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Every lamp and ladylike cocktail dress, every convertible and clink of a martini glass is a perfect reflection of retro chic in Olivia Wilde ’s “Don’t Worry Darling.”

Who wouldn’t want to live in the suburban Shangri-la of Victory, with its minimalist, mid-century modern homes and bawdy, booze-soaked dinner parties? Young, attractive families find their every want and need fulfilled under the idyllic shimmer of the Southern California sun.

But something’s not quite right here. That much is clear to us early on, and that nagging suspicion increasingly gnaws at Florence Pugh ’s perky party girl, Alice. Sure, shopping all afternoon with her fellow housewives is fun, as is having her handsome husband, Jack, come home from a long day at work and service her on the dining room table before he’s even taken a bite of the roast and mashed potatoes. (We’ll come back to Harry Styles , and his many talents and challenges, in a bit.)

The revelation of what that something is, though, results in such a shrug of annoyance and disappointment that it very nearly ruins the entire experience in retrospect. I may have groaned audibly, “Ugh, really? That’s it?” at a recent press screening. Discovering what’s actually going on raises more questions than it answers, and it shines a harsh light on the half-baked notions in the script from Katie Silberman . She also wrote Wilde’s directorial debut, the delightfully raunchy comedy “ Booksmart ,” which had a focus and an emotional authenticity that are lacking in this thriller.

“Don’t Worry Darling” aims to explore the tyranny of the patriarchy, disguised as domestic bliss. This is not a new idea, but then again, there aren’t many new ideas here. You can see the various pieces being pulled together from better source material—a bit of “The Stepford Wives,” a whole lot of “Mad Men,” and a bunch of movies that would serve as spoilers to list them. Watching Pugh once again function as the clear-eyed voice of reason—and watching her get gaslit when she tries to warn everyone about the sinister undercurrents within a joyful setting—also brings to mind her visceral work in “ Midsommar ,” one of the key performances that signaled to the world she’s one of the finest young actresses of her generation. When will people finally learn to listen to Florence Pugh???

She is indeed a powerhouse, which makes it that much more glaringly obvious that Styles was not yet ready for this assignment. As an actor, he’s a terrific pop star. Granted, his character is meant to be empty and pretty, and he definitely looks the part with his slim suits and sleek, angular features. The camera loves him. But when it comes time for him to summon the emotional depth he needs for his more intense scenes opposite Pugh, he’s distractingly outmatched. (Interestingly, Shia LaBeouf was first cast in the role, but it’s hard to imagine him here as the earnest, young company man on the rise. His presence is too forceful, too unsettling.)

Styles’ appeal at least fits the premise of “Don’t Worry Darling,” in which a select group of forward-thinking families has moved to a planned Palm Springs community to create their own society in the mid-1950s. “It’s a different way. A better way,” Gemma Chan ’s glamorous Shelley assures her guests at one of the movie’s many soirees. Her husband is the town’s founder, Frank, and he’s played with the devious purr of a self-satisfied cult leader by Chris Pine .

Every day is the same, and that’s meant to be the allure. The men leave for work in the morning, lunchboxes in hand, on the way to top-secret jobs at the Victory Project, which they can’t discuss with their wives. The wives, meanwhile, send them off with a kiss before embarking on a day of vacuuming and bathtub scrubbing, then perhaps a dance class, and definitely some day drinking. Wilde herself plays Alice’s next-door neighbor and best friend, Bunny, with cat-eye makeup and a conspiratorial grin. She brings some enjoyable swagger and humor to this increasingly creepy world.

But little by little, Alice begins to question her reality. Her anxiety evolves from jittery paranoia to legitimate terror the more she discovers about this place, and Pugh makes it all palpable. Images come to her in impressionistic wisps and nightmares that startle her awake in the dark. In time, Wilde relies too heavily on these visuals: black-and-white clips of Busby Berkeley-style dancers, or close-ups of eyeballs. They grow repetitive and wearying rather than disturbing. The heavy-handed score from John Powell becomes more insistent and plodding, telling us how to feel at every turn. Whatever you’re thinking might be at play here, it’s probably more imaginative than what it turns out to be.

Once Alice finds the courage to confront Frank about her suspicions, though, it results in the film’s most powerful scene. Pugh and Pine verbally circle and jab at each other. Their chemistry crackles. Each is the other’s equal in terms of precision and technique. Finally, there’s real tension. More of this, please.

