Don't Worry Darling review: Full of 'half-baked ideas'
A cause of much controversy already, this Olivia Wilde-directed thriller starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles has finally premiered. And it's an empty shell
The issue with Don't Worry Darling, however, is that it is frequently rudimentary and repetitious – hammering home the same basic point about gender politics while a dulled supporting cast fails to add much colour to the story's margins.
A lot of discussion around the film in the run-up to today's Venice Film Festival premiere has been stoked by the controversy regarding the initial casting of Shia LaBeouf and the conflicting stories surrounding his subsequent departure from the project
Editor Affonso Gonçalves inserts William Friedkin-esque fleeting shots of blink-and-you'll-miss-it terror to create unease, while one scene involving near-suffocation by clingfilm may make your throat constrict in horror.
It's disappointing, as there may well be a smarter, more sophisticated film nestled in here like a Russian doll: perhaps something that's more incisive about contemporary incel culture, or the mental gymnastics required when you feel ethically obliged to dismantle a society that is designed to serve you