Don't Worry Darling (2022)

I ignored for a while "Don't Worry Darling", simply for the reason it was bashed by critics + neither the scores on IMDb, RT, etc. didn't help it. I was wrong. Not that I wouldn't know that lately it's better to be skeptical about the aforementioned ratings.

The movie is set sometime close to the '50s, taking place in an isolated community - "Project Victory", somewhere in an oasis at the edge of the desert, where the life seems stuck to the typical American stereotype of the period = each couple has a home with a backyard and each housewife tends to the house chores for the entire day waiting for the beloved husband to return from work. The "work" seems to be a top secret engineering project coordinated by Frank, the community leader, which is developed at a couple miles away from the settlement, in a place more restricted than Area 51. The plot is centered on a couple formed by Alice and Jack, their idilic life starting to shake after she begins observing that some things are not as fine and well as they seemed to be. Beginning with another wife who miraculously survives an inexplicable suicide attempt to a plane dissapeared without a trace after an apparent crash that passes by ignored by everybody. The mystery advances with the rhythm of a psychological thriller, in which Alice slowly becomes the pariah of the community due to the unnecessary tension she creates around. Somewhere at around three quarters of the movie we get our answer for the whole thing. What I can say without spoiling anything is that I didn't expect "the twist" I got this time. My mind went more towards something like military experiments at the beginning of the Cold War. It's not that. Still, unfortunately, the answer the movie offers come either too early or too late - therefore, probably some reason for the harsh reviews it got.

Even if there are some parts that might disappoint a bit, these definitely aren't on the technical side where the movie is top notch - from camera work and production design that provide an excellent support for atmosphere of the middle 20th century to the soundtrack that mixed together with the rest gets you the vibe of an erie episode from "The Outer Limits". The actors are a bit overshadowed by Florence Pugh's performance in the title role, but still, you could say her role is already enough for what the movie needs. The ending is indeed unpolished. However, concerning the criticism on having nothing new in the main twist, I'd be curious to see which movie that turns towards SciFi really brings something new, especially counting probably less than 5 I've seen released for the big screen this year within the genre. And actually, I could say there is some originality even just for the psychedelic contrast placed on top of the retro look. To conclude, I don't know what did or who upset Olivia Wilde, also directing this besides having a side role, to get such an avalanche of bad reviews. For what I can say the movie's not a masterpiece, but definitely above average.

With that I'm also closing more-or-less metaphorically the year of 2022 in a note of "don't worry" :) = I can hope for a more "retro" careless time with a density of entries more close to the blog's origins. Obviously, I'm delusional.. Anyway, Happy Holidays! ;)

Rating: 4 out of 5