Something that really bothered me going in is how much emphasis Olivia Wilde put on this movie being about “female pleasure” but if Alice is forced into a simulation and then coerced into sex, that’s not female pleasure, that’s assault.
I kind of took it as pleasure given but not asked for. Like he gives her all this stuff that’s “good” but she didn’t ask. She isn’t an active member of their sex life. She often says no and fights him but he gives it anyway. Edit to add I think it works in the movie but I don’t think it’s what Olivia Wilde was going for lol
So you were so focused on stuff that wasn’t the actual movie. It seems like everyone who hates this is either focused completely on behind the scenes stuff or didn’t actually watch it and are just regurgitating stuff they heard.
Florence, Chris and Gemma all delivered solid performances, but it still wasn't enough to save this movie from mediocrity. I would pay decent money to watch the Behind the Scenes drama instead.
Why do I keep finding you LOL this is the 3rd time 😭 we had a convo about how your pfp was Addams family the musical and you were a nurse in it and in January I was doing it also LOL
I felt like Chris’ performance wasn’t great tbh. Maybe the drama affected my viewing, but every time he was on screen I got the strong vibes that he just did not want to be there or care about any part of this project lmao
@@mcgheebentle1958 the fact that we learned through the drama that he doesn’t have a smart phone and the proud dad moment on the red carpet where he took a photo of Florence on a disposable camera for me makes the entire thing existing worth it.
Which is not great to think about when the spec script OW and her co-writer purchased and re-wrote was a lot more coherent than the mess that ended up on the theatre
Yes! Like there were some scenes that needed something to lead into it - like when she breaks the egg....why did she find the egg suspicious in the first place? They needed her cracking and egg and it being empty THEN inspect them closely
I saw something on TikTok that said when Jack was filling out the application for the Victory Project, it asked if they knew the “wife” & there’s also a voice over with Frank saying something like “it’s your responsibility to care for your chosen wife,” implying that these men could’ve just kidnapped a random women they’re obsessed with and holdthem hostage
For me I was pretty much done pretty early on because the symbolism was SO on the nose. I felt like Olivia Wilde was sitting on my shoulder going do you get it? She's part of a dance. Do you get it? She's feeling pressed in and stuck. Do you get it? She's suffocating. DO YOU GET IT? HER NAME IS ALICE AND SHE'S ASLEEP IN WONDERLAND.
i havent seen the movie so my opinion means nothing but the way the dancing was described sounds like that like such an obvious metaphor that a middle schooler would've written
I also dislike how Olivia paints this as a film about “how does one take a stand when the System they live in is too comfortable” when we really don’t see that in Alice’s or any of the captive womens perspectives since they were all forced there. Granted, I guess that goes into how people are born into certain systemic dynamics but in real life, you have a choice or choices to choose what kind of life you want to live. Shit, you can go off the grid too. So for that kind of Introspective take she mentioned in that late night interview (which that take comes from a vey rich/upper class mindset imo), it would’ve been more interesting to see the film from Olivia’s character’s perspective (or the mens’) who all CHOSE to be there vs a literal hostage who at first couldn’t remember her life before and can’t leave her idyllic world. It would’ve been amazing to see a character gripping with the set rules/control, eventual mundanity, and psychological torture of the fake world and the shitty reality of the real world and have to choose what to do, especially if they have realized that majority of the people there are prisoners.
don’t worry darling is like a mystery show that spends multiple seasons building up a mystery and giving clues before it’s finally solved, but then you rewatch it and realize the early clues don’t actually match up with the eventual reveal because the writers hadn’t planned that far ahead. except, of course, don’t worry darling is only two hours long so all of those clues are still fresh in your mind at the reveal and it makes even less sense
The question about how public the Victory Project is was a big one for me- granted I haven’t actually seen the film, but my sister gave me a play by play of it after she saw it and my first thought was if Alice was a surgeon working all those hours who just disappeared without explanation, wouldn’t someone be looking for her? Coworkers, patients, etc? Does she have any other family outside of Harry? Did the other wives have any family outside their husbands? Were all these women so isolated in their lives that their husbands could just make them disappear and no one would question it? Is no one looking for them? Or is the Victory Project just a known, accepted thing by the public?
I head that there is a deleted scene or a script version where all the men had to fake their wives’ death to get into the victory project! I know it’s not in the movie itself but it’s something :)
The original script says that the husbands had to fake their wives deaths, something kinda weird considering they live in 2050 and according to the script in a much more feminist time than today, so women disappearing with only their husbands knowing seems weird
People try to solve 60 year old cold cases of missing people. There is no way no one would look into a missing presumed dead woman. A parent or sibling or cousin would be suspicious and without a body a husband couldn’t say anything to allay that suspicion. Then it happening several more times and all the husbands are part of the same project?
One thing that confuses me, as someone who hasn't seen this movie, is why would a SURGEON, a person in a profession which makes, on average, $400,000 a year, need to work MORE SHIFTS to make ends meet? What kind of lifestyle do you have to lead where that's a reality?
The "I'm hungry" line is honestly so sinister to me, because it's not Jack being stupid, it's probably a sign that he's being successfully indoctrinated into that toxic Alpha Male way of thinking - 'it's the woman's job to handle the food' and also 'the woman should be obedient to the man.' He's low-key testing Alice to see if she'll respond 'correctly' and prepare him food, the way the videos he's been watching are telling him she should. And, from his perspective, she failed his test.
@@JuicemanGravy Preeeeeetty sure this the sort of test you actually want to fail, because it's a test an incel is giving you to see if you're obedient enough to him. Though Olivia Wilde may have whatever opinion she likes on the matter, of course.
It's probably because I've seen too many episodes of "The Twilight Zone", "Black Mirror" or "WandaVision", but I guessed that the seemingly perfect, 1950's Utopian community would be a stimulation. It was obvious that something was amiss, and since robots have already been done, this was the next best guess.
@@xochiltaviles4539 The Village threw me for a loop to be honest like it's a very interesting movie and I liked it but part of the reason why I didn't like it was because it was all fake and nobody except for the adults/parents knew this was fake.
I think the timing of this coming out after WandaVision was interesting because that's the most recent media to do something like this successfully and to have this come out right after makes it even easier to see the holes in it
I haven't seen it but it sounds like they were afraid to make Harry Styles an actual creepy incel dude...in a movie about creepy incel dudes. That kind of sucks because I was interested to see what he could do as an actor, but it seems like they didn't want to push him too far outside of the comfort zone of his fan base.
KiKi Layne's character (the black woman who commited sue of side) had more scenes in the film but was actually cut out of it to make space for olivia wilde's character...so yh, theres that. Apparently her character had a lot to do with the plot too.
I was just thinking that watch this video. Like Bunny is a minor character to Alice’s story arch and discovery, compared to Margaret’s (Kiki’s) character dynamic.
If the problem was that her husband was unemployed, which made him feel inadequate, how was he suddenly able to find a job that was at least enough to support both of their basic necessity
And the fact that she had to work extra shifts as a fucking SURGEON to barely help them scratch by (but their hot water was still shut off…), YET he now works a job while she’s in the Victory Project and he provides for them in real life. That means he rolled out of bed and went from being unemployed to working a job that’s on par with a fucking surgeon… excuse me? The simple fix is that they never had to make her a surgeon! She could have worked at target??? It wouldn’t have changed anything in the story and it would make more sense.
@@jamiek9780 you’re assuming that they were scrapping by. That wasn’t ever said in the movie, being a brain surgeon is a very time costly job. It could’ve just been that her schedule was annoying for those particular days. Their apartment wasn’t that big, and (correct me if I’m wrong) but they never said what Harry’s job was that he lost. It’s entirely possible that he got another job (maybe like an IT job?) to pay the rent. You have to also remember that he incompassitated (idk how to spell it) her, so he could’ve been using her credit cards in the real world. Plus remeber that he doesn’t have to really pay for food for 2, and he mostly just drives from the apartment to his work. I also doubt he has many other expenses.
I find very funny when people say "Florence saved the movie with her acting" THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF HER BEING THE LEAD ACTRESS IN THE MOVIE😭😭😭 the main lead obviously needs to be charming and good in order for the movie to be good, that's why they hired her
@@TheSamuelbest12 well yes I'm aware. I'm just getting at that she's so good she partially saved a trainwreck. A lot of other actors wouldn't have been able to.
@@justine4581 of course the lead performance shouldn't be the "only" good part of your movie, but it's a very important one. It's bad when people say that a minor character with 4 minutes of screentime is better than your lead for example
I’ve read the first version of the script before the rewrite. The mechanics of the third story worked somewhat more consistent; like Style’s character is a lot more sinister and his motivation for joining the Victory project comes after Florence divorces him and the climax is a fight between them as she wakes up from the simulation. I’m pretty sure they had to nerf down his character because Styles isn’t a great actor since the original version probably would have worked better with Pine in the role. I recommend reading through it-I’d love to see what you think about it after seeing this movie.
