What is wrong with Don’t Worry Darling? Let’s go into detail so be warned, spoilers ahead.
There are several issues with Don’t Worry Darling that cause it to fall into the category of, well, just not good. But what are these jarring issues? What is wrong with Don’t Worry Darling? Now that the film has been released in theaters, we can go into detail about it. Be warned, there are spoilers for the film ahead.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead For Don’t Worry Darling
The Treatment of Margaret
Margaret is the first of the ladies in Victory to realize that something is wrong — at least that we see. She went out into the desert, where she was told never to go, and came back with a whole lot of questions that no one wanted to answer (which feels like a spot on relation to the audience and the film). Her son was never found, which must be related to the fact that kids aren’t real in that world.
The issue with this is that Margaret she is the one Black woman we see at the forefront of the story. And they portray her as going absolutely crazy. She has outbursts, is hysterical, and so they feed her pills and shove her to the side so no one else gets any ideas or listens to her. While eventually Alice, Florence Pugh’s character, goes the same route, it feels kind of gross that the film chose to make a Black woman the first. And not just a Black woman, pretty much the only one in the entire movie.
That Harry Styles Dance Sequence
After being invited into the upper circle of men who paid to trap their wives in Victory (yes, we are going to call it like it is), Jack (Harry Styles) performs a dance at the encouragement of Frank (Chris Pine) and it is… extremely bizarre. He is dancing around like a puppet. We already got one bad Pinocchio film this year, we don’t need another.
It is one of those scenes that you just stare at uncomfortably as it goes on for far too long. It gets weirder and weirder. The whole scene comes off like Frank is controlling him and perhaps that is what the filmmakers what you to believe. However, once the truth is revealed, it makes no sense that he would be dancing around like that for everyone.
The whole scene should have been removed, or at the very least, shortened.
Bunny’s Betrayal
At the exact same time as the awkward dance from Harry Styles, Alice is confessing to Bunny (Olivia Wilde) that she too went to headquarters in the desert and now knows that something is very wrong. The problem lies in that at the end of the movie, it is revealed Bunny knew Victory was not real, but stayed there because her kids, who died in actuality, were alive there. Although, she always treats them like they are a burden, but that’s besides the point.
So if Bunny knew the truth from the start, why wouldn’t she warn Alice to just be quiet until she could escape — or at the very least not tell on her to Frank. She helps her at the end of the movie, so it makes no sense she would be a part of her demise at the start.
No Backstory For Frank
Frank is charming and manipulative. He comes off as a creep right from the start and it is clear there is something off about him. When all is revealed, that he is the one who built this place so that men could trap their wives there to treat them as they feel they should be treated, it doesn’t take long before he is murdered by his wife.
Considering he is the real villain here, it would be helpful to know his backstory. If we knew who he was in the real world, what inspired him to create Victory, and how he accomplished it — something. We know nothing about the “real” Frank, so to have him just straight up murdered without any explanation is a bit frustrating, and does nothing for the story.
Unanswered Questions
Don’t Worry Darling ended with many unanswered questions. Here are just a few:
- What was the shaking that would happen in Victory every so often?
- Why do men die when they are in Victory, but the women don’t?
- Did Frank’s wife know what Victory was?
- And if so, why did she wait until that moment to kill Frank?
- Frank’s wife says it’s her turn now — is she going to take over Victory?
All of this on top of the fact that they try to shove way too much in to the movie, introducing concept after concept, turns this film into a mess.
NEXT: Don’t Worry Darling Review
About Don’t Worry Darling
Alice (Pugh) and Jack (Styles) are lucky to be living in the idealized community of Victory, the experimental company town housing the men who work for the top-secret Victory Project and their families. The 1950’s societal optimism espoused by their CEO, Frank (Pine) – equal parts corporate visionary and motivational life coach – anchors every aspect of daily life in the tight-knit desert utopia.
While the husbands spend every day inside the Victory Project Headquarters, working on the “development of progressive materials,” their wives – including Frank’s elegant partner, Shelley (Chan) – get to spend their time enjoying the beauty, luxury and debauchery of their community. Life is perfect, with every resident’s needs met by the company. All they ask in return is discretion and unquestioning commitment to the Victory cause.
But when cracks in their idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something much more sinister lurking beneath the attractive façade, Alice can’t help questioning exactly what they’re doing in Victory, and why. Just how much is Alice willing to lose to expose what’s really going on in this paradise?
Don’t Worry Darling is in theaters now.
