Don't Worry Darling; Critics mixed as Olivia Wilde film with Harry Styles premieres

Critics at Venice Film Festival have given their verdict on Don't Worry Darling, Olivia Wilde's film starring Harry Styles and Florence Pugh.

The much-talked about movie centres on Alice and Jack, a seemingly perfect couple played by Pugh and Styles whose life in an LA company town falls apart.

It premiered out of competition at the festival, where The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw gave the film two stars.

He called it an "unconvincing tale of dystopian suburbia".

Don't Worry Darling "superciliously pinches ideas from other films without quite understanding how and why they worked in the first place", he said.

"It spoils its own ending simply by unveiling it, and in so doing shows that serious script work needed to be done on filling in the plot-holes and problems in a fantastically silly twist-reveal," he added.

"It is a movie marooned in a desert of unoriginality - and the desert doesn't bloom."

But while Hollywood Reporter's Alex Ritman said the film "generated a solid seven-minute standing ovation", the Daily Mail's Brian Viner gave it a two-star rating, describing Styles' performance as a "trifle mechanical" compared with his co-star.

"The bigger problem is that Don't Worry Darling just isn't very good," he continued.

"Unhelpfully, it has echoes of much better films, such as the mid-1970s classics The Stepford Wives and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, and The Truman Show (1998)."

The Telegraph disagreed, however, awarding it four stars while being positive about the "hints of Stepford in this citrus-sharp psychological thriller".

"For a mediocre film, this could have been wounding," wrote Robbie Collin. "But happily, Wilde's is largely fantastic: the sort of juicy but accessible studio production that have all but vanished since 1990s.

He praised Pugh for keeping the story "barrelling along", as well as "the plot's punchy critique of certain recent trends in the internet's more testosterone-raddled dark corners", adding: "With a smudgy red-lipsticked grin, Don't Worry Darling drags them out into the blazing desert light."

Helen O'Hara of Empire, in a three-star review, wrote: "Pugh is superb, while Wilde confidently steps up to a bigger subject and budget to deliver a slick, beautiful film. It doesn't quite stick the landing, but its flight to that point is fascinating."

However, BBC Culture argued the film was an "empty shell" full of "half-baked ideas".

"Harry Styles doesn't feel up to the material here, with leaden line delivery and a lack of light and shade making his scenes opposite Pugh fall flat," wrote Steph Green.

The Independent's Geoffrey Macnab also gave the film three stars but described Styles as "charisma-free".

"This isn't the disaster that some predicted - but it is a messy, convoluted affair with some very contrived plotting," he went on.

There was more praise for Pugh in USA Today's review by Brian Truitt, however: "Pugh, like she's done with Black Widow, Midsommar and others, continues to make everything she's in better - and, boy howdy, it's needed here as the plot grows more convoluted."

The Wrap's Steve Pond had mixed feelings, writing: "Her (Wilde's) new film gives you plenty to admire, from its look to yet another strong performance from the reliably terrific Florence Pugh, and just as much that is frustrating. If Jordan Peele is the current gold standard when it comes to provocation under the cover of mainstream genre cinema, Wilde still has some catching up to do."

The film was also problematic for Variety's Owen Gleiberman, who said: "Between the pop ambition, the tasty dream visuals, and the presence of Harry Styles in his first lead role, Don't Worry Darling should have no trouble finding an audience. But the movie takes you on a ride that gets progressively less scintillating as it goes along."

David Rooney added in his Hollywood Reporter review "The high-concept, low-satisfaction psychological thriller marks an ambitious upgrade in scope for Wilde... and she handles the physical aspects of the project with assurance.

"It's just a shame all the effort has gone into a script without much of that 2019 debut's disarming freshness."

But despite only just getting its debut, the film has already generated a lot of media attention.

The hugely successful pop star Styles - greeted by delighted fans in Venice - is in his first leading role, after appearing in 2021's Eternals and 2017's Oscar-winning Dunkirk.

But while Pugh, Oscar-nominated for 2019's Little Women, walked the red carpet for the premiere, she was notable by her absence at the press conference. She had flown over from Budapest, where she had been filming the Dune sequel.

When asked about Pugh's absence and any possible reluctance to take part in the press conference, Wilde preferred to focus on the acting.

The Booksmart director said: "As for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, the internet feeds itself, I don't feel the need to contribute, I think it's sufficiently well-nourished.

"Florence is a force and we're so grateful that she's able to make it tonight despite being in production on Dune," she added.

"I can't say enough how honoured I am to have her as our lead."

Meanwhile, Hollywood Reporter's Ritman suggested that when Styles sat down at the premiere, "he appears to spit at co-star Chris Pine. Or does he? The reaction from Pine certainly suggests he did". Billboard Pop also shared a video of Pine apparently zoning out when Styles talked about the film.

There has also been much interest in Styles and Wilde's relationship after working together on the film. They gave an interview last month to Rolling Stone, in which Styles talked about how tough the social media response could be for those associated with him.

"It's obviously a difficult feeling to feel like being close to me means you're at the ransom of a corner of Twitter or something," he says. "I just wanted to sing. I didn't want to get into it if I was going to hurt people like that."

Wilde added his fans are "deeply loving people", and said: "I don't personally believe the hateful energy defines his fan base at all. The majority of them are true champions of kindness."

Styles' part was originally meant to have been played by Shia LaBeouf, who Wilde recently said she had fired because his "process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions".

But the US actor denied this, telling Variety he had "quit the film due to lack of rehearsal time". He stoked the flames of controversy further by sharing a video that Wilde allegedly sent him in 2020, asking him to return to the production, and asking if he and Pugh could "make peace".

But when a journalist, at the same Venice press conference tried to probe further into the topic, it was swiftly shut down by the moderator.

Wilde's personal life had earlier been aired in public in April after she was handed child custody documents while appearing on stage at an event in Las Vegas from her former partner Jason Sudeikis, star of hit comedy TV series Ted Lasso.

She said at the press conference: "We want women to feel they are being heard and to feel inspired by... the kind of revolutionary who's willing to sacrifice everything to do what's right.

"Those are the superheroes I want to see at this time."

Don't Worry Darling is in UK cinemas from 23 September.