On September 23rd, the new movie “Don’t Worry Darling,” came to theaters. The new mysterious thriller is set during the 1950s in a virtual reality called the “Victory Project”. Within this fictitious world, the women stay home to cook and clean for their husbands, while the men go to their top-secret jobs they cannot discuss with anyone. Main characters Jack and Alice Chambers played by Harry Styles and Florence Pugh live happily in this world until unusual things start to happen. A Neighbor stabs herself in front of Alice but when she goes to report it to others she is told that nothing happened and not to question anything. Alice protests against this and is told she is starting to become crazy but she knows what she saw… right? One rule the Victory Project preaches to all women is that they should never leave the neighborhood under any circumstance because it is safe where they are. This “project” is orchestrated by Chris Pine’s character Frank, who wants to make unhappy modern men feel like they are incontrol of what is around them. When Frank asks the residents what they are doing within the Victory Project they unknowingly respond with “changing the world,” but little do they know if that is for better or worse.

The women within the Victory Project are selected by the men to be there whether they want to or not. Alice Chambers is an example of a woman that doesn’t want to be in this seemingly “perfect” world but is being forced to by her husband Jack. But Alice’s friend Bunny, played by director Olivia Wilde wanted to stay in the Victory Project because it allowed her to live within an ideal world with her children and husband. As the film progresses Alice learns more and more about where she is and realizes how much she doesn’t want to be there. She expressed her feelings to Jack and Bunny, who she believed loved and cared for her only to be called “crazy” and told she needed help. This is when the town’s doctor decided to send Alice to “therapy” where she endures shock therapy which floods many memories of the outside world back to her. When she returns to her home and is with Jack, she struggles to remember what is going on but then quickly remembers that she does not want to be a part of this cult-like world. Alice wants to escape but in the process she kills Jack and Bunny catches her with Jack’s blood all over.

In the real world drama brews between leading actresses Florence Pugh and Olivia Wilde. This is a consequence of Pugh not posting promotions for the new movie, just like the other actors had. Wilde had also praised Pugh on her Instagram account saying that she had been an incredible actress. This caused fans to notice that Pugh had ignored this kind gesture from Wilde which could have meant far more behind the scenes. Though these actions may not have meant that the two are feuding, it still would be considered unusual that Pugh did not attend the Venice Film Festival press conference for “Don’t Worry Darling.”

On the TV and movie review website Rotten Tomatoes, mixed reviews are posted between critics and viewers. Many critics scored the movie “Don’t Worry Darling” with a 38% on the “tomatometer” calling it a “rotten” movie. Critics felt that the film is predictable and not very memorable, but, on the other hand the audience scored the new movie a 75% with an additional rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. Overwhelmingly, fans feel quite the opposite, some noting that the film gave off vibes similar to “Truman Show,” “Stepford Wives,” “Wayward Pines,” and “Westworld.” The Harry Styles’ fan base is extremely dedicated to his career and booking him as a lead role would naturally cause the ratings of his movies to skyrocket. This is shown in the audience rating as it is almost double the score of the critic rating, leading people to wonder if the ratings are true or skewed by crazed fans.

The film had its ups and downs but overall there were many notable moments that really created an exciting atmosphere when watching. Though there were mixed reviews between critics and fans, the ultimate plot twists are definitely worth seeing.

As Harry Styles would say, “Don’t Worry Darling is a movie that feels like a movie—like a real, you know, go-to-the-theater film movie.”