Don’t Worry Darling
Starring: Florence Pugh and Harry Styles
My Rating: ★★
To be honest, this movie was pretty bad. I had seen many negative reviews beforehand that lead me to expect the worst, but after I finished it, I was more confused than anything.
The film is set during the 1950s in an experimental utopian community, Victory. Harry Styles, who plays Jack, goes to work on a top-secret project along with all the other men in the community, leaving the women to enjoy the luxury of their “perfect” paradise. While Jack is away at work, his wife, Alice, played by Florence Pugh, experiences flashes of convoluted memories that threaten to expose their community.
One day, Alice witnesses a plane smoking and falling from the sky while taking a community bus. She ventures through the Californian mountains to find it but comes across a strange structure that she is barred from entering, which turns out to be Victory headquarters. When she returns to the community, flashes of incoherent memories start appearing, which causes Alice to intensely question the Victory Project. Alice eventually pieces together the puzzle that the Victory Project is a simulation. Her husband, Jack, essentially kidnapped her and trapped them both inside the utopian simulation so they could live happily together. Jack and the other men inside the simulation are revealed to be conscious of its parameters; However, the women are not. Once she realizes this, Alice races to Victory headquarters and when she touches the glass boundary is presumably transported to the real world.
Don’t Worry Darling is highly disappointing from my perspective. The premise initially sounded so interesting and there was so much potential for the plot twist. However, none of the characters were developed enough. I had no emotional ties to any character except Alice, barely. I do not think the plot was developed enough either. It felt as if bits and pieces were haphazardly thrown in, which left it more nonsensical.