Following the critical acclaim an good will she earned for her directorial debut, Booksmart, Olivia Wilde easily could’ve just done another comedy. Instead, she decided to challenge herself with the 1950s psychological thriller, Don’t Worry Darling, that cracks the idyllic facade of the era to reveal a much darker truth.
Wilde has gathered a cast led by Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, Gemma Chan, Harry Styles, Nick Kroll, Kiki Layne, and herself, too. The film centers on a 1950s housewife who finds that the perfect life she has with her loving husband could be a lie, while he hides a sinister secret about his place of work.
There’s definitely a much wider scope and broader vision that Wilde is going for here. The imagery is surreal and sexy as Hell. During CinemaCon, she spoke about the film being “engineered specifically for the theatrical experience, from the cinematography to the sound design to every tiny detail in between.”
Don’t Worry Darling hits theaters on September 23rd.
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? An audacious, twisted and visually stunning psychological thriller, “Don’t Worry Darling” is a powerhouse feature from director Olivia Wilde that boasts intoxicating performances from Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, surrounded by the impressive and pitch-perfect cast.
