Olivia Wilde, the filmmaker, hints at something early on in the candy-colored feminist gothic “Don’t Worry Darling.”
The setting of the film is ‘Victory,’ a town in the desert where everything is lovely and attractive, especially the midcentury homes at the end of a cul-de-sac.
Given that the plot is set in the 1950s, the neighborhood is welcoming and more diverse than you might anticipate. Wilde, however, immediately alerts you to the fact that something is amiss: “Everything is too tidy, too uniform, and too, too flawless, even the smiles of the women.”
Soon after the movie begins the main character, Alice (Florence Pugh) begins to experience some sort of problem.
She lives in the cul-de-sac and bids her husband Jack (Harry Styles). Every morning she bids him farewell in uniform with the other wives. She stays home, cleans the house, and prepares dinner for when he returns. All the husbands of the neighborhood work at the same place and the wives are unaware of what exactly they do after their morning farewell.
The cinematography of this film is adequately bright and clear. The subliminal clues alluding to the twisted reality are exciting and thrilling. There is a sense of eeriness from the fact there is a common unknowingness within the community.
It’s a strong, captivating setup. But you rapidly become aware of the absence of disorder, particularly the relative absence of those trouble-causing agents known as kids. This bright, gleaming city has a hint of Stepford about it, and some of its excesses are comedic. But it’s blatant and obvious, and early on when the wives wave bye, all performing a similar choreography as if they are simulations of an alternate universe… I will stop there.
