Don't Worry Darling: REVIEW

I can't lie, darling, I am worried...

Don't Worry Darling poster via iMDB

WARNING: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS, AND GRAPHIC THEMES

I went into this film knowing nothing about it and only seeing a couple of TikToks of Harry Styles' "GCSE Drama" kind of acting (it might be too kind to call it that, really), and somehow, even though I had literally no expectations, this film fell short of them.

Let's be kind first. Florence Pugh excelled. Her acting was probably the only enjoyable thing about it. When she was stressed, I was stressed. Her slow realisation, which led to the film's climax, wasn't gripping (sorry, Flo, I think it was a direction issue) but when the climax was reached, it was much more enjoyable. I think, honestly, it was her acting that carried the film. There were a few notable side characters, but they were outshone and I think the film would have benefited from better chemistry between the main characters, and more sophisticated actors in significant roles (cough, cough, Harry.)

The soundtrack as well was good. It had the classic horror undertones that worked quite well for the suspense, with the grating orchestral style music paired with eerie whispers and tunes. It was clever, and that made up for some parts where the plotline fell short, which you'll see, I consider to be a lot. I feel with the strong(ish) soundtrack, the film was on the way to being better, but to truly achieve that, I think it should have gone in a completely different direction.

This brings me, joyously, to my proper critiques of this film. They are plentiful. The direction I mean is this: it felt to me like a wanna-be cult classic that had none of the right make up. The settingg was jarring, and I assume that was the intention, but something about it felt off in the wrong way. I know it was meant to be a utopia, while, for the film, a dystopia, but none of it worked for me. It felt bland, like it was trying too hard to be outside the box, and just fitting very squarely inside it.

Also, if I had a penny for every film where everything seemed perfect and there was a big dramatic reveal where it wasn't at all what it seemed (GASP!) I'd be so rich. I'm not even hating on the idea of that as a whole, but this felt clumsy. It was the epitome of ending a story in primary school of "and it was all a dream..." It just had no 'wow factor.' The storyline was quite basic. For those who don't know, Florence stars as Alice, the perfect suburban wife to the perfect suburban husband (Harry Styles) in their perfect suburb, the Victory Project area. Then, Alice goes into the forbidden desert after seeing something she shouldn't, and her life begins to crumble around her when she finds the Victory HQ... I don't know. It was very clunky, and the big reveal at the end where it was all a hallucination was so predictable I rolled my eyes. I had guessed pretty much from the start that none of it was real, and unlike a good thriller, I was right.

The random violence and gore was so bizarre as well. Like, seeing Margaret (Kiki Layne) slit her throat? I get it was meant to be shocking and spooky and thrilling but there was literally no need for us to see it in glorious Technicolor. The ending was also randomly violent, although less so than the HD suicide. When Jack dies (I laughed, sorry), it's a very simple whack on the head, followed by an artistically placed bloodstain on Florence Pugh's dress. .Never have I seen someone be killed in such a neat little circle. But no, the real horrible bit where I actually cringed was when poor Frank (Chris Pine) was stabbed by his wife (Gemma Chan), and she literally twisted the knife, ew. I do not know why it was necessary for a psychological thriller to have such weird inserts of violence that really didn't further the plot.

Speaking of, the plot parts that weren't addressed were really annoying. There were random parts like Frank being sexual with Alice that were mentioned once in a wink-wink kind of way and never brought up again, and it felt lazy.

Me, watching the film when the 70th basic thing happens an it's called a plot twist

I think talking about Harry Styles needs his own paragraph. Babes, stick to singing. He delivered his lines with a stiffness and a blandness that was reminiscent of school plays, it felt at times like he had an autocue and was just stumbling over that. I cheered when he delivered his big dramatic speech with the STUPIDEST frown on his face :( . It was so funny, and his failure in a drama role was just ridiculous. Also, that random sex scene where they pushed the roast right on the floor was absolutely infuriating. Hilarious, though,. I really am wracking my brains for more plot points because that roast has just eclipsed everything else. But seriously, there was absolutely no chemistry. Harry was awkward and even the on-screen marriage was uncomfortable to watch, never mind all the press conferences that followed it. Olivia Wilde (the director) commented that it was a film about female pleasure, I must have missed that part because I just did not see it. And the press conference where "it feels like a movie" was, to me, such a lie. It felt like an absolute disappointment.

The scene where Florence Pugh was crying in the bathroom and Harry was whirling around and tap dancing on stage was a highlight for me. I couldn't stop laughing, like, if I were crying in the toilets and my husband was spinning in circles and jigging I'd be furious. I also do not know where that fits in the plot like at all? It was another one of the extremely bizarre subplots that I missed out on, probably, but it was hilarious. 10/10 on the dumb scale.

I'm sorry, Florence, but you did annoy me, too. The ending, where for her, time was of the essence, WHY DID SHE PAUSE SO OBVIOUSLY? That frustrated me endlessly. When she was being chased and her car crashed and she paused for thought, I wanted to shriek at her, and then she looked over the side of the cliff and saw everyone coming for her and was like "oh, dear, I'm being pursued.' Then RUN! Oh, it drove me up the wall. So irritating. It was the whole "let's watch someone walk into a spooky house even though they know it's spooky." Like, obviously, RUN?

As well, on the tone of Flo, the random scene with the empty eggs was so weird. That's nothing against her, it just reminded me that it was another random subplot that never got explained. I understand it shouldn't be like This Has Happened. And Then This. I don't need to be walked through a film with my hand held, but I shouldn't walk out with the only memorable bit being a wasted roast dinner.

A re-imagined version of the roast that unfortunately was pushed to the floor :(

It may be obvious I have never written a review before, but this film was really not it for me. I am glad I gave myself the opportunity to develop my style and find a way to write that works for me, and it's cool it came at the expense of a really weird, bad, film.