Don't Worry Darling

A shallow, dumb and unspeakably boring variation on The Stepford Wives. The two-hour running time is truly mind-numbing given the emptiness of the whole story. It's also a tacky, fatuous and shallow film, just like the world it's trying to satirize. The high rating on this one is downright shocking to me. (2024-02-10)

As a mystery thriller one-shot from The Twilight Zone, totally fine. It's beautiful to look at, great craftsmanship, and I have a soft spot for Florence Pugh, she improves the rating of every film by at least one star. On the other hand, if their ambitions were higher, well we can’t speak of a success. The concept is fine and could have been the basis for a more substantial piece of filmmaking, but it would have needed from sharper edges and a more focused script (actually, it's a terribly perverse outcome, but Wilde and the writers failed to fully capitalize on its power). The handling of the reveal of the twist seems a bit shallow, and if you start digging into the individual scenes, you'll find that they may not even make much sense in the end – I really don’t understand what the plane wreck was doing there. 7/10 (2022-10-03)

An atmospheric relationship drama with interesting performances. Unfortunately, the script is as dodgy as the leading lady's memory. Spending an hour and a half portraying the world and having the interesting, supporting stuff taken away in a moment is the most frustrating part. The motifs of the relationship between men and women in contemporary society are stripped away, killed without proper context. The behaviour of some of the characters is downright baffling. Chris Pine and his departure was supposed to mean what? But Florence Pugh does a great job, and even the bumbling Harry Styles is a sight to behold. Olivia Wilde's brilliant direction saves much of the film, but the crumbling story at the ending trip her up. The visuals are great, though. A more assured script next time and it'll work out. John Powell's score is superb. (2024-01-18)

It was a mistake that I didn’t prepare myself in advance. I was expecting something like American Beauty’s emergency exit, and instead, I got Desperate Housewives living out an episode in the Twilight Zone better than life itself. The result is an opulent emptiness, into which Pine’s character pumps more vacuum with every monologue (I don’t care that it’s Jordan Peterson). I understand that it’s meant to reflect the emptiness of this world, but the message of feminism and female autonomy vs. incels, misogyny, and sexism didn’t need to drag on so aimlessly to a conclusion that resolves nothing. What keeps it afloat is Florence Pugh, who reminds me of a young Kate Winslet (at least something reminiscent of Mendes). As for Harry Styles, who looks slightly mongoloid, he didn’t deliver anything. Actually, to be fair, on the dining table, his one direction with his tongue sparked the fantasies of his eager fans. (2022-12-01)

Olivia Wilde has revealed an intriguing directorial talent with Don't Worry Darling. It's an original psychological thriller that keeps you guessing until the end, leaving you with a sense of revelation — or maybe not. That's up to you. Florence Pugh is fantastic once again, and Harry Styles proved he can act. Quite a few discoveries for just one film, if you ask me. (2022-11-20)