A few days ago, I came up with a tiny conspiracy theory about it. Pugh and Pine signed onto the project to be the leads based on the original script or an early revision, but there was an executive decision to use this as a vehicle for Styles’ film career to boost the film’s appeal (probably for his current popularity more than his relationship with Wilde). Pines got recast to make room and the script was revised to make the role easier for Styles that ultimately killed the third act. It would make sense why Pugh seemed unusually apathetic in the press circuit as it wasn’t the role she signed up but has an upcoming Nolan film she’s more confident about. Just my conjecture with no evidence, but it’s fun to think about.
One of the things that really got me from that movie was the part where Alice was chosen as Jack's Victory Wife and there was an option to not have a prior relationship with the woman who gets snatched which means some women were snatched by guys they might not even know and I think that's what happened to Violet bc her "husband" was freaking tf out and I just wish that terrifying concept had been explored more
I think the director didn't want to make harry look bad. They were worried about his image, thats probably why they wanted him to present as a dotting husband .
That was my first thought as well: he was involved in the project first and foremost as Harry Styles, and all the branding that implies, rather than as an actor whose main focus is embodying a character. Like, when Florence Pugh does her roles she isn’t just being Florence Pugh in a movie and selling herself that way, she’s being the character
as for the pregnancy, we see her drinking or smoking throughout the movie. i also remember bunny saying she's "always pregnant" so i would think of it as a character selection
When Peg sits down at dinner, she’s talking to Violet about what giving birth is like, and she says “they hand you your baby and you say, is this my baby?” - so I agree, I think it’s a character selection and that if she WERE to give birth, it wouldn’t be part of the simulation and she’d “wake up” to a virtual baby like the rest of the children. I guess? This movie is one big “I guess”
I thought it was because of the time period they were emulating- smoking used to be pushed as a way to get rid of pregnancy cravings and drinking while pregnant wasn’t known to be a bad thing yet
@@ambientsentient that could also explain peg's explanation of birth too. Twilight births we're a very disturbing yet popular method of delivery for quite awhile.
I really think if Harry worked on his delivery and was portrayed in a highly negative light it would be a great way to break out and showcase his potential versatility. Drama aside I think he is stuck in a very specific type of role in everything he does and it really feels manufactured to an extent. I’d love to see him in a role that completely defies what we think of him now
I'd like to think a person in his position would do the bare modicum of preparation for acting instead of swanning in and expecting the spotlight. Especially with the delays due to COVID. Prime coaching time.
do you think a different director could have gotten a better performance out of harry? i'm sure olivia is a very good director, but sometimes personal relationships can make it harder to give constructive criticism :/
@@alexkasper5029 I was looking for someone with this opinion, because that was honestly my first thought. Another director would have pushed for a better performance or gotten someone that could...unless they just wanted his name to sell tickets.
There is a chance you could see more of a dramatic or slightly negative side. Slightly. He is playing a man who is in a relationship while being married, and on top of that it’s in a time period where being with another man is extremely taboo so they try to keep it a secret and it seems his wife knew/found out later on. I think it’s called the Police Man? The postman? I think it’s the second one, but it’s being released on Amazon prime I believe and maybe theaters too. I saw a preview for it before this movie started actually. Looks interesting and it’s possibly to get a different side from Harry than portrayed here, somewhat. He is still a loving husband and there is an aspect of betrayal, but we may get a more in depth and complex performance from how he shows his love differently between his other lover and wife, or how he handles that part of his sexuality in coming to terms with it or what not. It’s an interesting if not slightly cliche narrative, but at least if he falls short here it shouldn’t be all too bad.
I'm really tired of ECT (electroconvulsive therapy aka shock treatment) used as a cheap gimmick all over TV and movies. Historically it's use was horrific but now it's used under anesthesia for a lot of people for depression and as a *last resort* that can save lives. Usually the memory loss is around the *time of the procedure* that's all. Some people do lose some long term memories, but again you don't get to pick and choose when, what, or why.
I don't feel like it is a cheap gimmick in this movie. The character isn't actually receiving ECT, it is just the visual contextualization that the audience can connect with and links to the artificial time period the movie takes place in.
Not just historically. I'm pretty sure it's still used in conversion "therapy" and I know it's used on disabled children. Just because something is an effective medical treatment doesn't mean it isn't also a tool of abuse.
i think it's crazy that dick van dyke's grandchildren wrote the original screenplay, which then won an award, and then olivia wilde hired someone to rewrite it. ooof. also i recommend the 1975 version of the stepford wives, it's on youtube and much more suspensful and dark. also the ending is faithful to the book, the 2004 version changed some stuff
'Don't Worry, Darling' seems as though it has a lot of potential, but unfortunately, it backfired. The chaos behind the scenes are more than enough to provide some sort of evidence that this film's not gonna work out perfectly. Swell Entertainment gives us some pretty good insights in regards to this movie, and I find that impressive.
Precisely, the behind the scenes controversy mired the film before it was even released. The actors were so much better than the material they were given, especially Florence, Chris and Gemma.
I thought the same. I remember when watching the movie that Bunny's jab came just as I was thinking, "Hadn't time passed? She looks to be in the same stage of pregnancy..."
I hate that Florence was a "surgeon". *She's 26.* At 26, you would have JUST graduated med school. She wouldn't have even started residency. A "successful" surgeon is at the YOUNGEST in their early-40s.
@@sarab3417 Still doesn't change what I said, the average age of a surgeon with any kind of permanent position in a hospital is 37, the *youngest* being 30. Stop being pedantic babe, you know I'm right
This is the first review I've seen that really went into the story instead of summarizing it quickly and focusing more time on the drama, so thank you, Amanda!
The ending was too quick, I agree, too many unanswered questions. I wish they explored Jack and Alice's relationship in the real world more, as well as how Frank built this cult following/vr tech Margaret should have had a bigger role and more of a dynamic with Alice as her friend, especially because without her Alice wouldn't have started questioning things. Great review!
I honestly hoped for a moment that the drama was a publicity stunt that would exhibit how the media plays women against one another and that all would be revealed, the movie would be good, and Olivia Wilde would come off looking like a genius. Meep morp guess not.
I just saw the movie and I still have so many questions about the logistics. Like why were the eggs empty? Was it a glitch? What were the random tremors? Why did they kiss like gulping fish? Why did the streetlights break? Was she cyber-Carrie with telekinesis? The breathy staccato vocalizing throughout got irritating fast.
@@moosenman we see that it does. That's why so much random stuff starts happening as soon as anyone has doubts or questions. I don't think it's about knowing it's real or not, it's that if you're forced your mind won't fully accept and they didn't account for that. Kinda also leans into how it's an incel fantasy simulation, so if it works fine for the men who consent, obviously it'll work for women because they'll want it too. It's "ideal" after all, so why even consider a woman not wanting it, or what that would do to a program like that.
With the eggs someone pointed out that she wasn’t supposed to use eggs that day, so maybe they only prepare what is supposed to actually be used but since the plans changed they weren’t programmed right? Idk😅 there’s a lot of “looks cool in the moment” things that have zero payoff
@@lyrcheylap1779 I feel like having back up stuff would- Like it’s a simulation. People do whatever they want sometimes. Shouldn’t they have backups??? Failsafes?????
something that has stuck with me since watching it is the fact that since the men “coming back from work” is just them reentering the simulation, Jack’s behavior coming home from work is really gross. we’re shown that in the real world Alice is occupied by work and when Jack tries to sleep with her after her shift she rejects him, and he goes back to listening to his inc*l podcast. but in the simulation, when Jack comes home from work he is able to immediately have sex with Alice and she is enthusiastic about it. additionally, the other couples comment on how much they ‘do it’, which just makes me wonder how much consent Alice is actually giving and how much is Jack’s manipulation.
ya, relaxed and happy women never want to have sex eh? what makes your statement wrong is that when alice becomes unhappy in the movie she also stops being receptive. where as previously she was receptive. huge difference from being manipulated. i hated this movie for so many other reasons other than this. why did you only go there? hrmm?
@@tomster7574 u are being real weird and sus abt this. manufacturing scenarios to get someones consent when u know they wouldnt otherwise is rly rapey and i dont see how u consider that at all debatable.
