Fortunately, Florence Pugh saves the day in Don’t Worry Darling. Don’t Worry Darling may feel thematically rich but ultimately unsatisfyingly hollow by the time of its finale. With so many cinematic and stylish references to fashions and attitudes occupied historically, it is difficult to know where Don’t Worry Darling intended to position itself whilst embracing thriller and horror tropes. It will be difficult not to be transfixed by Don’t Worry Darling’s intoxicating aura. This is juxtaposed by Wilde’s bold directional choices displaying stylish flourishes with split edits and fragmentation of dances and costumes from a bygone era. Editing decisions to use mirrors, which are a reflection of our persona and soul, embrace a sinister notion. Wilde’s direction conveys a degree of unease and with synchronised dance routines resembling Suspiria there is that underlying pervading sense that Alice’s world may be crumbling inwards.ĭon’t Worry Darling’s editing assists in amplifying the tension that Alice experiences although there are pacing issues. Florence Pugh confidently delivers her character within such setting to make audiences simultaneously envy, sympathise and then pity her. The glitz and the glamour of the film may equally serve as distractions in parallels to the real life drama surrounding the film’s publicity tour. ![]() Don’t Worry Darling film posterĭespite its cohesive flaws and a less than strong performance from Harry Styles, who is easily eclipsed by Florence Pugh, Don’t Worry Darling pits the desires of women against those of their partners and the status quo. The original story may have been written by two brothers but the screenplay is written by a woman and therefore a feminine voice may be more omnipresent than initially perceived. ![]() However, this is where director Olivia Wilde has perhaps performed the best type of sleight of hand. Similarly surprising is this notion of the male fantasy narrative essentially being construed through a female lens structure depicting a world where the patriarchy reigns supreme. In Don’t Worry Darling, the women’s conversations would possibly fall foul of the Bechtel test on that basis, which is an interesting development given that there is a woman director at the helm, or perhaps that is the point as an inverse critique. It would therefore be a far from ideal world for most of the women, through a modern day lens. The women assume the ladies that lunch lifestyle, they service their husbands, live vicariously through them and have no agency. Therein lies the problem as such simpler times are also devoid of the equal treatment rights available to women nowadays. ![]() It is an enviable lifestyle depicting a seemingly simpler world without all of the technological intrusions within people’s personal lives. The men leave for work, the wives creepily synchronise their goodbyes and the husbands drive across the desert to work, in a drag car race style drawing parallels to a James Dean film. The world inhabited by Jack, played by Harry Styles, and Alice played by an impressively captivating Florence Pugh evokes the memory of old school Hollywood glamour. Unfortunately, despite several promising themes unveiled, an aesthetically pleasing cinematography and that stylish editing, the film comes unstuck in attempting to reach a satisfying conclusion connecting its thread of revelations. Thankfully, Don’t Worry Darling penetrates the polished surface to present the underbelly including gaslighting to which its title alludes. There is that unease emanating which was equally present in Pleasantville, The Truman Show, the Stepford Wives and also episodes of the Twilight Zone by this depiction of a perfect veneer, with white picket fences as the norm. Don’t Worry Darling provides a mesmerising immersion in to this idyllic, affluent landscape presenting that Belle Époque where cocktails, patient wives and seductive jazz bars are de rigueur. It is a dazzling world depicting a golden age of sunny skies, perfectly manicured wives and their celebrity looking husbands which all seems too good to be true and very old fashioned. ![]() With a title resembling a patronising comment made by a certain senior British politician to one of his female staff members, Don’t Worry Darling sets the stage for an intriguing dynamic between the genders.
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