Story by Carey Van Dyke & Shane Van Dyke and Katie Silberman
Screenplay Written by Katie Silberman
Directed by Olivia Wilde
***1/2 (three and a half stars)
RATED R
Friday, June 24, 2022...
That date will forever be seared into my mind as it was on that very morning that the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, therefore undoing what had been the law of the land for nearly 50 years. It was the proverbial line in the sand, that invisible barrier marked with "BEFORE" and "AFTER." The date where access to an abortion instantly became perilous for those who choose to seek or need one. Furthermore, and regardless of whatever one's view on abortion happen to be, the action on this date effectively announced that women in totality were not human beings deserving of the right to have autonomy over their own bodies. Decisions would have to be made for them by the men in power.
On that very morning when the news was announced, I was taking my charges in the school aged Summer Camp for our adventure of the day, part of which was spent racing around the lawn of our State Capitol building here in Madison, WI, a location we essentially pass every single day. As the children played, I found myself pausing to regard all of the girls in my class, ranging in ages from 5-9, and all of whom are vibrant, eccentric, challenging, ingratiating, exuberant, gloriously zany and endlessly inventive human begins. I could not help to look at them and suddenly feel a tremendous amount of fear of the world they would potentially grow up into, their natural and completely individualist lights forcibly snuffed out by a world now armed against them for no other reason than their gender.
For all of the talk about personal rights and freedom, especially during this time of Covid-19 and just the act of wearing a piece of cloth over one's mouth and nose caused conniptions by detractors, what does it mean when one does not possess the autonomy of the bodies in which they were born? If you don't own yourself, freedom is non-existent.
Watching Director Olivia Wilde's second film "Don't Worry Darling," an abrupt stylistic shift from the verbose teen comedy of her debut directorial feature "Booksmart" (2019) to this psychological thriller, I found myself undergoing the same feelings of dread and doom as I felt on that day in June. In many ways, much of what is presented within the film is familiar. Yet, for me, I do not mention this as a criticism for I think what Wilde has achieved is a unnerving fever dream of an experience that meets the moment of the precarious space where women stand within this country when held at the mercy of overly confident men who make the laws certainly, and wish to retain absolute power undeniably.
I have now seen this film twice and still, I am honestly surprised at the vitriolic tenor of the largely negative reviews the film has received. Yes, we can debate about its sense of originality or lack thereof (which feels to be a moot point in this age of unending sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots, and re-imaginings) but for me, Wilde's film was less about being necessarily original but taking notes from the past to make a statement about the present.
Set sometime in the 1950's, Olivia Wilde's "Don't Worry Darling" stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles as young, married couple Alice and Jack Chambers, residents of the idyllic and experimental company town of Victory, California, where the sun always shines, everyone is a snappy dresser, the men work each day while the women tend to their homes and each night is filled with splendid home cooked meals, ever flowing drinks, and wall to wall music and merriment.
Each day, the men venture to work on the top secret "development of progressive materials" in the outlying desert location of Victory Headquarters, for the mysterious Victory Project, as overseen by Frank (Chris Pine), its enigmatic founder, while the women are instructed to never ask questions and just enjoy and relax into their existence as homemakers in their elegant lifestyles.
But, of course, all is not as it seems...not by a long shot.
After experiencing the odd behaviors of one of her neighbors, which are soon followed by increasing hallucinations and nightmares, Alice suspects a sinister secret is being kept from the residents of Victory by its founder thus rendering this supposed utopia as a certain kind of Hell.
Now, dear readers, if one were to automatically think of Director Bryan Forbes' "The Stepford Wives" (1975)--or Director Frank Oz's 2004 remake--while even regarding the trailers for Olivia Wilde's "Don't Worry Darling," you would not be mistaken or criticized for making the comparison. In fact, for all of the criticism launched against Wilde's film for its lack of originality, I actually counter that perception because I feel that she not only is more than aware of the clear comparisons between the two films, she has in effect leaned into these comparisons heavily to make her own commentary about the place of women in society with similarities and contrasts between the 1970's and the 21st century.
Yes (and without intentionally producing spoilers), Wilde's "Don't Worry Darling" owes quite a lot of its structure to "The Stepford Wives" with even a dash of Writer/Director Cameron Crowe's "Vanilla Sky" (2001) sprinkled in for good measure and for me, this was not a hindrance. As the late, great Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert used to express, "A film is not always about what it is about. It is about how it is about what it is about." I think that this is the engine at which Olivia Wilde is operating for her film and she is utilizing the familiarity, for herself and the audience, as a means to take us upon an extremely dark ride.
I really loved how Wilde eschewed with any opening credits and thrust us immediately into a drunken dinner party, already suggesting that this is something of nightly regularity and that also something is decidedly wrong. That sense of unease is ever present. I loved how Wilde essentially did away with exposition and purposefully left holes and breadcrumbs throughout all of which will point towards the ultimate realization of what Victory is while also consistently commenting upon the action as we regard it and the effect was disturbing to stay the least.
Through out the outstanding work from Wilde's team, which includes Cinematographer Matthew Libatique, Editor Affonso Goncalves, Composer John Powell, and Production Designer Katie Byron, the sheer perfection of Victory is disturbing, the comparative symmetry of watching the husband's cars flow out of their neighborhood cul-de-sac and Alice's creepy Busby Berkeley styled hallucinations are always unsettling and really, listen to the sheer parade of vintage pop songs being pumped into Victory (excellent breadcrumbs) and what of Frank's daily Victory broadcasts, which are either motivational or a form of brainwashing.
Weather never seems to exist as the sun always shines. A constantly pregnant neighbor who seemingly never has any other children. A lifestyle where ever present food, comfort, wine and sexual gratification feels forces you to question if anything is out of love or pacification leading to subjugation. Alice's odyssey throughout "Don't Worry Darling" is its own nightmarish wonderland where power, control and bodily autonomy itself are all in the balance. Through the familiar aesthetics and jet fueled by Florence Pugh's terrific leading performance, Olivia Wilde has fashioned a film that works within its own dream logic to address real world nightmares, especially as any victories of the feminist movement during the 1970's has given to our current regressive politics and right wing attitudes towards women in 2022.
There is a joke meme that I have seen as of late which is essentially, "If I only had the confidence of a mediocre White man." Think of that as you regard Wilde's film. Take note of the emasculation fear mongering the likes of Tucker Carlson performs every night upon his television show and think of that as we regard Frank and the men of Victory. Regard the sequence during which Jack receives a major Victory promotion during a swanky banquet and is then asked (or forced?) to perform a "celebratory" dance on stage all the while looking like a madhouse marionette (truly Harry Styles' best scene in the film) and just think of how something like fascism happens, how it recruits, and how it keeps subjects tethered.
I think, whether obvious or not, there is more going on in this film that it has been given credit for and all of the muckraking in the press over all of the behind the scenes turmoil during and post production benefits no one and frankly, stifles and undercuts Olivia Wilde's storytelling vision as well as her position as a filmmaker...and considering what transpires within the film, this feels a little more than uncomfortably fitting.
Olivia Wilde's "Don't Worry Darling" got under my skin. And after everything that transpires within the film, I think it is the final sound that we hear before the end credits that perhaps rattled me the most. For never do I wish for any woman, and definitely not the girls I care for presently, to ever feel that the lives they are leading reach the point where that sound has to be made.
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