I can think of a couple of ways to kind of make stuff feel more cohesive. 1. Instead of insisting Margaret just took a fall, let it be a suicide attempt. It may be a little disruptive, but everyone knew there was something wrong with her already. This would allow them to press further in to the “it’s the trauma” excuse for Alice, and could imply to the watcher that the trauma was seeing what happened to the little boy for both ladies. Yes it would be a red herring, but it also builds off of the established red herring, and would make it seem more believable when distance grows between her and the other women. If you’re right about bringing Margaret back it makes sense they didn’t go this route, but I feel like you would maybe just need to refilm one scene to make it work. 2. At the dinner party have her ask about peoples parents, how old people are, or when they were born. These may not have occurred to her at the moment, but it would also have planted seeds in the other women that they’re not actually sure what year it is. For Peg, kind of along the lines you were thinking, she also could ask how long she’s been pregnant, how many kids she’s had etc. 3. Don’t use the eye cuts so much. I swear it felt like they had 2 types of transition, the eye cuts and the post intimacy cuts. They happened way to often. I get the theming behind it, but it’s a jarring cut for what seemed to be normal scene to normal scene. 4. If you’re going to plant a Motorola ring tone on purpose, out of place as it is, then incorporate more modern sounds into their lives. Add laugh tracks to the tv, have the vacuum, phone, or doorbell sound slightly more modern than it should. Stuff the audience can pick up on. As it was I thought someone on set left their phone on, and it accidentally got picked up by the cameras.
I don't think it'd really be fair to the plot if she was asking questions about parents, siblings, etc. as 1. It might put the viewer back into the "real world" when they are supposed to be completely encapsulated in what is happening in the victory project, and 2. Alice was only really just starting to put the pieces together herself, mind you they wiped her memory in some way to make her more agreeable to the new "world", it's probable that she didn't remember if she had siblings or even any relatives. It could've definitely been used in a way to try and "wake up" some of the other women for sure! I just think it might also taken away from the mystery of it all. I don't think this movie is something we're supposed to have all the answers to, I believe the premise was that they wanted us to speculate and question everything. Kind of like sci-fi thriller/horror movies do in a way sometimes
I agree with your points but would just like to add a note that laughtracks are a very 1950s thing and were most broadly used between the mid 50s and late 70s so adding a laugh track on TV would make it more historical rather than more modern. The first show to have a laugh track was in 1950, adding extra laughter or removing too much was called sweetening or desweetening back then.
To be fair she does call him “babe” at the beginning which immediately took me out of the movie’s setting. I had to think for a solid fifteen seconds whether “babe” or “baby” were appropriate terms of endearing in the 1950s and then decided that it was just some bad writing. I was pleasantly surprised when it actually made sense in the end
The ending of this film left me furious! I would have liked to see Alice’s aftermath, consequences for the Victory Project, and who the other wives/husbands were in the real world. It feels like Olivia got bored of the movie and was like “let’s end it here lol”
When it ended i was genuinely so shocked because i had SO many questions… the first being how the hell is she going to get out bc she is restrained in the real world? And how did harry manage to work a full time job while taking care of Alice’s body bc she cant just lay there forever she’ll get bed sores and shit… also the whole car chase scene i was like what’s the point of this if its just a simulation? Can’t they just go to her house irl?? And those were just my immediate questions but you nailed the others. I just wish they would’ve spent more time answering those questions
I feel like the best thing this movie did was the final twist. Right when she’s at Headquarters and Jack runs up behind her. I read it as “you could switch roles. You could choose to stay and live here with a simulation of your husband the way Bunny has with her children.” But for that twist to work, Alice needs to actually believe she loves Jack and enjoys being a housewife. I think Jack is happy in the first act because he is getting whatever he wants. It’s a solid evolution on the stepford wives idea. The crime isn’t that they’re housewives. Some women, like Bunny, want and choose that lifestyle. The crime was that most wives weren’t consenting partners.
Are any of us free from coercion? If you are shown Happily Ever Afters with women becoming house wives from birth, can you really objectively decide that is what you want? Not that being a housewife should be illegal, but it isn’t so cut and dry as “some women choose that”
@@cole716 not to mention in the society we live in currently, choosing not to have your own income means basically forfeiting your autonomy. all fun and games, unless your husband/boyfriend turns out to be a cheater/abusive, and now you have no job experience, no money and nowhere to go. I'm so tired of watered down feminism acting like being a housewife is a totally neutral decision like there isn't a looong history of this dynamic being used to exploit and abuse women
It was The Matrix + Stepford Wives + The Village.. so many homages and I feel like they couldn't figure out how to end it without copying another big movie ending
I haven’t watched the movie and I don’t think I plan to, but the summary made me think it kind of feels like it’s a poorly executed black mirror episode
You brought up A LOT of the questions I still have after watching it. I really wish we would've been given more answers. And actually I wouldn't have minded the movie being half an hour longer if we got a more satisfying ending.
The original Stepford Wives movie actually had the much darker and completely different ending where the twist was as follows (leaving room if you don’t want it spoiled) They were killing the wives and replacing them with robot replicas, or more commonly might be called androids today. They weren’t implied to really be sentient either but rather just had a set range programming which is why the wives couldn’t possibly conceive “rising up” and the husbands could command them to anything they wanted. Both the original and the remake have an interesting premise but I tend to like the original more as it lends to the notion that the only way for the husbands to have a perfect domestic wife was to create an object only physically resembling a woman but lacking all the sentience and autonomy and therefore never being a true replacement. In other words hinting at the idea that these dudes never wanted their wives to be real people on par with them as equally valued people. They wanted them to be submissive much like a robot taking orders and being perfect, or at least the Men’s Club became a sort of cult that got these emasculated men to believe that was what they wanted and was the best way.
I think one of the reasons they didn’t show the ending is because it would’ve been a very downer ending, they know Alice’s location and can take her out before she goes public with what happened. She’s also bound and emaciated, I don’t see how she can get out of this situation.
There was a quick and passive comment about Peg being "forever pregnant" or something like that. I took it as possibly her husband has a pregnancy kink, not necessarily a sexual kink, and so he would have set up their "account" to have his wife always be pregnant. Just adds to the "I'm the man who cares for my wife and family and my wife provides me with love and kids" vibe that the incel men had.
Now that you mention Jack being more resentful and angry making more sense, I'm starting to now see how Shia would've a more spot on casting choice. EDIT: I was just brainstorming alternatives to Shia La Beouf as he still in the midst of SA allegations. I thought about Andrew Garfield, Dylan O Brien, Zac Efron. But the was one actor Wilde overlooked as being a great equal to Florence Pugh - Dacre Montgomery from Stranger Things. He would’ve been the PERFECT Jack for Wilde’s original vision. Darn
Shia would have helped make the scenes at home feel far more intense. Harry just can’t be taken seriously when he’s angry or worked up, Shias range is scary good.
So many eligible male actors for this role and sadly a pop star with a squeaky clean image was selected and it didn’t allow for the sinister depth Jack’s character so desperately needed to maybe save this mess of a movie
or they honestly could've just switched Chris Pine and Harry's roles. I haven't actually seen the movie, but I know Pine could've pulled this sort of role off
Dacre Montgomery!! Yes! Billy was such an intense character, and Dacre would've been amazing in this role. He's naturally charming and charismatic as an actor, but could definitely flip the switch when needed.
Imagine having Chris Pines and Florence Pugh delivering fire performances on set - and you STILL manage to screw up the film. Considering Olivia Wilde had an incredible did a fantastic job with her first film, I'm inclined to believe the drama rumors - because what an absolute stinker! Also while I know we don't want to talk about the drama, I think it's REALLY inappropriate for a Director to start sleeping with a main actor in the middle of filming. I mean if they did it on their own time, then okay. But literally being intimate on set and letting it become a distraction - is so disrespectful to the rest of the cast and the crew. Especially Pugh, who is trying to get into character and find some kind of chemistry with her co-lead. If any other Director did this same thing, they would get dragged for their behavior.
i mean rest assured shes alrdy getting dragged over it n theres deffo stuff going around that isnt true, but yeah its hard not to consider their relationship when he did badly in this movie and even if its unrelated they kinda set themselves up by not putting their relationship on pause until their project was done, plus theyve alrdy been accused of being inappropriate bc of the age gap, which wouldnt even matter on its own but it feeds into ideas abt their dynamic on set. i think a lot of ppl have alrdy pre-judged dont worry darling bc of all of this and its pretty unfortunate one way or the other than harry styles was noticably bad in it. i imagine this is like, the nightmare scenario for a director.
@@grimlesbians The age gap is whatever to me, he's a grown man and can make his decisions. My problem is that the relationships likely colored her direction choices, and honestly I think she should have went with someone with much more experience in acting who could really shine against Pugh. I think he needs to have a lot more practice before he tries to lead a movie or show. His filmography is very bare. Just because he is a famous musician does not automatically mean he is able to act. I also always question when directors give themselves a role in a movie, but that's just a personal opinion.