What’s ironic is that Frank and Shelley’s mantra for their worshipful citizens is one of control: the importance of keeping chaos at bay, of maintaining symmetry and unity, of living and working as one. But as “Don’t Worry Darling” reaches its climactic and unintentionally hilarious conclusion, Wilde loses her grasp on the material. The pacing is a little erratic throughout, but she rushes to uncover the ultimate mystery with a massive exposition dump that’s both dizzying and perplexing.

The craft on display is impeccable, though, from the gleaming cinematography from Matthew Libatique ( Darren Aronofsky ’s usual collaborator) to the flawless production design from Katie Byron to the to-die-for costumes from Arianne Phillips . The excellent work of all those behind-the-scenes folks and others at least makes “Don’t Worry Darling” consistently watchable, all the way up to its non-ending of an ending. Let’s just say you’ll have questions afterward, and those post-movie conversations will probably be more thoughtful and stimulating than the movie itself. 

Now playing in theaters. 

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film Credits

Don't Worry Darling (2022)

Rated R for sexuality, violent content and language.

123 minutes

Florence Pugh as Alice Chambers

Harry Styles as Jack Chambers

Chris Pine as Frank

Olivia Wilde as Bunny

Gemma Chan as Shelley

KiKi Layne as Margaret

Nick Kroll as Dean

Kate Berlant as Peg

Douglas Smith as Bill

Asif Ali as Peter

• Olivia Wilde
• Katie Silberman
• Carey Van Dyke
• Shane Van Dyke

Cinematographer

• Matthew Libatique
• Affonso Gonçalves
• John Powell

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'Don't Worry Darling' review: At least Florence Pugh sparkles in buzzy-but-flat retro thriller

“Don’t Worry Darling” has certainly been central to a litany of drama before its release. Oral sex scenes in the movie trailer. The director getting hit with legal papers onstage at CinemaCon . Said director reportedly dating one of her stars  and maybe feuding with the other . A purportedly fired actor  hitting back at the filmmaker.

All that scandalous hubbub is more scintillating than what actually happens on screen in the twisty and visually striking but fairly flat psychological thriller.

Director Olivia Wilde pulled off a fantastic debut with the excellent coming-of-age film “Booksmart,” but "Don't Worry Darling," her second outing with writer Katie Silberman, doesn’t have the same spark. Starring Florence Pugh and pop star Harry Styles , Wilde's follow-up film (★★½ out of four; rated R; in theaters Friday)  imagines an idyllic (at least for the 1950s-loving crowd) community where there’s something sinister going on underneath the happy-shirt exterior. And while there’s a definite “The Stepford Wives” sort of vibe, the narrative themes (which do lean timely) lack subtlety and nuance.

'Really vicious': Olivia Wilde breaks silence on custody documents from Jason Sudeikis

Thankfully, Pugh keeps it watchable as a young married woman trying to keep her sanity amidst a ton of gaslighting and constant doo-wop songs.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Alice (Pugh) and Jack (pop star Harry Styles) live a regular, mostly vanilla life. Like all the other dudes in their cul-de-sac, Jack zooms off after morning breakfast to his secretive engineering job for the Victory Project – the mysterious company that’s given them a home in the desert filled with white picket fences and golden oldies. The housewives, including Alice’s next-door neighbor, Bunny (Wilde), gossip when the men leave, and Alice begins her usual day of cleaning the entire house, until Jack gets home and they’re all over each other.

But the overly attentive Alice begins to wonder whether the Victory existence is all it’s cracked up to be – and not just because she breaks eggs that weirdly have nothing inside them. She begins to have strange blackouts, nightmares and visions, like of showgirls doing a Bob Fosse routine from hell. In addition, her friend Margaret (KiKi Layne) has become persona non grata after venturing where she shouldn’t have gone and seeing something she shouldn’t have seen.

'Don't Worry Darling': Olivia Wilde says Harry Styles is 'a revelation' in sexy thriller

Jack tries to maintain the household status quo, especially when his beloved boss, Frank (Chris Pine in full-on suave mode), taps him for a new promotion. Alice keeps asking questions in a place that demands unwavering loyalty, though, which soon puts her under Frank’s watchful eye.

