DON'T WORRY DARLING

US, 2022, 123 minutes, Colour.

Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, KiKi Lane, Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll, Sydney Chandler, Kate Berlant, Asif Ali, Douglas Smith, Timothy Simons.

Directed by Olivia Wilde.

For the first 20 minutes and more, audiences might be mistaken into thinking that they were watching a variation on a Desperate Housewives show, set somewhere or other, out in the desert beyond Palm Springs. Or, perhaps, there were memories of The Stepford Wives. We see the pampered husbands, suits and ties, getting into their cars, all in unison as they drive off in procession, the faithful housewives waving them goodbye before returning into their loving performance of household chores.

Where can this be going?

Quite a number of commentators have likened Don’t Worry Darling to The Truman Show. Actually, this did not occur to this reviewer all during the film but, in retrospect, it is probably a helpful point of reference. We know that this glamorous lifestyle, hedonistic, male-dominated, cannot be a real world.

And our point of reference is a devoted wife, Alice, played by the versatile Florence Pugh, slightly unsettling because she looks far too intelligent to be this kind of subservient bath-cleaner and cook. Her husband, Jack, is singer Harry Styles, looked like something out of a magazine. They seem to have the perfect life. And they are very libidinously active, but not wanting any children to spoil the pampered lifestyle, the luxury home, the swimming pool, the parties.

And the veneration for the founder of the community, Frank, played by an ultra-suave Chris Pine, giving earnest speeches in the style of an ambitious CEO and a cult leader. He pampers the egos of the community. But, we wonder what his enterprise is in this town of Victory which he has created.

Alice and Jack get on well with their neighbours, especially Bunny and Dean (Olivia Wilde who directs this film and Nick Kroll). They have two perfect children. So, the men off to work each day on the special project, the wives lounging around the pools while not doing the housework, and excitement when they are invited to a function where Frank and his wife are present or, even, visit their home.

While we’re waiting for something more desperate to happen, Alice is in a transit bus and sees a plane, which then crashes, and she ventures out into the desert to try to find it. The beginning of the end for her!

The drama becomes more tense, Alice’s suspicions heightened, clashes with Jack, confrontations with Frank, advice from Bunny who wants to help, and red overalled guards ready to grab hold of Alice and remove her. Fortunately, for some comprehension, there are some flashbacks to her real past, career and life with Jack, while Alice is subjected to all kinds of medical/physical procedures. And the point will be, will Alice be “cured” and become, once more, a Stepford wife, or will there be some disasters – and can she possibly escape?

So, contrary to the title, there is quite a lot to worry about!

1. The title, the tone, relationships? Ironies?
2. The atmosphere of Desperate Housewives, Real Housewives…? Stepford Wives? Luxury resort? Lifestyle? Yet the revelation of the science-fiction, science fantasy background?
3. Victory, the town, luxury, the homes, interiors, appointments, swimming pools? Husbands and wives? Children? The husbands, in suits, the cars, the symphony of them moving out to work, the long line? And the return home? And the revelation as to what their work really was? Engineering and importance? The wives at home, their clothes, the joy in doing the housework, cooking? The libidinous husbands, wives, sexual encounters?
4. The focus on Alice and Jack, no background, the relationship, his being the typical husband, going to work? Her staying at home, cleaning the bath, friendship with Bunny and the other women, that the pool? Jack returning, sexual encounters, the meals? Alice accepting this?
5. The other couples, the man and the parties, drinking, fellowship? Personalities? The other women? Bunny and Dean, her children response? The pregnant wife? But Margaret taken from her husband, kept in confinement, mental health, his being demoted?
6. Alice, in the trolley, seeing the plane, its crash, the driver refusing to go, her venturing out, against the rules, the desert, the installation of the top of the mountain, its effect on her, the return? Keeping his secret? Yet her suspicions?
7. Frank, the mixture of cult leader, CEO and guru? His speeches, the founding of Victory, the work project, the hold on the husbands, promotions, highlighting Jack, the dancing performance, the jacket, his new status? Frank and the intensity, the interactions with Alice? Frank and his wife, her strong personality, always present? At the socials, the speeches, the dancing? And the possibility of Frank visiting a house, coming to visit Alice and Jack?
8. Alice, her reaction, critique, the tension at the dinner table, the visitors, Frank and his wife? Alice and the challenge, Frank, the accusations, Jack and his bewilderment?
9. Alice, the guards taking her away, the treatment, the flashbacks and her role as a doctor, relationship with Jack, the transformation to living in Victory? Electric shock and treatment?
10. Her return, Bunny and her warnings and knowing the truth? The other women? Margaret, on the top of the building, her fall, then taken away, the lies that she survived, her treatment?
11. Alice and Jack, the confrontation with Jack, his death?
12. Frank, the stances of his wife, her killing Frank and taking over?
13. Alice, the car, the pursuit, the mountain, the guards, her climbing, going to the facility, against the wall, the portal, her escape, the final breath?
14. The combination of wealthy lifestyle with male patriarchy, science-fiction?