Since I mind much about the mainstream market, the only things I heard after the release of Don’t Worry Darling were people complaining and making memes about how terrible Harry Styles was as an actor. Is he so bad that he obfuscated the movie? Or is the movie so unremarkable that this was the only thing to talk about? Let’s find out!
What’s up?! I’m Marlon and this is Of The Mice.
We’re reviewing a movie from every country that played the FIFA World Cup. Today, from the USA, Don’t Worry Darling directed by Olivia Wilde.
In a small isolated community, Alice (played by Florence Pugh) does unpaid domestic work while her husband Jack (played by Harry Styles) works in an ultra-secret facility in the desert. After an amazing start of a new life in what seems 50s utopia, Alice starts to feel and see things that will challenge her sense of reality.
Congratulations to Argentina! The World Cup is over, but this series of videos is not, because our goal here (no pun intended) is to talk about movies from many countries. The World Cup was only an artifice.
Now, let’s talk about Don’t Worry Darling.
It took me a long time to decide to watch it because figured the whole movie out after reading the synopsis and I’ve seen it before.
Since I watch a lot of random stuff, I don’t think the movie is very original. It’s very similar to Culture Shock, from the Into The Dark series. Maybe, if you haven’t watched Culture Shock, you’ll like it more and find it more surprising.
I don’t know if I used this example before (I probably did), but I loved Ari Aster’s Hereditary much more before watching Oz Perkins’ February or The Blackcoat’s Daughter, just because all the originality I assumed from Hereditary wasn’t all that original.
It doesn’t affect too much my opinion unless it’s a complete rip-off, and Don’t Worry Darling is not, but I think it’s worth mentioning.
I loved Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart, and I have a Shorts about this movie in the channel, but Don’t Worry Darling is a completely different genre, and it ended up not being as remarkable as Booksmart.
Don’t Worry Darling is very good at maintaining suspense and creating disturbing situations, with Margaret (played by KiKi Layne), then Alice, plus her growing tensions with Frank (played by Chris Pine), the mentor of this project.
Florence Pugh’s Alice carries most of the film, and when I “mean” most, I really mean it. Everything of relevance happens around her character and Florence Pugh’s acting is superb as always. She’s easily my favorite actress right now, elevating everything she’s in, even garbage like Malevolent and Marcella.
Chris Pine and his character Frank are the second force of the movie. He’s the antagonist, and he’s a good one. He’s charming, cunning, challenging, and has a grasp on everyone in his cult-like community. Chris Pine’s acting is top-notch as well.
So, we get to Harry Styles and he supposed bad acting. His on-screen participation is so irrelevant that I don’t think it worth so much criticism. In the first two acts, all he does is fuck and suck. And when I say “suck” I mean cunnilingus, not suck like he’s bad. Then, he has a little more to do in the last act, but then again, nothing atrocious.
To quote that awful caricature of the Comrade Aleksandr Akimov “not great, not terrible”.
I think most people only watch Hollywood movies, with great professional actors, so they see someone who’s not in “THAT” level and they think it’s bad, but I’ve stared at the bottom of the pit, I know what REALLY bad is, and Harry Styles is not there.
We don’t even need to go outside big American productions to see bad acting. I grew to like a lot Kristen Stewart as an actress, but her lifeless acting in Snow White and the Huntsman is awful. And the worst of all, Miles Heizer in 13 Reasons Why.
So, responding to the question of the intro. Is he so bad that he obfuscated the movie? Or is the movie so unremarkable that this was the only thing to talk about?
In my opinion, neither. Some people are just mean, and others just jump into the bandwagon. Or just my bubble was shitting on him. You can have a different opinion and even discuss it in the comment section. You’ll be welcome.
Moving on. The appearance of the movie is probably my second favorite thing, only behind Florence Pugh.
There’s an aesthetic consistency in the community that reinforces the uncanniness of the situation. The vivid colors and sunny environment give a sense of perfection that make sense within the plot.
I love the interior of their house, just because. Besides its good appearance, it looks comforting.
Another thing I liked was some psychedelic visual elements that fitted really well with the film. It gave somewhat of a charm and uniqueness to Don’t Worry Darling.
I was about to get into spoilers but the video would get too long, so I’ll leave the spoiler discussion for another day. If you reach this far in the video, consider subscribing so you’ll see it when it comes.
Don’t Worry Darling is better than I expected. It has its unique elements despite the too familiar plot, and it has Florence Pugh. Despite that, it’s slightly forgettable. I’ll give Don’t Worry Darling 3 out of 5.
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