Do you like movies that mess with your mind and make you question your own life…Then, Don’t Worry Darling may be the movie for you. 

Don’t Worry Darling is a new thriller/horror movie that was released on September 23, 2022. The cast for this movie is well known as it includes Harry Styles, Olivia Wilde (who also directs it), Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, and Gemma Chan. 

On a Tuesday night, I found myself at the movie theater with a bunch of friends. We decided to go to our local theater, The Prytania Theater, because we had no school the next day and wanted to do something fun. I had heard of the movie, Don’t Worry Darling, solely because Harry Styles was in it and there was some drama surrounding it. I really had no expectations or even a clue what the movie was about besides the trailer I saw for it when I went to Avatar in theaters. I had no idea that this movie was even a “scary” movie-It’s a good thing I actually like scary movies. 

My initial reaction to this movie is the same as my reaction to Shutter Island: Damn. I was and still am, in disbelief over the twist this movie took. It’s the same shocking feeling I experienced when watching Shutter Island. I literally had no idea the movie would reveal such a big twist. Online, the description for the genre of this movie is horror/thriller, I think a better genre would be a psychological thriller. There really are no gruesome scenes, the scary part is just the truth you find out. For almost the entire movie I was on the edge of my seat and anxious about what would happen next. 

My favorite parts of the movie were obviously its twists, but also, the filming. In a way, I enjoyed the aesthetic. The colors, film angles, and way the movie flowed was pleasing to the viewer. I applaud Olivia Wilde and Mathew Libatique (the cinematographer) for how they managed to create this aesthetic and flow. 

I will say, there are lots of criticisms of this film. For starters, its audience rating summary is 3.2 stars and its rotten tomatoes score is 38%, yikes. While I think critics have been a little harsh in their grading, there are some flaws in the movie. My friends and I all agreed that the ending is definitely rushed. The whole movie seems to be building up and the ending is not satisfactory at all. It’s a cliffhanger, but not in a good way. It seems like they decided to make the ending a cliffhanger because they were rushing to end the movie. The movie runs at 2 hours and 3 minutes, so, they definitely had the time to add more to the ending. It’s just annoying that the ending is so bad because the twist is so good and as the audience, you want to see it played out!

Besides being known for its twist and bad reviews, another key aspect of Don’t Worry Darling is the drama surrounding the film. To be simple, Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh have beef. This is very problematic because Olivia is the director and Florence is the main character. I am not the most educated on this subject, but I’m pretty sure the feud started on who would be Florence Pugh’s lover in the movie. Apparently, the initial love interest for Florence was someone who had been accused of sexual assault and so (reasonably) she didn’t feel comfortable with him in the movie. Whether this was the cause, I don’t know for sure, but they are definitely feuding because neither of them has acknowledged the other outside the movie. For example, when Florence posted about the movie on her insta thanking people, she never thanked Olivia. Tea. Additionally, Olivia and Harry, the main guy character, are dating. I feel like it’s always going to be awkward or interesting when people that are romantically involved work on a movie together. 

A reason the ending was bad is that the script changed. According to an article by POPSUGAR, the original script made the movie and especially the ending different and in my opinion, it would have been better. Why the script was changed, I don’t know, but it’d definitely be worth knowing. Read more here: https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/dont-worry-darling-original-ending-48974193 . 

One last thing to keep in mind is that if you’re a Harry Styles lover, this may not be the movie for you. My friends and I all got the ick from him and this movie did him dirty in parts. So yeah, keep that in mind. 

Overall, I’m glad I saw Don’t Worry Darling and I would recommend it if you like thrillers!