home, cooking and cleaning, living a domestic life, not everything is as it seems.

I was seriously looking forward to this film, the trailers looked amazing, and the very presence of Florence Pugh and Harry Styles made it seem mouth wateringly good.

It's one of those films I'd say is ok, I was a little disappointed if I'm honest, I was hoping for a sharp thriller, and what I felt I was presented with, was a film that just didn't go far enough, they could have developed several threads, it felt like they held back.

I think pacing is one of the major issues, some of the scenes are so padded out, it could have been a lot sharper. It does at least end with some excitement, the pacing improves as it heads towards the conclusion. The car chase sequences are decent, and the revelation is pretty well done.

The best element, Florence Pugh, I would say she gives a dazzling performance, she really does deliver, Pine and Styles are good, though I'm not sure the film gets the best out of either.

The music and Cinematography cannot be questioned, it's a dazzling looking movie, so many incredible looking sequences, that moment at the club where Alice begins to catch on to what's happening is great, butt Jack's big party, is perhaps the film's best moment.

6/10.

The concept of the movie was good, but needed to be taken a bit further in my opinion with detail. A lot happens in the movie that basically requires the audience to accept without question.

Over explained movies are obviously no fun, but this one just left me annoyed because in two hours, I feel like they could have done a lot more.

Florence Pugh gives an amazing performance. If anyone has seen Midsommar, they would be aware that she knows how to give an emotional performance with or without supporting leads. She is the body and soul of this movie and it would be a complete disappointment without her.

Pugh made the movie interesting, but the writing and directing did not excel in the movie. The cinematography was wonderful and there was some great acting from some people and that's about it.

Olivia Wilde's second directorial effort is nowhere near as bad as I expected it to be given the firestorm of behind-the-scenes drama and production troubles. But it's also just not nearly as interesting or as well-put-together as it ought to be given it's fierce, original, thrilling premise.

It's a sleek-looking production, and Wilde does some very smooth work behind the camera. Most of the performances are extremely good (especially Florence Pugh's), but some of the supporting cast does put a little too much ham into their work.

Despite some clunky dialogue that consists largely of repetitive empty platitudes, the story is able to build a lot of intrigue with its intelligent placement of bizarre happenings. It causes its audience to ask questions and tests their patience by withholding and bestowing information in just the right doses.

This intrigue lasts for the first two acts, although the film's character development unfortunately falls to the wayside because the mystery was given all the attention.

It's a shame, because the third act and final twists of the story make all the nuance and complexity of the mysterious characters and world-building slip away.

At the film's conclusion, I was left dissatisfied. Dissatisfied with the fact that the villains' motivations were oversimplified to the point that their actions no longer make much sense.

It's like they deliberately planned to go about achieving their goals in the most convoluted, difficult way possible and in a way that would make them the most vulnerable that they could possibly be. It's a laughable ending with hilariously half-baked twists.

Don't Worry Darling is one of those movies that's bursting with imaginative, intriguing ideas, but never quite finds a way to put them together in a satisfying, coherent way. It's messy and not particularly satisfying as a result.

While this film explored interesting elements, I found myself wanting more depth and detail in certain areas. Definitely a visually compelling and stylish ride, but one that ultimately felt like a drive around the block instead of an actual intellectual or emotional adventure. Using the pressure of social conformity to build suspense seems tired. The commentary on patriarchal structure and women resisting this came across as heavy-handed and cumbersome. The ending was too abrupt and left much to be desired. Characters were flat, even when the creepy secret was revealed. At the end of the movie, I had so many questions but then ultimately realized I didn't care about the answers - which means ultimately the film fell short in at least two important ways. Watch this for the visual style more than anything, because the vague sense of suspense as well as the underdeveloped characters and storyline are not enough to be a satisfying watch.

I thought this was a great psychological thriller that had a twist that was definitely unexpected. It kept you guessing throughout and had the creepy vibe I love in movies. Florence carried the acting but I was also pleasantly surprised by Harry's performance. Was it the best movie I've ever seen? No but I definitely enjoyed it. As for claims that Olivia is a "bad director" I truly don't know what that job entails but I do feel like a lot of the social media hype and drama surrounding this movie has people just wanting to hate on it due to its popularity. Movies are literally just meant for us to sit back and enjoy so I wish people would stop being so dramatic about it honestly. The movie makes you think about the world we live in today and truly how some men want life to be. Interesting concept overall.