Wilde has meticulously crafted a retro landscape that’s both familiar and nostalgic, but also unnerving in its too-clean facade, while at the same time successfully creating an inner, “Get Out”-inspired horror show for Alice, where the walls quite literally close in on her. There’s also a great chase with vintage cars that lends a “Mad Max”-meets-“North by Northwest” flair to the mind-bending narrative. But those anticipating an erotic thriller need to temper sexpectations: There are only a couple of love scenes, and neither are what you would call torrid. (When Alice launches a roast off the dinner table for a little sh-boom sh-boom and some rama lama ding-dong with Jack, it leans more humorous than hot.)

Shia LaBeouf: Actor denies Olivia Wilde firing him from 'Don't Worry Darling' for 'combative' process

Pugh, like she’s done with “Black Widow,” “Midsommar” and others, continues to make everything she’s in better – and, boy howdy, it’s needed here as the plot grows more convoluted. She takes Alice from ever-doting to paranoid conspiracy theorist and back again, making both happiness and terror feel impressively authentic in a waxwork world.

Styles has already taken (warranted) grief for an accent that’s all over the place , and his Jack is also a bit of a nonfactor for much of the runtime, though he gets more to do after the Big Reveal. (If you're paying attention, it’s not that hard to figure out what exactly is happening.) The lack of chemistry between Pugh and Styles is another disconnect – her dynamic with Pine, albeit antagonistic, is far more effective and not explored nearly enough.

At a particularly tense dinner party, Frank belittles Alice by saying she’s the “challenge” he’s been looking for, but ultimately she’s disappointed him. Unfortunately, the same can be said of “Darling,” an ambitious meal with some key ingredients that just feels undercooked.

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Culture | Film

Don’t Worry Darling review: ignore the haters, this is one of the best films of the year

Hullaballoos are a law unto themselves. Once hyped as the hottest of tickets, Olivia Wilde ’s second feature is now routinely described as “cursed”. While the tabloids fixate on the timeline of the director’s relationship with leading man Harry Styles (as well as alleged acrimony between Wilde and lead actress, Florence Pugh ), critics have put the boot in. The consensus: the film lacks originality and Styles is miscast. Well, the backlash to the backlash starts here. Wilde goes where no one’s gone before and Styles’ cheekily self-aware turn is epic.

Warning: it’s only possible to appreciate the layers in the pop star’s performance once crucial facts come to light. On first viewing, Styles’ accent, and one or two of his character’s emotional outbursts, will make you cringe. Don’t worry. It’s all part of the plan.

Alice (Pugh) and Jack (Styles) live in the company town of Victory, a previously parched spot of California. All the women in this community are housewives. As for the men, they do mysterious work in the desert. Jolted by a series of ugly events - a suicide, along with blatant voyeurism by Jack’s radiantly sleazy boss, Frank (Chris Pine) - Alice begins to question her idyllic existence, not to mention her idyllic spouse.

The big twist is a doozy. Obviously, to go into details would spoil the surprise. Nor is it fair to make invidious comparisons between Don’t Worry Darling and The Stepford Wives/Get Out. In those paranoid sci-fi gems, the central villains are smug, spruce and entirely self-serving. The scenario, here, is so different.

Pugh dominates the proceedings, of course she does. As ferociously intense as she was in Lady Macbeth and Midsommar, she drips with real-girl sweat, even when looking spiffy (watching Pugh drive a vintage car, in a chase sequence, you can’t help but think what a great Bond she’d make).

But the movie as a whole works because Styles, at every stage of the game, is able to keep up. By taking the part of Jack, Styles is complicating his own dreamboat public image. Seriously, he’s deconstructing Harry.

Ignore the group think. Wilde (who dazzles in a supporting role) is a misunderstood genius and her sly erotic thriller is one of the best films of the year.

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Alice, Darling

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Rent Alice, Darling on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

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Flawed but quietly powerful, Alice, Darling offers a haunting look at how difficult it can be to leave an abusive relationship -- and the value of a solid support network.

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Anna Kendrick

Charlie Carrick

Wunmi Mosaku

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Alice, Darling

A young woman trapped in an abusive relationship becomes the unwitting participant in an intervention staged by her two closest friends. A young woman trapped in an abusive relationship becomes the unwitting participant in an intervention staged by her two closest friends. A young woman trapped in an abusive relationship becomes the unwitting participant in an intervention staged by her two closest friends.

