Post by joekiddlouischama on Oct 8, 2022 2:26:19 GMT
I viewed Don't Worry Darling last night and deem it "pretty good," meaning above-average, but less than a full-fledged "good" film. It is a curious movie, attractive in many aspects yet difficult to characterize as to its ultimate quality or caliber. The material is creative, an era-blending mix of contemporary pictures such as The Matrix movies, Avatar, Passengers, and the like, combined with The Stepford Wives (I am referring to the unforgettable 1975 original, not the remake with Nicole Kidman, which I have not seen) and even some vintage 007. (Indeed, the villainous lair on a desert mountaintop reminds one of 1971's Diamonds Are Forever.) And Olivia Wilde shows herself to be quite a cinematic director, with some impressive compositions, a nice showcasing of depth within the frame, vibrant yet nuanced lighting, and a balanced mix of stiller shots and dynamic camerawork, most notably during the climactic car chase when Wilde's camera athletically tracks and pans to follow the Florence Pugh character's car and then stops—emphasizing both Pugh's
And without exposition, the film suggests some potent themes for the audience to ponder—the excessive desire for happiness as opposed to reality, the way that both prescription pills (or "modern medicine") and digital technology can be manipulated to fulfill that dangerous desire, and both the allure and the fallacy of nostalgia and historical escapism. Indeed, Don't Worry Darling powerfully suggests that an alleged utopia can actually be dystopian and does so in a socially and historically resonant manner.
So you have a visually stylish film derived from highly imaginative source material that achieves an intelligent, engrossing blend in the form of a conspiratorial thriller. Therefore, why does the movie—while compelling and intriguing—feel like something less than an unqualified success?
The problem may be that while eerie and creepy enough, and certainly dystopian, Don't Worry Darling is not that thrilling in the end. That deficit may reflect the film's stylization and bending of time, which inhibit the naturalistic immersion that propels many thrillers. On the other hand, much of the film's attractiveness comes precisely from its stylization and its creative alterations of time and place, mind and body. So perhaps Don't Worry Darling is one of those paradoxical movies where strengths prove to be weaknesses, but at least it is engrossing and mildly tense (if not truly thrilling) over its two-hour running length.
escape and the revelatory establishing shot of the "Victory" company headquarters.
Furthermore, the film's editing and production design are undeniably skilled and impressive, with a nice feel for period detail (most of the movie seems set in the mid-sixties) and musical choices (both diegetic and non-diegetic). And without exposition, the film suggests some potent themes for the audience to ponder—the excessive desire for happiness as opposed to reality, the way that both prescription pills (or "modern medicine") and digital technology can be manipulated to fulfill that dangerous desire, and both the allure and the fallacy of nostalgia and historical escapism. Indeed, Don't Worry Darling powerfully suggests that an alleged utopia can actually be dystopian and does so in a socially and historically resonant manner.
So you have a visually stylish film derived from highly imaginative source material that achieves an intelligent, engrossing blend in the form of a conspiratorial thriller. Therefore, why does the movie—while compelling and intriguing—feel like something less than an unqualified success?
The problem may be that while eerie and creepy enough, and certainly dystopian, Don't Worry Darling is not that thrilling in the end. That deficit may reflect the film's stylization and bending of time, which inhibit the naturalistic immersion that propels many thrillers. On the other hand, much of the film's attractiveness comes precisely from its stylization and its creative alterations of time and place, mind and body. So perhaps Don't Worry Darling is one of those paradoxical movies where strengths prove to be weaknesses, but at least it is engrossing and mildly tense (if not truly thrilling) over its two-hour running length.