“Don’t Worry Darling,” released in theaters Sept. 23, and is a psychological thriller that has received lots of attention because of the alleged drama on the set and the lead actors; Harry Styles, Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, and Olivia Wilde. Though it gained lots of popularity before its release, the reviews are mixed after its premiere in theaters. 

The movie follows Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles) who live in an idyllic town called Victory. The men in the town work on a secret project while the women live in ignorance of the men’s work. The women enjoy providing for their husbands and living in their perfect town, but Alice begins to realize their town is far from perfect and is hiding dark secrets. She attempts to find out what the men in the town actually do and she questions why none of the women are allowed to leave Victory.

The movie has a strong start and pulls you in with the beautiful scenery and aesthetics of the town. The town appears to be set in the 50s and has a very classic feeling until cracks in the perfection appear to be prevalent. No one will answer Alice’s questions about Victory or where the men go to work every day and she begins to have very serious hallucinations.

As time goes on Alice becomes more unhinged and she is ready to make big sacrifices to find out what is really going on in Victory. They dive deeper into the story and the plot begins to unravel as we learn that Alice is in danger because of her curiosity and needs to figure out what is going on before time runs out.

The end of this movie is very unsatisfying and is lacking closure. The movie ends with lots of unanswered questions and left lots of viewers confused. 

According to Rodger Ebert (a film critic’s website), the movie was disappointing, and you can find more substance and discover more about the movie by reading about it online.

“Let’s just say you’ll have questions afterward,” Ebert said. “Those post-movie conversations will probably be more thoughtful and stimulating than the movie itself.” 

Though I enjoyed watching the movie for the style, the substance was lacking. I think there were too many holes in the plot. I think the plot twist was clever, but the plot of a woman in a perfect town with secrets was very basic and there was nothing special about the storyline. 

Even though it had its flaws, the movie had some great moments and Florence Pugh was a fantastic lead actor. I was on the edge of my seat for many parts of the movie and enjoyed the aesthetics, music, and scenery of their idyllic town.

The movie is only in theaters for now but is expected to be available for streaming on Nov. 8, 2022, on HBO Max.