@@chaoticneutralfae i mean yeah it rly isnt a big deal but i still saw articles and controversy abt their ages during dwd's production. its rly not much more than fuel for the fire tbh and many ppl pre-judging the movie r going off that too. i would understand giving styles a shot bc lots of stage performers come to acting n do fine but hes just not up to such a big project. the full details of why that all happened will probs come out sooner or later and thatll be a helluva day
Lol your frustration with Harry in the movie is so relatable b/c even though I haven't seen the movie, I know exactly what you're trying to say since that's my thing with him irl. I have never been able to get into him since he went solo as an artist or a person because he's just constantly giving...nothing. Like it feels like his team is just hardcore committed from the start to making sure that no strong reputation or personality of any kind (outside of very broad, vague characteristics he's known for) are ever assigned to his public image. I saw a comment a little while back about him that suggested that it's extremely easy to market him to the level of fame he has when he's such a blank slate that fans are able to project whatever admiration/personality they want onto him. He IS whatever we want him to be. So maybe he's just very private irl and/or it's just a PR strategy, but either way I feel like that very large aspect of him just will never allow him to be anything much more than a "meh" actor. I saw him in Dunkirk when that one came out and based on that, I'm not surprised to hear your comments about how they seemed almost afraid to portray his character in DWD as an imperfect human with flaws and irrational emotions/reactions. Because honestly, he probably has no idea how to show that kind of character compared to how tame he is in his career. That is my thesis ty. P.S. Don't come for me I was an OG 1D stan and I generally like Harry, I just think it's such an interesting topic!
I've had this same thought. I find it so interesting the he always is giving interviews and vehemently refuses to meaningfully answer any questions about himself. It's the perfect marketing strategy-- his fans defend his (lack of) a public persona by saying that we have no right to have access to his personal life, and they get to continue projecting onto this completely blank slate of a person. And he gets a perfect reputation because all we know about him is that he's generically polite which is... super easy to maintain lmao. His entire brand is being unproblematic but that's because he doesn't do anything.
I take back all the laughing at Harry Styles saying that it's a movie that feels like a movie because I saw it and about all I can say is it's certainly the most Movie I've seen in a while
Maybe that's the simulation! You go into the cinema, they knock you out, strap you to a bed, put electrodes in your brain and stimulate your visual receptors to make you think you've really watched a movie, but you haven't- it was all in your head. It was just a series of moving images and sounds conveying a narrative and not a movie at all.~ ooooohhhhh spooky.
The starving surgeon needing to work extra shifts to afford their dirty apartment and struggling with him being unemployed really took me out of the movie completely. 😵💫
Olivia Wilde has real potential to be a great director. I love Booksmart, she did very well with that movie. Styles is definitely the weakest link among the actors, but I don't think he is awful - he just pales in comparison to Pugh, Pine, and Chan. Visually, the movie looks really good, and the score SLAPS. Most of the problems of this movie are all in the script. It's ambitious but never fully fleshes out its own premise.
In the case of booksmart, she was brought on after preproduction after a separate director left the project. The previous director and writer signed NDAs and could not discuss their involvement in the project. This makes me think her actual contributions to Booksmart were exaggerated.
I hated saying that John Powell the middle aged white man was the best thing about the female directed and starring film but his score was incredible. I think he understood performances and the script wasn’t fully working so the music had to carry all the emotion
i'd say the editing and pacing were what made the movie really rough. according to the actress who played Margaret a bunch of her scenes were cut even though they were important to the plot, so I'm wondering if the script would have come off better if the movie wasn't edited the way it was
Two things: (1) I believe Jack‘s motivation to be British is supposed to be because he idolizes James Bond (there’s a poster by his workstation). But it felt like an afterthought so I absolutely believe they made that change to explain Harry’s accent. (2) Given how the other, more experienced actors handled their roles it wouldn’t surprise me if there was supposed to be nuance in Jack that Harry didn’t do a good job of portraying as a novice. Also, throughout the whole film I kept imagining Shia playing Jack, so that also didn’t help.
I’m 53. If you live long enough, these surprise ending secret twist it’s not what you think moments in movies grow tiresome. This idea has been done to death. I don’t think this movie is better than its predecessors, so I wonder why they bothered to make it. Also, in what world would a man want his surgeon wife to revert to a 50s housewife? The premise is lame.
There are men who are intimidated by successful women who make more money than they do. There are men who resent women “taking their jobs”. There are men who think traditional roles where wives stay home and men support the family are best. So, they part is not unrealistic.
@@choreomaniac I think what Ali is saying, and forgive me for guessing at her intentions, is that while yes those men definitely exist...do they tend to date medical students? If a "woman in the home" is what you're after you couldn't make a worse choice. They wouldn't last a week before she even got out of college. So while those men absolutely exist, you'll find they select women from their weird culty religions who have already been indoctrinated to agree with them.
My theory is that Shelley either created/came up with the idea of the Victory Project on her own or both her and Frank did it together but Frank stole it and turned it into what it was shown as in the movie. Her killing him and saying it’s my turn was her wanting to restore the Victory Project as what it should’ve been from the start. There’s a lot of holes in my theory but it’s the only thing that I can think of to make sense of her killing him.
You gotta admit, the score went hard, harder than it had any right to go honestly. Was my favorite aspect of the film and it's the only reason I'm glad I saw it in a theater. I love a score that has a strong personality.
I saw it yesterday. I went in with low expectations and it met them. But if I had to describe the film it'd be that Olivia Wilde wanted to make a beautiful and engaging film with subtle social commentary in the vein of Jordan Peele, but ended up with good looking film with plot holes you could drive a semi through and subtext that's about as subtle as a bullhorn at the opera more akin to late 2000's M. Night Shyamalan.
The thing I find so weird is how Olivia Wilde kept trying to hype up how this movie was about female pleasure? When in the context of the movie It's vey much forced and not actually for Alice.
There was a part where the voice asked if this relationship was a preexisting one. Can you imagine if the movie went into some non preexisting relationship?
When you described the end of Stepford Wives I was pretty confused and thought "Uhhh that's kinda the complete opposite of how it ended?" It took me a minute to realize you were talking about the 2004 remake instead of the original 1975 film XD. You're right that 2004 is pretty fun, but if anyone ever wants to dive into the full horror of this concept, check out the 1975 version. It does not disappoint.
It was basically The Stepford Wives with an incel twist. A bit unoriginal in my opinion, but the movie has solid performances from Pugh, Chan, Pine and Wilde. It's definitely one of the movies of all time, only notorious because of the "backstage drama" and Harry Styles. For better or worse.
Interestingly enough, the rewrite of the original script changed enough that the writer who reworked it is credited as the main writer. As in, over 2/3s of the script was changed
i quite liked harry's yelling in the car scene but when he started "crying" i burst out laughing in the cinema. he scrunched up his face and made noises. it was not enough.
the experience of being in the theater to share the ridiculous moments laughing with everyone else in the theater, this movie is worth it for that alone 😅
So freakin glad I don’t have to go see a full length movie anymore, I see a shitty trailer & think, “ nah my girls gonna review that one soon I don’t have to go see it she’ll tell me about it”
Yes this 😂 if these movies are set to stream on peacock, Hulu, Netflix, Disney+ then sometimes I watch when I can't sleep at night buuuut after I watch her or Amanda the Jedi's reviews haha 😂😂
18:40 in GTAV online, when a player disconnects from a server, their character will still remain and walk around like an npc. harry styles's dead body data is probs still in the victory project to keep the realism of the server (??)
I think a large reason Harry wasn't ready for the role is because of Olivia Wilde's crazy timeline. When Shia quit he said he felt rushed and I'm sure after they hastily cast Harry they kept the same timeline.
I watched it. I knew about the drama but I didn’t think much of it. I think the reason for the earthquakes may have been signs of the simulation starting to breakdown, like when a server crashes it glitches it, but in this case when there is a glitch in Victory, something significant happens, an earthquake or the street lights shattering. The way I viewed the movie was like if someone was playing the sims, and but the sims in this case are actually connected to people IRL. This would explain why Jack’s body was still in the house, if a sim dies, the body is still there and you can even have a cemetery. Also I wonder now what if Shelly was the creator and Frank was a simulation that failed in all aspects of life and the entire thing was a social experiment.
im glad u didn't cover the drama bc i feel like literally everyone has now talked about it to the point where im so sick of hearing about it lmao, so thank you!!
Yeah if it's a simulation who's running it and not deleting Florence's escape car or something? Like the rules make no sense. My group got a good chuckle out of the "You die in the game, you die in real life" moment
I'm extremely pleased that you talked about the movie itself and not the drama. I had no idea what this movie was, my friend invited me to go see it with them, I saw it, I was confused, so I googled it...and all I could find was stuff about this "drama" that I do not care about. So, thank you!
