Worldwide sensation Harry Styles takes to the big screen with his new film “Don’t Worry Darling”, directed by Olivia Wilde, which takes place in a 1950s utopian experimental community. The film is rated R due to language, inappropriate scenes not suitable for young people, violence, and gore. Some characters do die and gory scenes are shown. Language such as swears are said during the film as well. 

In the film, Styles plays Jack, a middle-aged man who is married to Alice, played by Florence Pugh. Along with several other couples, Jack and Alice are part of the Victory Project. The husbands work to create while the wives either stay at home cleaning and cooking or go shopping at the mall. In watching this movie, it was surprising at how different this was compared to other movies. This psychological thriller takes you on a journey on how the Victory Project is not what it seems. There’s something hidden in what is considered a perfect life. Alice starts to wonder whether everything is actually perfect or if there’s a dark truth hidden beneath the perfection.

Frank, played by Chris Pine, is the head of the Victory Project and throughout the movie, they reveal dark secrets he has. It’s revealed that this project is not actually real but moreso, a fictitious reality. The husbands in real life are actually mere lowlifes who don’t have a job and can’t afford to support their wifes. Frank appeals to these men and urges them in a video to join the Victory Project so they can offer their wives the life they deserve. 

The wives are drugged and locked in a virtual reality. Bunny, played by Olivia Wilde, knew about how this was all fake, but she chose to stay in this reality for her two children that are actually dead in real life. As Alice starts to suspect there’s something wrong, Bunny tells her how insane she sounds when in reality, Bunny was ensuring the safety of her friend because if the wives find out of the true methods of the Victory Project then they are killed. 

Alice throughout the film tests the boundaries and takes risks to find the hidden truth but once Frank finds about this, he makes Jack trick her into going to a facility where they would use shock therapy to make her think that everything is normal and fine. Even after this, Alice still feels as though there’s something wrong.

The film runs a total of two hours and three minutes. While watching it in the cinema, it did feel like it ran quite long but the ending is something of the unexpected and leaves viewers shocked. Although the film had many twists and turns, it received a lot of controversy. 

People were already feeling off about the film due to actor Shia LaBeouf leaving the cast. He was supposed to play Jack but decided to leave because he and Florence Pugh couldn’t work well together. LaBeouf gave Wilde an ultimatum to choose him or Pugh. In the end, Wilde chose Pugh which she comments as “confident that we made the right decision.” There were rumors arising that LaBeouf was fired from the cast but he explains that he left because it was the right choice rather than creating drama in the Hollywood acting industry. Not only that but Chris Pine also had his fair share of controversy as well in the film’s Venice International Film Festival world premiere

He received backlash due to a video of Harry Styles supposedly spitting on him. Later, Pine’s representative clarified that Styles didn’t spit on him and that the controversial video was a lie. 

Even more controversy arose online due to suspected drama between Florence Pugh and Olivia Wilde. Pugh didn’t attend the movie’s press conference but she did go to the red carpet yet was the farthest away from Wilde. Even if the cast did in fact have problems shooting the film, most of what the public heard was likely just gossip sparked online that should not negate the phenomenal acting in the film. 

The film successfully attracted a huge audience from all over the world, including many Harry Styles fans who looked forward to seeing their favorite artist on the big screen. Everyone should go take a trip to the cinema and see if you like it. Though not a film for everyone, it features amazing acting with a never-before-seen plot.