DON’T WORRY DARLING… HAS A LOT TO WORRY ABOUT

One of this year’s most talked about films is Don’t Worry Darling (2022), a psychological thriller that follows a 1950s housewife who begins to question the utopian community she lives in with her husband, as well as his seemingly glamorous company. 

The main reason Don’t Worry Darling was the talk of summer was not for the actual film or the story it tells but mainly due to the drama surrounding its stars and its production. Disregarding the content of the gossip talks, the movie makes us understand why it was ever there, for hype and curiosity were the only things that could’ve gotten people to go to the cinemas to check out this otherwise forgetful film that would’ve and should’ve slipped under our radar.

Early descriptions and reviews of Don’t Worry Darling stating that it comes off as a bad episode of Black Mirror would be entirely correct. The genius psychological thriller anthology series on Netflix tackles heavy-hitting and important themes and stories - everything from politics and social norms to the impact of social media and AI and its intersection with human nature. 

And Don’t Worry Darling….. kind of tries to do the same. I say “kind of” since it obviously and desperately attempts to be a psychological thriller that has something to say, but it’s almost as though it’s trying to do so without any real effort, hoping something sticks without doing anything to ensure it does. Random (albeit pretty) imagery seemingly just included for the sake of fitting into genre boxes, with symbolism that goes nowhere at all and writing and commentary that’s either too vague or too on the nose to actually hold substance are desperate attempts at elevating the incredibly shallow film…. but they’re too meaningless to do so. In the end, it comes off as a film that doesn’t really understand what it’s trying to say, and taking into account quotes from the director, it seems like neither does she. 

It’s a film that tries to comment on the impact of technology, internalized misogyny, and men’s craving for the reinstatement of exemplary patriarchal structures and power….  while also claiming to be a film about “female pleasure” and an example of “the female gaze.” With care, all of those vital components could have worked together in harmony…. But instead, the film’s desperate attempts to tick all of those boxes leaves them with contradictory and muddled commentary on nothing at all.

For how can the director claim the film to be a study on “female pleasure” when, seemingly, the whole point of the film is to dissect toxic male fantasies instead with practically nothing that taps into the women’s point of view, wants, pleasures, and desires? The two are not the same. (There is one exception I might be able to give them a pass for, but diving into it would be to give away huge spoilers, so all I’ll say is it’s one tired, tiny exception, yet it isn’t even scratching the surface when it comes to all the possibilities and routes this film could have taken when it comes to exploring “female desires and pleasures” or, just, story-wise.)

A little over an hour into the film and you know pretty much exactly as much as you did from watching the trailer, let alone the first 20 minutes. The slow build-up isn’t just that, it’s filler and a whole lot of nothing, which is sadly also an indication of what to expect from the rest of the film as the climax it’s sheepishly bubbling up to is the farthest thing from explosive, satisfying, subversive, or intelligent… It’s just plain boring, and the safest route one could’ve possibly taken all while being riddled with plot holes.  The stakes are low, the characters are poorly written and barely characters, and the film’s only saviors that would take it from being horrible to watchable, are Florence Pugh and its pretty visuals and production design. 

It’s a shame the movie is as bad as it is because the overall concept, themes, and message should be discussed and dissected today and would most effectively be conveyed through the lens and the pen of a female filmmaker and writer… 

Sorry, Harry Styles, but this movie doesn’t “feel like a movie.” It feels like a shallow mess wrapped up in a publicity stunt.