I haven't seen it but based on what you've said in this video and what I've heard elsewhere, it says a lot that Jack was supposed to be played by Shia Lebouf. Like I agree that he shouldn't have been cast, but Shia LeBouf and Harry Styles are very different and it just feels like a poor choice, especially considering that Harry clearly didn't have the acting skills necessary to compensate. It just feels like a lot of artistic concessions were made to make Harry as Jack work, and I honestly find those choices baffling because the film seems to be much, much worse for it :/
I went to see this yesterday and the cinema screen was the busiest I've ever seen it. It's crazy how many people would never have watched this film if not for Harry Styles. It did feel like there was supposed to be a twist where Gemma Chan's character was actually the brains behind the operation but I don't think there would be much point to that?
Saw this over the weekend and the tagline my group all immediately agreed on was "Stepford Wives" meets "The Village". I think the reveal of what was happening needed to come at the end of the first third of the film, so that we'd have more time to build this world and flesh out some of the ideas here. For instance, if she becomes aware of the simulation when she touches 'headquarters' the first time, then the conversation between Bunny and Alice in the bathroom can be the revelation that some of these women choose this, want this, and maybe we could get more than just 'Bunny wants to be a mom'. I also think there's a bigger conversation about work and choice and capitalism that's under the surface in this film, but that no one involved really knows how to articulate.
“Oh lame” was my immediate reaction to the twist. Not that virtual reality cant be used as a plot device, like if going to his job was where he automates what she does or making sure the world around her is stable (or unstable.) however when its used like this its just a sciency way of saying “it was all a dream”
Would love for you to read the original IP script and give your thoughts on the differences! Honestly a lot of these plot holes could be addressed by that script
Maybe he was overly doting on his wife bc of his guilt having her dragged into the project. So then hes telling himself he loves her and hes doing it for her and he wants that to be true so he goes over the top being lovey to get her to love it like he wants her to. And so he can remain in denial that shes a hostage.
When I went to see this movie the theatre employee told us that the movie was about two hours long, and I remember thinking at that point “wow. That’s a short movie”. And lo and behold, my first thought when the movie ended was that it would have massively benefited from another 15-20 minutes of footage.
I haven't seen the movie, but why would Jack have to be the one to put Alice back under? That makes the least sense. There would be technicians operating everything: monitoring people's vitals, administering IVs, messing with memories, etc. Jack wouldn't be involved in any of that any more than Frank would be. So Jack could very easily have been caught by surprise that Alice made it to headquarters. The only person the techs would have informed is Frank, because he's the boss.
Jack is responsible for keeping her alive and in the simulation. It's in the voiceover that plays when he signs up to take part in the project - they handle all of the set-up and maintenance themselves.
1. i always love your movie reviews, you have a great way of identifying the strengths and weaknesses and talking through what could work better. 🙂 2. i have been interested in the drama surrounding the film but i had no interest in watching it until i saw that many of the scenes were filmed at the kaufmann desert house, richard neutra's mid-century modern masterpiece as well as other beautiful homes in palm spring in that style. the kaufmann family also commissioned a much more famous house, frank lloyd wright's iconic masterpiece affectionately known as fallingwater. i find it interesting that they chose not to work with frank lloyd wright again on their summer house in palm springs. as incredible as fallingwater is, it doesn't function well as a house, and the kaufmann family have essentially invested their entire fortune into maintaining it. keeping it open to the public as a museum helps pay for the upkeep as well. i think of fallingwater as less of a house and more of an incredible piece of fine art. they sold their desert house and it fell into a state of extreme disrepair. the couple who bought and restored it were shown the property by their real estate agent essentially as a complete teardown, it had been abandoned for years and was in a very sad state. luckily the couple could tell that it was something special and scooped it up before it was too late. they ended up getting in contact with iconic architectural photographer julius shulman, whose photographs truly shaped how people think about mid-century modernism in south california, and were amazed to find that he had photographed pretty much every square inch of the house when it was new and knew the story behind it as well. some of his most well-known photographs are of that house in particular. the couple hired an architecture firm to lovingly restore it back to its original condition, saving one of the most important houses of that period from a terrible fate. hopefully viewers of "don't worry darling" will appreciate seeing it in all its glory. based on the clips amanda showed i believe it is frank's house in the movie. 🤓
You know the worst part? The movie had such potential but I think it needed strong tweaks and better scripting. It could have done some great waves but it got shit on because they did not know how to develop the plot. Olivia got caught up in trying to hype up how unique and different this film was going to be, she didn’t stop to focus on the important aspects.
Watched it last night and I enjoyed it more than I thought it would. Florence can do no wrong. But i think that the time between the beginning to Alice completely losing it and challenging Frank was way too long. I think some of that time should of been used to explain the Future project or giving a POV to Jack in the simulation, doesn't have to give away that its a simulation but more things would make sense later on. I feel that if shia laboeuf, who was supposed to be jack stayed on this movie, it would of been better. Their would of been no fear in unraveling Jack into an horrible and "ugly" character, unlike with Harry's Jack where it seemed like they were afraid to shatter the good man appearance. Also i don't think making the movie longer is a bad idea. There is a lot that i think is still questioned, and movies can leave viewers questioning and theorizing but there was too much here to interpret yourself.
This was GREAT, so in depth. If the concept is interesting there's a British 1960s drama called The Prisoner which is about an agent who resigns and gets taken to "The Village" where everyone is assigned the number and is super happy and the sun always shines - but you can't leave. Its about him trying to escape and very kind of surreal. I think if the concept of Don't Worry Darling interests you, you'd like The Prisoner! The acting and writing is impeccable.
I really thought the song was gonna be something that the Dr or Frank hummed when they were “reprogramming” or brainwashing the women as they entered the program and that it was all in the real world and they were in a remote location somewhere. I also thought that the plane was real and someone from the outside world but then we got the whole simulation reveal and I was like “what, why?”.
With all the drama surrounding this movie, it being mid as hell does not shock me at all. Like, it seemed like the only possible outcome. I was initially really excited for this movie because I love Booksmart and Florence Pugh, but the more I got the trailer for it before different movies (which was A LOT. There was a period of like 2-3 months where I SWEAR I got the trailer before every movie I saw in theaters), I started to get more and more apprehensive about it. Honestly, all the movie ultimately did was solidify two things for me: 1) Florence Pugh is one of, if not the best young actors of this generation and 2) Harry Styles should really stick to music
This is what I expected. I thought Booksmart was also just mediocre but I appreciated what she was trying to do. This movie seemed ambitious. I’ll definitely watch it when it comes to TV/streaming.
I saw DWD in a test screening about a year and a half ago, and they hardly changed a thing from that screening to its release. The changes that were made were good, but I remember commenting on some of its major flaws in my feedback after that first screening, lmao. Figured they wouldn't change much because of how expensive a lot of it seemed
@@notwithoutpizza4702 A lot of times it's just random. I got chosen (long long ago) to be in one for Super Troopers and I lived a long way from CA or NYC or anything. So even if you live in the boonies there's sometimes hope I guess. We saw this extended cut that mostly just had longer scenes (a big one I remember is the intro where they're messing with the stoners in the car was a lot longer especially the backwards scene) and the ending was a little different.
I couldn't agree more about the seeing Harry and not that character.....but i wonder to what extent that affects my perception of his acting cause he's not the only one that this happens with for me. like song ji hyo everyone keeps telling me she's a great actress but i know her as herself so well that i can never invest myself in the characters or just find things that she would never do awkward in the character.
Honestly, that one Battlestar Galactica/Star Trek episode of Black Mirror wore it best. Olivia also dumbed down the original script with her screenwriter in order to make things much more basic and less intriguing or creepy. Just watch Black Mirror instead.
So freaking true. Down to the social commentary on inc*ls and everything. And a much more satisfying watch, despite the fact that it’s shorter than this movie. The power of good execution and directors that know what they’re doing lol
Thank you for saving a few hours of my life. I was very curious about the movie, but had a feeling I would be disappointed if I actually watched it (sounds like my guess was right based on your summary)
You are so right the movie is just basicly you get to go live as a sim. That being said if the husband is the one who is jobless where is getting the money for this like when did he a job or how if the whole point of going here was to escape the fact that he was jobless.
I'm actually super glad you covered the movie in depth and went on all those tangents, because I'm not watching the movie but was really curious to know what's it about lol
So it sounds like there's the bones of a solid "Guys Would Literally VR Gaslight Their Wives Rather Than Go to Therapy" movie in there and thats definitely a movie I'd like to see, and the mechanics are clashing with the metaphor for you. Maybe if they leaned into the surreality you'd be happier with less of the nuts and bolts being exposed?
