Don’t Worry Darling, the Feminism is Safe
Don't Worry Darling review
Massive spoilers ahead for “Don’t Worry Darling” currently playing in theaters
“Don’t Worry Darling” has been in the news relentlessly since the first trailer dropped. Olivia Wilde had massive success with her directorial debut of “Booksmart,” and then assembling one of the hottest casts ever, she had all of us drooling to see her next offering.
But as reviews started to roll out, it was clear that there was a misfire with her sophomore project.
I was a huge fan of “Booksmart” and I admit, that even with the negative reviews and drama swirling around “Don’t Worry Darling,” I was still pretty excited to see it. The movie had some strong Stepford Wives vibes and despite low critic scores on both versions of that movie, I still quite enjoy it. I was hoping a 2022 version of that could be an interesting feminist statement.
The thing is, it almost is. It just lacks the courage to really do it. And it could be fixed by using one character more effectively.
The basic premise is that Jack and Alice (played well by Harry Styles and brilliantly by Florence Pugh) are an exceptionally happy couple living in an idyllic 1950’s isolated neighborhood. Jack works all day at the Victory Project and Alice stays home, cleaning, gossiping with her neighbor Bunny (played by director Olivia Wilde), shopping, and preparing to meet Jack when he gets home with a cocktail, dinner, and whatever else he wants.
All of this is made possible by Frank (Chris Pine, who was NOT spat upon by Harry Styles, but still didn’t seem to have a great time in Vienna), the mastermind of VIctory. He oversees the men’s work and his wife Shelley (Gemma Chan) seems to have some power over the women, as she directs the ballet class the women take to help with poise and control.
It doesn’t take us long to realize that something is off in this world. Questions about what the men are doing are shut down as soon as they leave the lips of whatever wife is asking. And when Alice ventures into the desert in search of a downed airplane, she begins to experience glitches in her day to day life.
This is where we get to “The Stepford Wives” of it all. It turns out that Frank is some kind of manosphere-type guru who has been recruiting other disaffected men to join his Victory Project, wherein they strap their partners to a bed and project them into the digitally perfect world. In the real world, Alice is a surgeon who loves her job and Jack is a guy who listens to Frank on his computer telling him that men need to be real men and feminism is bad and all of the mysoginistic nonsense we hear from men like Jordan Peterson and Matt Walsh.
And honestly, if the movie had cleaned up the end and given us a little more time with sweaty Harry Styles and creepy Frank, that alone could have made it better. Not particularly unique, but at least better than the muddled mess that we’re actually left with when the credits roll.
But where it left me extra cold is with two characters mentioned before: Bunny and Shelley.
It is revealed near the end of the movie that Bunny is there willingly. She knows that it’s not real, but Victory is the place where she can actually be with her children. We don’t know if her children died or were taken from her, but here, she has them again. And she is willing to trap other women so she can have what she wants.
Similarly, as Alice is trying to escape and Frank is trying to stop her, Shelley stabs Frank, calling him a stupid man and saying that it’s her time now. To me, this seemed to indicate that she also understands what is happening in Victory and is a part of the plot to keep women trapped here.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with the premise that toxic masculinity is threatened by women who are powerful and successful and wishes to trap them in a place and time where they merely act as servants to whatever the man desires. The unending abortion restrictions that we are seeing enacted by various state legislatures made up primarily of men show us that this is accurate.
But as the men out here in the real world need women to vote them into office and support the policies that harm them and other oppressed groups, the men in the film need some women who are there to aid in the oppression of the other wives. Bunny is always the first to shut down a conversation when it strays into questions. Shelley drilles control and conformity into the women in her ballet class and sides with Frank in every instance.
However, the film seemed afraid to really call women out for their complicity in the oppression of other women. It hints at it, but it never commits to it. I don’t need the end of the movie to focus on Jack and Frank, I need it to focus on Bunny and Shelley. If we’re going to make statements about feminism in 2022, we can’t rely on the same stories we were telling in 1975.
Yes, there is a lot that is unfortunately the same, but we need to deepen our understanding of what allows it to be the same almost 50 years later. Cis women who vote for candidates who will harm their rights because they are afraid of trans women and non-binary folks. White women who vote for candidates who will trap them because they’re afraid of giving people of color too many rights. Over and over, too many women victimize themselves because of fear.
So, is “Don’t Worry Darling” more MacGuffin or Meaning? It’s tough. There is some meaning in the film, but I think it lacks the courage to truly examine the feminine structures that prop up misogyny. And without courage, it’s a MacGuffin. A sexy MacGuffin, to be sure, but a MacGuffin nonetheless.