'Don’t Worry Darling' Early Movie Reviews are Mixed But All Praise Florence Pugh
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- Published: Tuesday, 06 September 2022 01:33
- Written by Lupe R Haas
The major entertaining publications find Wilde’s sophomore directorial effort full of issues by the third act. Tomris Laffly of the AV Club praised the film for its aesthetic and visual style but called DON'T WORRY DARLING predictable and unoriginal.
"Perhaps the chief deficit of Don’t Worry Darling isn’t even predictability, but a discernible lack of new ideas of its own. Patriarchy is bad and womanly autonomy is good?"
Kate Erbland of IndieWire shares a similar sentiment and agrees the twist is not surprising at all. "
It’s disingenuous, easy, cheeky — much like the film itself, which starts off strong before crumbling into baffling storytelling choices made worse by the revolting intentions behind them. More frustrating is that the film also offers stunning craft work, a wonderfully immersive quality, and one of star Florence Pugh’s best performances yet."
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter refers to the movie as "a high-concept, low-satisfaction psychological thriller," and likened it to a Black Mirror episode. Other critics have also made the same comparison.
Award Watch's Roberto Ruggio gives more details about the disconnect.
"It is confusing: the tonal shifts in the film are jarring, going from character study to sci-fi drama to action movies doesn’t help if there is not a cohesive idea behind the project. It is poorly written: while some of its ideas are interesting, the script feels very thin, with underwritten characters and plot holes."
Everyone can agree Florence Pugh saves DON'T WORRY DARLING along with Chris Pine who most critics agree is another highlight from the film as the villain. Unfortunately for Harry Styles, most point out the musician's lack of range for such a complicated character. Stephanie Zacharek of Time.com says "Style is cute, but a dud."
On Twitter, individuals who watched the Venice Film Festival premiere were a lot more generous to Harry Styles and the story.
I really liked ‘Don’t Worry Darling.’
— ahmad (@thisisnotahmad) September 5, 2022
An entertaining psychological thriller with an incredibly powerful performance from Florence Pugh.
Olivia Wilde, Kiki Layne and Chris Pine are great, and I thought Harry Styles’ performance was haunting and intense.
Full review tomorrow.
Olivia Wilde’s #DontWorryDarling features a fantastically frenzied performance from Florence Pugh as a woman slowly losing control of her reality. Pugh is TERRIFIC in the seductive psychological thriller that will keep you guessing throughout. Loved the cinematography, too! pic.twitter.com/y55Jk9W8Ec
— Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) September 5, 2022
I thought #DontWorryDarling was thrilling. It’s too bad there’s so much baggage weighing it down because it’s a really good movie. Florence Pugh is something fierce, Harry Styles is very impressive, and best of all it sticks the landing, and has stuck with me. Olivia Wilde is 2/2
— Kevin Polowy (@djkevlar) September 5, 2022
#DontWorryDarling is a ton of fucking fun, i’ll die on that hill. pugh is the obvious standout, but styles compliments her well with their palpable chemistry. it’s a little understuffed and could benefit from a tighter script but it’s definitely a delight for the eyes #Venezia79
— lex briscuso (▰˘◡˘▰) @ venezia 79!! (@nikonamerica) September 5, 2022