Darling, You Have Everything to Worry About.
*Warning: Major Spoilers Ahead.
Ladies, you have nothing to worry about. Except if your boyfriend listens to podcasts after losing his job, then… you need to worry about everything. Regardless of whether your boo has tuned into any new “self-help” gurus lately, you must catch a showing of the new psychological thriller, “Don’t Worry Darling.”
The storyline follows Alice, played by Florence Pugh, existing as a 1950s housewife living in a utopian experimental community, called Victory. Alice lives with her dashing husband, Jack, played by Harry Styles. Alice and Jack live in a pristine neighborhood, with other couples just like them—the husbands work all day, and the wives cook, clean, spend time at the pool with their girlies, and go shopping on their husbands’ earnings.
Even with the star-studded cast, the film received spiraling publicity even before hitting the box office. Rumors surrounding the relationship between actress and director of the film, Olivia Wilde, and Styles caught the media’s eye when some thought that Wilde started dating Styles a little too quickly after her split with ex-fiancé Jason Sudeikis. Additionally, there was buzz about Pugh’s lack of promotion of the film, leading viewers to believe that there was a rift between Pugh and Wilde. The off-stage drama seemed to seep into theaters and since its release, the film has been getting striking low reviews. However, there is so much more to the film that keeps viewers at the edge of their seats for “Don’t Worry Darling’s,” critique of patriarchal norms.
Welcome to Victory
Set in a remote town in the California desert, Victory seems like paradise. The quiet, remote community seems perfect… almost too perfect. Wilde selected an environment where she could film symmetrical shots of almost everything—the homes, a cul-de-sac and a dance studio. The film includes bright colors, beautiful background landscapes and mid-century architecture that adds to the community’s chilling uniformity. Even all the people are perfect—pressed clothing, shining smiles and they’re never sad. That is until Alice starts having visions. The visions include 1950s show girls, performing their routine in a perfect circle. Other parts of Alice’s visions include blood drop splatters, and other circular shapes that makes the viewers feel trapped in a bubble, similar to how Victory is arranged.
Inside of Victory, the women are allowed to do anything they want, which gives the illusion they are free. But that’s all it is: an illusion. In reality, the women are stuck within the grasps of their husbands and the town. Once Alice starts to get these visions, she rightfully starts to question the legitimacy of Victory.
What’s Real and What’s Not
Honestly while watching the movie, you can’t tell what is going on to Alice inside Victory. At first you think, maybe they really are all living in the 1950s. Then, you start to question your own believes and think maybe they are living in some alternate universe. But unless you’re a mind reader, you can’t see the twist coming. As a viewer, you learn that Victory isn’t real at all—it’s a simulation. In reality, Alice isn’t a housewife from the 1950s, but rather a successful doctor in modern times that works incredibly hard to provide for Jack. The two live in a small apartment together and are struggling in their relationship.
There wasn’t much context given to Jack’s personal situation but from the looks of it, things are bad, bad. So bad that the film crew was actually able to make Harry Styles look a disheveled mess. Turns out, in the midst of Jack having a complete breakdown and feeling insecure about not being able to take care of Alice, he enrolls the couple in the Victory Project simulation—Alice can live in a perfect 1950s home every day and Jack goes to work to give her the life that she deserves. The visions that Alice was having earlier in the movie were flashbacks to her real life, and a reminder that she is stuck in a simulation. When Alice realizes that Jack took her life away, he tries to make the excuse that he wanted her to be happy. However, she was perfectly content being a bad-ass doctor in her real life.
Inspiration for the Film
Wilde claimed films like “Inception” and “The Truman Show” influenced the film; however, the concept behind the film goes beyond the two movies mentioned above. For one, Pugh’s intense acting draws from roles she’s held in previous films. Specifically, in a scene where Pugh is screaming on the ground, gives eerily similar vibes to her role in “Midsommar.”
Additionally, the entire film feels like you’re stuck in an episode of “Black Mirror”—existing in a completely simulated world. It raises the question, what is “better?” For Jack, it’s better to live a fake life, but make your wife happy. For Alice, it’s living in the real world and having her own life, even if she’s working overnights as a surgeon in a busy hospital.
Jack forcing Alice to live this simulated life is not a token of his love, but instead a form of extreme control that he places on his partner. Due to his own insecurities as a failing boyfriend, Jack turns to the Victory Project podcast and decided the only solution to winning Alice over, is to send her into a simulated community where he just assumes she’ll be happy. Jack is definitely not the catch of the century. Instead, Jack’s self-doubt that turns into obsession and control on Alice leaves viewers thinking, could this happen to me next?
Let us know @PulltabSports on Twitter your thoughts on the movie and what would you do if you were Jack?