The main problem with this plot is, why not tell everyone involved about the project? Surely, if everyone had a comparison between the simulation and real life, they’d all choose the simulation because it sounds like real life sucks there. People wouldn’t think they were going crazy, so there wouldn’t be any problems.
Something that really bothered me going in is how much emphasis Olivia Wilde put on this movie being about “female pleasure” but if Alice is forced into a simulation and then coerced into sex, that’s not female pleasure, that’s assault.
THANK YOU OMG
I kind of took it as pleasure given but not asked for. Like he gives her all this stuff that’s “good” but she didn’t ask. She isn’t an active member of their sex life. She often says no and fights him but he gives it anyway.
Edit to add I think it works in the movie but I don’t think it’s what Olivia Wilde was going for lol
she probably meant female rage....but even thats not right lol
So you were so focused on stuff that wasn’t the actual movie. It seems like everyone who hates this is either focused completely on behind the scenes stuff or didn’t actually watch it and are just regurgitating stuff they heard.
@@hqb5276 i swear if this was some sort of vintage movie, everyone would be going crazy over it
Florence, Chris and Gemma all delivered solid performances, but it still wasn't enough to save this movie from mediocrity. I would pay decent money to watch the Behind the Scenes drama instead.
Why do I keep finding you LOL this is the 3rd time 😭 we had a convo about how your pfp was Addams family the musical and you were a nurse in it and in January I was doing it also LOL
I felt like Chris’ performance wasn’t great tbh. Maybe the drama affected my viewing, but every time he was on screen I got the strong vibes that he just did not want to be there or care about any part of this project lmao
That in itself has a better plot and story arc
@@mcgheebentle1958 the fact that we learned through the drama that he doesn’t have a smart phone and the proud dad moment on the red carpet where he took a photo of Florence on a disposable camera for me makes the entire thing existing worth it.
@@hudsonsheldrake530 Lol same here, I swear Trina Q comments on every other video I see
It had potential and it kinda...felt unfinished. It felt like a first draft of a movie rather than the finished thing.
Agreed, it could've been so much better. It had a solid base and so much potential, especially with such a strong cast (mainly Florence Pugh)
Which is not great to think about when the spec script OW and her co-writer purchased and re-wrote was a lot more coherent than the mess that ended up on the theatre
Yes! Like there were some scenes that needed something to lead into it - like when she breaks the egg....why did she find the egg suspicious in the first place? They needed her cracking and egg and it being empty THEN inspect them closely
Aww man and I wanted to watch it
Atleast the trailer was great😂
I saw something on TikTok that said when Jack was filling out the application for the Victory Project, it asked if they knew the “wife” & there’s also a voice over with Frank saying something like “it’s your responsibility to care for your chosen wife,” implying that these men could’ve just kidnapped a random women they’re obsessed with and holdthem hostage
Yep.
Now THAT's an interesting story
i realized that during the movie and i couldnt stop thinking about it its such a terrifying prospect
You lost me at "I saw something on tiktok"
funny that olivia said this was about female pleasure
You're very good at reviewing movies that make me think "I'm curious if that was any good but not enough to actually see it."
+
Same
Agreed! I truly appreciate it haha
Literally this is my first video I’ve seen of hers and i loved her review and commentary!!
Agreed. 100%
For me I was pretty much done pretty early on because the symbolism was SO on the nose. I felt like Olivia Wilde was sitting on my shoulder going do you get it? She's part of a dance. Do you get it? She's feeling pressed in and stuck. Do you get it? She's suffocating. DO YOU GET IT? HER NAME IS ALICE AND SHE'S ASLEEP IN WONDERLAND.
i havent seen the movie so my opinion means nothing but the way the dancing was described sounds like that like such an obvious metaphor that a middle schooler would've written
🤣
I also dislike how Olivia paints this as a film about “how does one take a stand when the System they live in is too comfortable” when we really don’t see that in Alice’s or any of the captive womens perspectives since they were all forced there. Granted, I guess that goes into how people are born into certain systemic dynamics but in real life, you have a choice or choices to choose what kind of life you want to live. Shit, you can go off the grid too. So for that kind of Introspective take she mentioned in that late night interview (which that take comes from a vey rich/upper class mindset imo), it would’ve been more interesting to see the film from Olivia’s character’s perspective (or the mens’) who all CHOSE to be there vs a literal hostage who at first couldn’t remember her life before and can’t leave her idyllic world. It would’ve been amazing to see a character gripping with the set rules/control, eventual mundanity, and psychological torture of the fake world and the shitty reality of the real world and have to choose what to do, especially if they have realized that majority of the people there are prisoners.
I honestly didn't realize the Alice in Wonderland bit
don’t worry darling is like a mystery show that spends multiple seasons building up a mystery and giving clues before it’s finally solved, but then you rewatch it and realize the early clues don’t actually match up with the eventual reveal because the writers hadn’t planned that far ahead.
except, of course, don’t worry darling is only two hours long so all of those clues are still fresh in your mind at the reveal and it makes even less sense
Basically Pretty Little Liars lol
What's it about? I don't mind spoilers.
Nevermind. That's the point of the video 🤦🏾♂️
The movie version of LOST
You need to watch it a few times, there are lots of visual clues.
dont be afraid to say LOST 😭
The question about how public the Victory Project is was a big one for me- granted I haven’t actually seen the film, but my sister gave me a play by play of it after she saw it and my first thought was if Alice was a surgeon working all those hours who just disappeared without explanation, wouldn’t someone be looking for her? Coworkers, patients, etc? Does she have any other family outside of Harry? Did the other wives have any family outside their husbands? Were all these women so isolated in their lives that their husbands could just make them disappear and no one would question it? Is no one looking for them? Or is the Victory Project just a known, accepted thing by the public?
apparently there were rewrites to the script that removed those explanations which is such a glaring plot hole to make!
That was my issue! If she was a surgeon, NO ONE questioned her just disappearing? Like WTF?
I head that there is a deleted scene or a script version where all the men had to fake their wives’ death to get into the victory project! I know it’s not in the movie itself but it’s something :)
The original script says that the husbands had to fake their wives deaths, something kinda weird considering they live in 2050 and according to the script in a much more feminist time than today, so women disappearing with only their husbands knowing seems weird
People try to solve 60 year old cold cases of missing people. There is no way no one would look into a missing presumed dead woman. A parent or sibling or cousin would be suspicious and without a body a husband couldn’t say anything to allay that suspicion. Then it happening several more times and all the husbands are part of the same project?
One thing that confuses me, as someone who hasn't seen this movie, is why would a SURGEON, a person in a profession which makes, on average, $400,000 a year, need to work MORE SHIFTS to make ends meet? What kind of lifestyle do you have to lead where that's a reality?
Maybe she's a surgical nurse? But pretty sure they make a lot of money too? Idk. Must be some pretty dystopian world it takes place in.
Maybe she wasn't working extra time at all, just being anywhere but home?
(Either that or the writer didn't think to check how much things would cost)
Trauma surgery has lots of extra shifts hi stress job and more I'm assuming.
@@frumtheground Nah they called her doctor as she left the hospital. Another aspect of the script that they clearly didn’t give much thought
she’s a resident, not a full fledged surgeon yet
The "I'm hungry" line is honestly so sinister to me, because it's not Jack being stupid, it's probably a sign that he's being successfully indoctrinated into that toxic Alpha Male way of thinking - 'it's the woman's job to handle the food' and also 'the woman should be obedient to the man.' He's low-key testing Alice to see if she'll respond 'correctly' and prepare him food, the way the videos he's been watching are telling him she should. And, from his perspective, she failed his test.
lol women dont fail tests. olivia wilde would like a word
@@JuicemanGravy Preeeeeetty sure this the sort of test you actually want to fail, because it's a test an incel is giving you to see if you're obedient enough to him. Though Olivia Wilde may have whatever opinion she likes on the matter, of course.
That was my thought as well. He’s ‘morphing’
@@MeadowSongs
"Morphing???"
You're making me think of Power Rangers.
It's probably because I've seen too many episodes of "The Twilight Zone", "Black Mirror" or "WandaVision", but I guessed that the seemingly perfect, 1950's Utopian community would be a stimulation. It was obvious that something was amiss, and since robots have already been done, this was the next best guess.
Yeah this movie immediately made me think Stepford Wives lol . I was thinking a cult experiment thing like The Village
@@xochiltaviles4539 The Village threw me for a loop to be honest like it's a very interesting movie and I liked it but part of the reason why I didn't like it was because it was all fake and nobody except for the adults/parents knew this was fake.