• Alanna Francis
• Mark Van de Ven
• Anna Kendrick
• Kaniehtiio Horn
• Charlie Carrick
• 128 User reviews
• 241 Critic reviews
• 65 Metascore
• 1 win & 4 nominations

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• Trivia The book Alice finds and Tess reads to her by the bonfire is "Mrs. Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf.
• Goofs There's a sex scene towards the end of the movie between Anna Kendrick's character and her partner. When they're on the floor he clearly has bare legs. Next second right after he stands up he has black trousers on.

Alice : I know this sounds crazy, but sometimes it feels like he can read my mind and there's nowhere left that I can actually be alone.

• Connections Featured in On Cinema: Alice, Darling (2022)
• Soundtracks Klapp Klapp Artist: Hari Dafusia (as Dafusia) written by Periyagaram Sridhar Srihari Courtesy of Sorelle Sound Ltd.

User reviews 128

• edgarasstasaitis
• Feb 9, 2023
• How long is Alice, Darling? Powered by Alexa
• January 20, 2023 (United States)
• United Kingdom
• United States
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• Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Babe Nation Films
• Elevation Pictures
• Ontario Creates
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $4,000,000 (estimated)

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 29 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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‘Alice, Darling’: Anna Kendrick’s drama of a toxic relationship sticks with you

She gives a performance of integrity and authenticity as a woman leaning on friends to help her cut loose from her jerk of a partner..

Anna Kendrick plays the title character of “Alice, Darling,” who goes on a getaway with her best friends but doesn’t tell her controlling boyfriend.

The best thing that happens to Alice on a getaway week is when one of her closest friends takes her phone and keys so Alice can’t cut the trip short and go back to her boyfriend. It’s an intervention even though nobody is calling it that, and Alice needs that intervention because she is in a toxic relationship that is tearing her apart from the inside out — and it’s time for her to face that.

Anna Kendrick plays the title character in director Mary Nighy’s tightly constructed gut-punch of an emotional character study, and it is a performance of integrity and utter realness. With a dialogue-driven, authentic screenplay by Alanna Francis, an effectively poignant score by Owen Pallett and powerful work by Kendrick and Kaniehtiio Horn and Wunmi Mosaku as Alice’s best friends, this is the kind of intimate drama that sticks with you long after the viewing experience.

On the surface, Alice and her somewhat older boyfriend Simon (Charlie Carrick) seem to be in a loving, mutually supportive relationship — but there’s something insidious about the way Simon alternates gushing compliments with subtle and not-so-subtle digs at Alice, something alarming about the way Alice winds her hair around her fingers when she’s alone and seems borderline obsessed with calorie intake and body image.

One morning, when Simon goes into a coffee shop, Alice remains behind on the sidewalk, rehearsing the story she’s about to tell Simon: that she has to go away on a work trip, when in reality she’s going to a cabin in the country with her best friends Tess (Horn) and Sophie (Mosaku) to celebrate Tess’ 30th birthday. That Alice feels the need to lie about this trip speaks volumes about Simon’s control over her.

Despite the best efforts of Sophie and Tess, it’s nearly impossible for Alice to relax and enjoy the vacation. She becomes borderline obsessed with a local girl who has gone missing, spending an entire day joining the search party for someone she’s never met. When Alice loses an earring, she explodes in a fearful rage, because Simon gave her those earrings, and you don’t understand why this is such a big deal, nobody understands. Sophie and Tess try to get Alice to see she’s trapped in a horribly unhealthy relationship, but she keeps making excuses for Simon. He doesn’t hurt me , as in physical abuse, she tells them, as if that’s a ringing endorsement.

Director Nighy (daughter of actors Bill Nighy and Diana Quick) and editor Gareth C. Scales sprinkle in brief flashback scenes in which we see the poisonous emotional abuse Simon inflicts on Alice. (Carrick does fine work in an unforgiving role as a narcissistic man-child.) When Simon shows up unexpectedly at the cabin, all smiles and oily charm, “Alice, Darling” almost feels like a horror film — but Simon isn’t a killer, he’s an unrelenting jerk. We can only hope Alice, with the help of her two powerful, loyal, loving friends, can find the strength to send him packing.