Don't Worry Darling (2022)
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A housewife in an idyllic 1950s community begins to suspect a sinister secret kept by the man who runs it.
The story
Alice and Jack Chambers live in Victory, California, an idyllic 1950s desert company town. Every day, the men leave for work at Victory Headquarters in the surrounding desert, and their wives enjoy luxuries and leisure while the men are gone. Alice spends her days with other wives, including her best friend, Bunny. However, the atmosphere of the perfect community is unsettled by the mysterious behavior of the town's founder, Frank. When Alice begins to notice strange occurrences and the deteriorating mental state of a neighbor, she starts to question the true nature of the sanctuary they inhabit and the secrets hidden within the desert's headquarters.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Alice and Jack Chambers live in Victory, California, a 1950s desert community where women enjoy luxury while men work at the nearby Victory Headquarters. After witnessing a neighbor's breakdown and experiencing surreal hallucinations upon touching a window at the headquarters, Alice becomes paranoid. She discovers that the town's founder, Frank, is hiding something. When she tries to confront him, he makes her appear delusional. Desperate, she learns from Jack that Victory is actually a simulated world. The men leave for real jobs to pay for their wives' stay in the simulation, where the women are unaware that their lives and children are artificial. After Jack is killed in a confrontation, Alice learns from her friend Bunny that she must reach the headquarters—the simulation's exit portal. She flees through the community as it descends into chaos, eventually reaching the portal where she experiences a final vision of Jack before the screen cuts to black.
- First release year
- 2022
- Runtime (minutes)
- 123
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Olivia Wilde
- Writers
- Katie Silberman · screenplay; Carey Van Dyke · story; Shane Van Dyke · story
- Cast and characters
- Florence Pugh · Alice; Harry Styles · Jack; Olivia Wilde; Gemma Chan; KiKi Layne; Nick Kroll; Chris Pine
- Genres
- psychological thriller; mystery drama; mystery thriller; science fiction thriller
- Themes
- simulated reality; domestic violence; identity; escapism
- Tone and mood
- suspenseful; eerie
- Setting
- Victory, California, a 1950s desert company town.
- Premise and plot tags
- dystopian; sci-fi; mystery
- Source material / true-story basis
- spec script
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances and visual style but criticized the script and narrative.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 38% · scale: percentage · review count: 359; Metacritic · score: 48 · scale: 100 · review count: 62; PostTrak · score: 67% · scale: percentage
- Awards and nominations
- Ivor Novello Award · Best Original Film Score · 2023 · win; Saturn Awards · Best Thriller Film · 51st · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was inspired by Inception, The Matrix, and The Truman Show.; The character Frank was inspired by author Jordan Peterson.; The opening scene was filmed at The Kaufmann House in Palm Springs.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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