I think the timing of this coming out after WandaVision was interesting because that's the most recent media to do something like this successfully and to have this come out right after makes it even easier to see the holes in it
I mean...it's a remake of Stepford Wives without giving that film any credit. That's all it is. The plot of the film is the exact same.
From preview one I called it as "stepford wives in the matrix type thing I bet."
I haven't seen it but it sounds like they were afraid to make Harry Styles an actual creepy incel dude...in a movie about creepy incel dudes. That kind of sucks because I was interested to see what he could do as an actor, but it seems like they didn't want to push him too far outside of the comfort zone of his fan base.
KiKi Layne's character (the black woman who commited sue of side) had more scenes in the film but was actually cut out of it to make space for olivia wilde's character...so yh, theres that. Apparently her character had a lot to do with the plot too.
I can't believe they had kiki layne and fumbled the bag like that
Gross. I didn’t like that Olivia cast herself as the main side character
I was just thinking that watch this video. Like Bunny is a minor character to Alice’s story arch and discovery, compared to Margaret’s (Kiki’s) character dynamic.
Really?? Now I want to see more of her character, it was good.
If the problem was that her husband was unemployed, which made him feel inadequate, how was he suddenly able to find a job that was at least enough to support both of their basic necessity
And the fact that she had to work extra shifts as a fucking SURGEON to barely help them scratch by (but their hot water was still shut off…), YET he now works a job while she’s in the Victory Project and he provides for them in real life. That means he rolled out of bed and went from being unemployed to working a job that’s on par with a fucking surgeon… excuse me?
The simple fix is that they never had to make her a surgeon! She could have worked at target??? It wouldn’t have changed anything in the story and it would make more sense.
Yeah that made so little sense to me
@@jamiek9780 someone must’ve smoke a good ton of weed when they were at the conference meetinf….
@@jamiek9780 you’re assuming that they were scrapping by. That wasn’t ever said in the movie, being a brain surgeon is a very time costly job. It could’ve just been that her schedule was annoying for those particular days. Their apartment wasn’t that big, and (correct me if I’m wrong) but they never said what Harry’s job was that he lost. It’s entirely possible that he got another job (maybe like an IT job?) to pay the rent. You have to also remember that he incompassitated (idk how to spell it) her, so he could’ve been using her credit cards in the real world. Plus remeber that he doesn’t have to really pay for food for 2, and he mostly just drives from the apartment to his work. I also doubt he has many other expenses.
@@bobsburgers8497 she literally says that ends aren’t meeting at one point
Agreeee. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but it still wasn't good. Florence Pugh helped to save it quite a bit, but even she can only do so much.
Precisely, Florence's back probably hurts from carrying this entire movie, though she had help from Chris and Gemma.
I find very funny when people say "Florence saved the movie with her acting" THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF HER BEING THE LEAD ACTRESS IN THE MOVIE😭😭😭 the main lead obviously needs to be charming and good in order for the movie to be good, that's why they hired her
@@TheSamuelbest12 well yes I'm aware. I'm just getting at that she's so good she partially saved a trainwreck. A lot of other actors wouldn't have been able to.
@@TheSamuelbest12 the main lead isn't supposed to be the only redeeming thing for your movie, it's supposed to be good outside of the main actress 😭
@@justine4581 of course the lead performance shouldn't be the "only" good part of your movie, but it's a very important one.
It's bad when people say that a minor character with 4 minutes of screentime is better than your lead for example
Yeah, “better than expected but still not good” sums this one up quite well.
Sort of like a soggy souffle feel?
I’ve read the first version of the script before the rewrite. The mechanics of the third story worked somewhat more consistent; like Style’s character is a lot more sinister and his motivation for joining the Victory project comes after Florence divorces him and the climax is a fight between them as she wakes up from the simulation. I’m pretty sure they had to nerf down his character because Styles isn’t a great actor since the original version probably would have worked better with Pine in the role. I recommend reading through it-I’d love to see what you think about it after seeing this movie.
Ooh yes I would love to see Pine as that, he'd have the gravitas for that
A few days ago, I came up with a tiny conspiracy theory about it. Pugh and Pine signed onto the project to be the leads based on the original script or an early revision, but there was an executive decision to use this as a vehicle for Styles’ film career to boost the film’s appeal (probably for his current popularity more than his relationship with Wilde). Pines got recast to make room and the script was revised to make the role easier for Styles that ultimately killed the third act. It would make sense why Pugh seemed unusually apathetic in the press circuit as it wasn’t the role she signed up but has an upcoming Nolan film she’s more confident about.
Just my conjecture with no evidence, but it’s fun to think about.
Where did you find the original script?
@@hannahhannah7002 not the OP but you can find a lot of these online with a bit of googling, I have done that for classes before
One of the things that really got me from that movie was the part where Alice was chosen as Jack's Victory Wife and there was an option to not have a prior relationship with the woman who gets snatched which means some women were snatched by guys they might not even know and I think that's what happened to Violet bc her "husband" was freaking tf out and I just wish that terrifying concept had been explored more
I think the director didn't want to make harry look bad. They were worried about his image, thats probably why they wanted him to present as a dotting husband .
Olivia Wilde didn’t want to make her boyfriend look bad, harry styles.
but it would have been more impressive and a credit to harry.s acting chops if did play the evil incel husband well!!
That was my first thought as well: he was involved in the project first and foremost as Harry Styles, and all the branding that implies, rather than as an actor whose main focus is embodying a character. Like, when Florence Pugh does her roles she isn’t just being Florence Pugh in a movie and selling herself that way, she’s being the character
They probably rewrite his character after Shia left. Shia would’ve been a great brainwashed husband
@@andante4904 unfortunately Shia is an actual abuser in real life so... 🤷♀️
as for the pregnancy, we see her drinking or smoking throughout the movie. i also remember bunny saying she's "always pregnant" so i would think of it as a character selection
When Peg sits down at dinner, she’s talking to Violet about what giving birth is like, and she says “they hand you your baby and you say, is this my baby?” - so I agree, I think it’s a character selection and that if she WERE to give birth, it wouldn’t be part of the simulation and she’d “wake up” to a virtual baby like the rest of the children. I guess? This movie is one big “I guess”
I thought it was because of the time period they were emulating- smoking used to be pushed as a way to get rid of pregnancy cravings and drinking while pregnant wasn’t known to be a bad thing yet
@@ambientsentient that could also explain peg's explanation of birth too. Twilight births we're a very disturbing yet popular method of delivery for quite awhile.
@@msdouglas12100 that’s a great point!
@@msdouglas12100 What's a twilight birth? I'd google it, but I'm a little scared to
I really think if Harry worked on his delivery and was portrayed in a highly negative light it would be a great way to break out and showcase his potential versatility. Drama aside I think he is stuck in a very specific type of role in everything he does and it really feels manufactured to an extent. I’d love to see him in a role that completely defies what we think of him now
I'd like a talented unknown actor to be featured in such roles instead.
I'd like to think a person in his position would do the bare modicum of preparation for acting instead of swanning in and expecting the spotlight. Especially with the delays due to COVID. Prime coaching time.
do you think a different director could have gotten a better performance out of harry? i'm sure olivia is a very good director, but sometimes personal relationships can make it harder to give constructive criticism :/
@@alexkasper5029 I was looking for someone with this opinion, because that was honestly my first thought. Another director would have pushed for a better performance or gotten someone that could...unless they just wanted his name to sell tickets.
There is a chance you could see more of a dramatic or slightly negative side. Slightly. He is playing a man who is in a relationship while being married, and on top of that it’s in a time period where being with another man is extremely taboo so they try to keep it a secret and it seems his wife knew/found out later on. I think it’s called the Police Man? The postman? I think it’s the second one, but it’s being released on Amazon prime I believe and maybe theaters too. I saw a preview for it before this movie started actually. Looks interesting and it’s possibly to get a different side from Harry than portrayed here, somewhat. He is still a loving husband and there is an aspect of betrayal, but we may get a more in depth and complex performance from how he shows his love differently between his other lover and wife, or how he handles that part of his sexuality in coming to terms with it or what not.
It’s an interesting if not slightly cliche narrative, but at least if he falls short here it shouldn’t be all too bad.
I'm really tired of ECT (electroconvulsive therapy aka shock treatment) used as a cheap gimmick all over TV and movies. Historically it's use was horrific but now it's used under anesthesia for a lot of people for depression and as a *last resort* that can save lives. Usually the memory loss is around the *time of the procedure* that's all. Some people do lose some long term memories, but again you don't get to pick and choose when, what, or why.
Yeah, at this point is disrespectful
I don't feel like it is a cheap gimmick in this movie. The character isn't actually receiving ECT, it is just the visual contextualization that the audience can connect with and links to the artificial time period the movie takes place in.
