Don’t Worry Darling (2022)
67%RT Audience Score: 75%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Despite an intriguing array of talent on either side of the camera, Don’t Worry Darling is a mostly muddled rehash of overly familiar themes.
The ending isn’t for everyone, but the cast — especially Florence Pugh — helps Don’t Worry Darling make the most of a story with fairly few surprises.
Production Company(ies)
New Line Cinema, Psychological, Vertigo Entertainment, Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Pictures
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Wide)
Filming Location(s)
Los Angeles, California, United States; Palm Springs, California, United States
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
2022
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos, Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:2h 3m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 23, 2022 Wide
Genre(s)
Mystery & thriller
Keyword(s)
starring Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Olivia Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Chris Pine, directed by Olivia Wilde, written by Katie Silberman, mystery, thriller, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Scott Tobias, Adam Kempenaar, Elamin Abdelmahmoud, Tim Grierson, tt stern-enzi, Ryan Gilbey, Alison Gillmor, Aisha Jordan, Beth Accomando, Katherine Singh, Edwin Arnaudin, produced by Olivia Wilde, Katie Silberman, Miri Yoon, Roy Lee, R rating, Victory Project, 1950s, corporate utopia, experimental town, Frank, Shelley, Alice, Jack, Margaret, Mary, Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos, Scope (2.35:1)
Worldwide gross: $87,409,403
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $86,709,403
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,077
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 9,455,769
US/Canada gross: $45,309,403
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $45,309,403
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,112
US/Canada opening weekend: $19,353,213
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $19,353,213
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 672
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $20,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $20,000,000
Production budget ranking: 1,327
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $10,770,000
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $55,939,403
ROI to date (est.): 182%
ROI ranking: 675
Harry Styles – Jack
Olivia Wilde – Mary
Gemma Chan – Shelley
KiKi Layne – Margaret
Chris Pine – Frank
Director(s)
Olivia Wilde
Writer(s)
Katie Silberman
Producer(s)
Olivia Wilde, Katie Silberman, Miri Yoon, Roy Lee
Film Festivals
Venice
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (289) | Top Critics (72) | Fresh (112) | Rotten (177)
It takes a while for Don’t Worry Darling to reveal itself as abysmal, because it spends such a grueling amount of time being merely pedestrian.
October 3, 2022 | Rating: 1.5/5
Scott Tobias
The Reveal
TOP CRITIC
…lingers far too long in the Victory Project. In an alternate reality, there’s a brilliant, 95-minute, reimagined, and restructured version of Don’t Worry Darling – one that leaves you with the right kind of questions.
September 30, 2022 | Rating: 1.5/5
Adam Kempenaar
Filmspotting
TOP CRITIC
An entertaining thriller replete with well-built tension, mostly elegant acting performances (except for Harry Styles’s), and a richly designed world.
September 30, 2022
Elamin Abdelmahmoud
BuzzFeed News
TOP CRITIC
Led by Florence Pugh’s redoubtable performance, this glossy thriller draws unfavorable comparisons to a whole swath of different bygone films, cribbing their unsettling undertones without adding much new to the mixture.
September 29, 2022
Tim Grierson
Screen International
TOP CRITIC
Starts really strong, really surreal… but it kind of peters out by the time you get to the end.
September 28, 2022 | Rating: C+
tt stern-enzi
WXIX-TV (Cincinnati, OH)
TOP CRITIC
It is just possible that there is a snappier, less derivative little thriller somewhere inside Wilde’s movie. Like the inhabitants of the Victory project, however, it is in dire need of liberation from its gilded, airless prison.
September 28, 2022
Ryan Gilbey
New Statesman
TOP CRITIC
As we plummet into the Big Reveal — Black Mirror fans might see it coming — things fall apart, logistically and conceptually, though in an undeniably spectacular way.
October 3, 2022 | Rating: 3/5
Alison Gillmor
Winnipeg Free Press
Once the truth is all revealed, it all feels very meh, and you find yourself saying ohh ok – that’s a decision. The editing confused the watcher at times…
October 3, 2022
Aisha Jordan
Black Nerd Problems
Don’t Worry Darling confirms Wilde’s talent as a director but perhaps she needs to be more discerning about the scripts she takes on. It also reconfirms Pugh as an acting powerhouse.
October 3, 2022
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
What was meant to be a triumph on screen has instead become a mere mention in the footnotes of all this drama, and leaves viewers with a story that’s as empty as the egg shells in Victory.
October 3, 2022
Katherine Singh
Refinery29
A tense, intelligent skewering of MAGA fantasies that nevertheless struggles with its big reveals.
October 2, 2022 | Rating: B
Edwin Arnaudin
Asheville Movies
“Don’t Worry Darling” is a well-made motion picture with outstanding production values and a spectacular lead performance by Florence Pugh at its core. It also proves that filmmaker Olivia Wilde can direct an action sequence with the best of them.
October 1, 2022
Michael Calleri
Niagara Gazette…
Plot
Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, the experimental company town housing the men who work for the top-secret Victory Project and their families. The 1950’s societal optimism espoused by their CEO, Frank, anchors every aspect of daily life in the tight-knit desert utopia. While the husbands spend every day inside the Victory Project Headquarters, their wives—including Frank’s partner, Shelley—get to spend their time enjoying the beauty, luxury and debauchery of their community. Life is perfect, with every resident’s needs met by the company. All they ask in return is discretion and unquestioning commitment to the Victory cause. But when cracks in their idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something much more sinister lurking beneath the attractive façade, Alice can’t help questioning exactly what they’re doing in Victory, and why.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
During the very first scene, at the party, Bunny brings a tray of martini glasses with two extra stacked on top. Alice grabs one of them, the camera angle changes, and suddenly, the other stacked glass is just gone.
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