Don’t worry darling by Olivia Wilde: review | CineChronicle

Synopsis: The chronicle of an isolated community in the Californian desert in the heart of the 1950s, in which a housewife finds her life turned upside down.

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After the small success of Booksmart, released on Netflix in May 2019, Olivia Wilde returns with her second feature film. Gone is the teenage comedy and make way for a thriller as colorful as it is asphyxiating. In the words of its director, don’t worry darling is his “declaration of love for films that push the boundaries of our imagination”. So it looks like deja vu. The small town of Victory presents itself as the archetype of the bourgeois suburb, mixing the pastel symmetry ofEdward Scissorhands to the disturbing perfection of the beginning of blue-velvet. Exhibited for all to see, the model of Victory designates it from the outset as a simulacrum of a city, cut off from the world by an almost impassable desert. If the husbands cross it daily to reach the secret place where they work for Franck, founder of the city, the women are forbidden to venture there. The dynamics of a The Truman Show feminist where the wives repeat the same precise routine over and over again. Olivia Wilde skilfully plays with representation. From its introduction, don’t worry darling poses as a veritable exhibition of everything that cinema could fantasize about in the 1950s: a gallery of flowery dresses, suspender pants, bulging cars, the crackling of vinyl records on the record player. Victory is literally the victory of appearances and spectacle over reality. The social evenings are populated by showgirls straight out of Busby Berkeley films.

Don’t Worry Darling by Olivia Wilde

The cult of order also passes through the choreography: the bodies of women controlled during classical dance lessons, those of men who have become Franck’s puppets during a tap dance number. However, it is the appearances themselves that arouse the doubts of Alice (Florence Pugh), perfect wife of Jack (Harry Styles). Little by little, the latter sees her ideal daily life dynamited by events as disturbing as the brutal cuts that connect certain shots. Among these anomalies, the many mirrors distort Alice’s reality and reveal frightening doubles. Outside world or madness of the character? The film judiciously maintains the uncertainty. The result is anguish, supported by the panting songs and the heady buzzing which gradually take precedence over the soundtrack.

Don’t Worry Darling by Olivia Wilde

Spotted by the director for her role in Midsommar, Florence Pugh reconnects here with a kind of camera in the open air, in a micro-society that pushes the ideal woman to reassess her role. If Jack claims to work only for Alice’s happiness, he above all imposes his own vision of happiness on her. He pays no heed to his wife’s advice or consent. Unfortunately, the questions put forward and powerfully carried by the staging drown at the end of the race in a hasty resolution. Worse, key elements of the script are left out without any explanation and give the film a frustrating taste of unfinished business. Still, the neat aesthetics, recurring patterns, and performance of the actress are enough to make don’t worry darling an object of fascination. As for its gray areas (omissions or bias?), they will undoubtedly fuel the craziest theories.

Aesane Geeraert

• DON’T WORRY DARLING
• Theatrical release: September 21, 2022
• Directed by: Olivia Wilde
• With: Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, KiKi Layne, Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll, Sydney Chandler, Kate Berlant, Timothy Simons…
• Screenplay: Carey Van Dyke, Katie Silberman, Shane Van Dyke
• Production : Phillipe Bober, Eruk Hemmendorff
• Photography : Matthew Libatique
• Assembly : Affonso Goncalves
• Decorations: Rachael Ferrara
• Costumes: Arianne Phillips
• Music: John Powell
• Distribution: Warner Bros.
• Duration: 2 h 03
• Official movie website