Don’t Worry Darling: Yay or Nay?

By Sloane Walsh ’25 and Mairin Hoffman ’25

Don’t Worry Darling, one of the most talked about movies of 2022,  has many mixed reviews. Some of the biggest stars in Hollywood are in this movie, such as Midsommar’s Florence Pugh, director and actress Olivia Wilde, known for Booksmart, Big Mouth’s creator Nick Kroll, Chris Pine, and new to acting, the boyband and pop-rock god Harry Styles. The plot of Don’t Worry Darling follows Florence Pugh’s character, Alice, and her husband, Jack, played by Mr. Styles, and their life in a town called Victory. Victory is a picture-perfect town, but Alice feels that something is off. Strange behavior begins all over town, but everyone else shrugs off the things Alice notices. 

This movie starts in a seemingly perfect world: Palm Springs, perfect houses, the men go to work, while the women stay home all day where they are ‘safe.’ In the beginning, everything seemed perfectly normal, almost a little too perfect. Alice begins to notice strange things in this ideal world. For example, a plane crashes, and no one seems to acknowledge it. She is baffled and tries to find the crashed plane, but then suddenly blacks out and wakes up at home in her bed. This is just one of many things she begins to notice. Alice observes little glitches. For example, she is making breakfast one morning, and the eggs do not crack as they usually do. There are consistent earthquakes every day, and one of the wives in the neighborhood, Margaret, begins to go ‘crazy.’ Alice begins to suspect what Jack, Harry Styles, is doing at work daily, as the women typically don’t know what their husbands are doing. The story continues, and a variety of suspicious events unfold…

Opinions:

Sloane: Many people didn’t like this film, but, overall, I thought it was fascinating and kept my attention. I thought that Florence Pugh did a great job portraying Alice, but it was hard to take Harry Styles seriously since I’ve known him as the heartthrob from One Direction. However, Olivia Wilde received a lot of criticism for her relationships on set. I loved the way she chose to direct the movie; all the scenes were eye-catching, and the suspense and tension had me on the edge of my seat. I enjoyed seeing performances from Nick Kroll and Chris Pine. Chris Pine carried much of this movie; it was clear that he is highly experienced, especially in comparison to some of the film’s other actors. Some plot holes in this movie confused me, and some of the logic did not make sense. Overall, I enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone who appreciates psychological thrillers. Florence Pugh was incredible, and Olivia Wilde did a fantastic job with her directing. If you see this movie and enjoy Olivia Wilde’s performance, I recommend watching her movie Booksmart with Beanie Feldstein. 

Mairin: Although there were plenty of plot holes and unanswered questions, I enjoyed this film overall. The perplexing plot twist caught me off guard and made the film more engaging. I was blown away by Florence Pugh, as usual, and I am a huge Harry fan, and I believe he did all he needed to. There wasn’t much he could have done with his role, so I thought he played his character just fine. The reviews for this film confuse me, as people focus on the drama around this movie rather than the movie itself. This movie was a fascinating idea, and I feel like if the drama didn’t occur, this movie would have been rated differently by critics and people everywhere. I agree with what Harry Styles said: “It feels like a movie.” I enjoyed Olivia Wilde’s performance; I believe she contributed significantly to the plot and was a powerful character. Chris Pine did a great job, as usual, and every actor, I think, contributed a lot to the movie and made the movie spectacular. I was particularly impressed by Florence Pugh, as I adore her as an actress, and she has never left me disappointed. If you haven’t seen any of her work, including Midsommar and Little Women, you must check her out!

Although the reviews for this film seem all over the place with a 38% Tomatometer score and a 75% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, we both enjoyed it and recommend it to psychological thriller fans. This movie sparked a lot of drama because of the on-set relationship between Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde, which gave critics something to criticize about this film, which they love. However, Harry Styles fans everywhere revived the hype around this film and helped it become mainstream, even after all the disagreements between critics and viewers. Even if you aren’t a Harry Styles fan, this movie still has lots to offer, as it isn’t about him, it’s about Florence Pugh, and she shines through in this film.