Review: Cast Saves and Ruins ‘Don’t Worry Darling’
Much anticipation and hype surrounded Don’t Worry Darling’s September’s movie release, especially with Harry Styles and Florence Pugh in lead roles.
The film revolves around a fictional utopian community in the 1950s, as a family begins to suspect all is not what it seams.
Styles has been a beloved public figure since his days in the band, One Direction. In contrast, Pugh has only been in the spotlight for a few years, but within that time, she has quickly gained a large and loyal following.
With them starring in a movie, it’s not surprising that the media would be all over the film’s release.
Most of the criticism for Don’t Worry Darling came from fans, who expected Styles to be a talented actor, but fans were let down by his performance.
I am a fan of Styles’s music, but I was not expecting anything extraordinary from his acting. When I finally got to see Style’s robotic and unnatural performance, social media exploded with criticism about his work—and the movie in general.
While Styles’s performance wasn’t great, the movie does not deserve all of its negative reviews, coming from delusional fans who believe an excellent singer would automatically make for an excellent actor.
Other than the disappointment with Styles’s performance, Don’t Worry Darling was an excellent movie.
Pugh, who plays the protagonist, was excellent in her performance. In the movie, we follow the main character Alice Chambers, as she realizes her perfect life is full of lies. Pugh executed this perfectly. She put us in the shoes of someone who was devastated and betrayed in finding out the truth about the world she lives in.
With her performance, the audience was able to experience all of these conflicting emotions alongside the character. The slow unraveling of the deception helped show a realistic portrayal of someone going through what Alice did. Even in a very unrealistic setting like the one in the movie, the audience was able to relate and sympathize with the protagonist, all due to Florence Pugh’s excellent acting.
While Pugh’s performance was probably the best out of the whole cast, that’s not to say some of the other actors didn’t shine in their roles.
For example, Nick Kroll, who is best known for his Netflix show Big Mouth, also did an amazing job with his role. While Kroll is praised for his comedic acting, Don’t Worry Darling was his first big serious role. Many fans did not expect much from him, but I believe he totally knocked it out of the park.
Even though his character Dean didn’t get much screen time, from what we saw Kroll was able to show the subtle ruthlessness of cararter while being completely serious and harsh throughout the film.
Don’t Worry Darling‘s plot itself was well-written and well-executed. We are placed in a dream-like 1950s community where everything thing is perfect down to the last detail. Right off the bat, the organization of the community is a way for the audience to immediately suspect something is off.
Slowly the secrets of this town are revealed through the main character Alice, in a very disturbing yet brilliant way. The creepy parts of the movie are shown so that it will still leave you feeling shocked and uneasy, but not totally grossed out.
In addition, the film is more of a slow burn with reviling its secrets which was an excellent way to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
Even though a large amount of criticism for Don’t Worry Darling is understandable because of the tanking performance of Harry Styles, I do not believe that this movie should be knocked on as much as it is in the media. I find it ridiculous that just because Harry Style’s performance was mediocre, the other actors and the actual plot should have to pay the price.
It’s unfortunate that so many people go their hopes up about their favorite singer being in this film that they are unable to look at how the other actors performed and how well-written the plot is.
Celia has been attending Brimmer since her 9th-grade year in 2020. She enjoys reading, watching films, and listening to music when she is not doing schoolwork.