Not just historically. I'm pretty sure it's still used in conversion "therapy" and I know it's used on disabled children. Just because something is an effective medical treatment doesn't mean it isn't also a tool of abuse.
It’s a sci fi movie…….
@marissameizel it’s not that serious. What a silly issue to pick
i think it's crazy that dick van dyke's grandchildren wrote the original screenplay, which then won an award, and then olivia wilde hired someone to rewrite it. ooof. also i recommend the 1975 version of the stepford wives, it's on youtube and much more suspensful and dark. also the ending is faithful to the book, the 2004 version changed some stuff
The second I started to see previews for this movie way back I actually said "it's gonna be a Stepford Wives situation isn't it?"
'Don't Worry, Darling' seems as though it has a lot of potential, but unfortunately, it backfired. The chaos behind the scenes are more than enough to provide some sort of evidence that this film's not gonna work out perfectly. Swell Entertainment gives us some pretty good insights in regards to this movie, and I find that impressive.
Precisely, the behind the scenes controversy mired the film before it was even released. The actors were so much better than the material they were given, especially Florence, Chris and Gemma.
I think peg being pregnant all the time was a function of her husband's fetish? That's what I realized after bunny jokes she's "always pregnant".
I thought the same. I remember when watching the movie that Bunny's jab came just as I was thinking, "Hadn't time passed? She looks to be in the same stage of pregnancy..."
I hate that Florence was a "surgeon".
*She's 26.* At 26, you would have JUST graduated med school. She wouldn't have even started residency. A "successful" surgeon is at the YOUNGEST in their early-40s.
She wasn't successful at all yet.
But then they’d have to hire *gasp* an older woman
@@sarab3417 Still doesn't change what I said, the average age of a surgeon with any kind of permanent position in a hospital is 37, the *youngest* being 30. Stop being pedantic babe, you know I'm right
@@TayTayGrace03 🤢
Taylor Grace med school is not a thing in every country. Some places you just go right into it
This is the first review I've seen that really went into the story instead of summarizing it quickly and focusing more time on the drama, so thank you, Amanda!
Yeah, I haven't seen the film so it was nice to hear what it's actually about rather than going into the drama.
This exactly, I already know all the drama I just want to hear about the movie
The ending was too quick, I agree, too many unanswered questions. I wish they explored Jack and Alice's relationship in the real world more, as well as how Frank built this cult following/vr tech
Margaret should have had a bigger role and more of a dynamic with Alice as her friend, especially because without her Alice wouldn't have started questioning things. Great review!
I guess you could say that the creators should’ve worried more about the final product.
The executives would’ve just repeated the title of the movie whenever an employee brought that up
@@MasterKey2004 🤣
I honestly hoped for a moment that the drama was a publicity stunt that would exhibit how the media plays women against one another and that all would be revealed, the movie would be good, and Olivia Wilde would come off looking like a genius.
Meep morp guess not.
Except Olivia was actually shady towards Flo so not the public pinning the against each other but Olivia came after Flo
Truth is sometimes more confusing than fiction.
@@hotcheetosgirl08 No she wasnt lol, she praised her constantly throughout the film
@@thetruth830 think their talking about that weird “miss flo” comment implying that she should suck it up and work with Shia
@@thetruth830 actually no. It's highly known that she was very shady behind cameras.
I just saw the movie and I still have so many questions about the logistics. Like why were the eggs empty? Was it a glitch? What were the random tremors? Why did they kiss like gulping fish? Why did the streetlights break? Was she cyber-Carrie with telekinesis? The breathy staccato vocalizing throughout got irritating fast.
I'm guessing all the weird stuff is it glitching. Like since it's a mind thing if you start to question it, you can then affect it?
@@charmander466 wouldn’t that make a simulation like that violently unstable tho
@@moosenman we see that it does. That's why so much random stuff starts happening as soon as anyone has doubts or questions. I don't think it's about knowing it's real or not, it's that if you're forced your mind won't fully accept and they didn't account for that. Kinda also leans into how it's an incel fantasy simulation, so if it works fine for the men who consent, obviously it'll work for women because they'll want it too. It's "ideal" after all, so why even consider a woman not wanting it, or what that would do to a program like that.
With the eggs someone pointed out that she wasn’t supposed to use eggs that day, so maybe they only prepare what is supposed to actually be used but since the plans changed they weren’t programmed right? Idk😅 there’s a lot of “looks cool in the moment” things that have zero payoff
@@lyrcheylap1779 I feel like having back up stuff would-
Like it’s a simulation. People do whatever they want sometimes. Shouldn’t they have backups??? Failsafes?????
something that has stuck with me since watching it is the fact that since the men “coming back from work” is just them reentering the simulation, Jack’s behavior coming home from work is really gross. we’re shown that in the real world Alice is occupied by work and when Jack tries to sleep with her after her shift she rejects him, and he goes back to listening to his inc*l podcast. but in the simulation, when Jack comes home from work he is able to immediately have sex with Alice and she is enthusiastic about it. additionally, the other couples comment on how much they ‘do it’, which just makes me wonder how much consent Alice is actually giving and how much is Jack’s manipulation.
Isn't it all manipulation since Alice was forced into this simulation?
*jack
@@anara967 yeah! the more and more i think about it the more disturbing it gets
ya, relaxed and happy women never want to have sex eh? what makes your statement wrong is that when alice becomes unhappy in the movie she also stops being receptive. where as previously she was receptive. huge difference from being manipulated. i hated this movie for so many other reasons other than this. why did you only go there? hrmm?
@@tomster7574 u are being real weird and sus abt this. manufacturing scenarios to get someones consent when u know they wouldnt otherwise is rly rapey and i dont see how u consider that at all debatable.
I can think of a couple of ways to kind of make stuff feel more cohesive.
1. Instead of insisting Margaret just took a fall, let it be a suicide attempt. It may be a little disruptive, but everyone knew there was something wrong with her already. This would allow them to press further in to the “it’s the trauma” excuse for Alice, and could imply to the watcher that the trauma was seeing what happened to the little boy for both ladies. Yes it would be a red herring, but it also builds off of the established red herring, and would make it seem more believable when distance grows between her and the other women. If you’re right about bringing Margaret back it makes sense they didn’t go this route, but I feel like you would maybe just need to refilm one scene to make it work.
2. At the dinner party have her ask about peoples parents, how old people are, or when they were born. These may not have occurred to her at the moment, but it would also have planted seeds in the other women that they’re not actually sure what year it is. For Peg, kind of along the lines you were thinking, she also could ask how long she’s been pregnant, how many kids she’s had etc.
3. Don’t use the eye cuts so much. I swear it felt like they had 2 types of transition, the eye cuts and the post intimacy cuts. They happened way to often. I get the theming behind it, but it’s a jarring cut for what seemed to be normal scene to normal scene.
4. If you’re going to plant a Motorola ring tone on purpose, out of place as it is, then incorporate more modern sounds into their lives. Add laugh tracks to the tv, have the vacuum, phone, or doorbell sound slightly more modern than it should. Stuff the audience can pick up on. As it was I thought someone on set left their phone on, and it accidentally got picked up by the cameras.
These would all be great additions to the film. I wish they'd had a few more script doctors look at it before deciding on the final product
Gosh these are good
I don't think it'd really be fair to the plot if she was asking questions about parents, siblings, etc. as 1. It might put the viewer back into the "real world" when they are supposed to be completely encapsulated in what is happening in the victory project, and 2. Alice was only really just starting to put the pieces together herself, mind you they wiped her memory in some way to make her more agreeable to the new "world", it's probable that she didn't remember if she had siblings or even any relatives. It could've definitely been used in a way to try and "wake up" some of the other women for sure! I just think it might also taken away from the mystery of it all. I don't think this movie is something we're supposed to have all the answers to, I believe the premise was that they wanted us to speculate and question everything. Kind of like sci-fi thriller/horror movies do in a way sometimes
I agree with your points but would just like to add a note that laughtracks are a very 1950s thing and were most broadly used between the mid 50s and late 70s so adding a laugh track on TV would make it more historical rather than more modern. The first show to have a laugh track was in 1950, adding extra laughter or removing too much was called sweetening or desweetening back then.
To be fair she does call him “babe” at the beginning which immediately took me out of the movie’s setting. I had to think for a solid fifteen seconds whether “babe” or “baby” were appropriate terms of endearing in the 1950s and then decided that it was just some bad writing. I was pleasantly surprised when it actually made sense in the end
The ending of this film left me furious! I would have liked to see Alice’s aftermath, consequences for the Victory Project, and who the other wives/husbands were in the real world. It feels like Olivia got bored of the movie and was like “let’s end it here lol”
When it ended i was genuinely so shocked because i had SO many questions… the first being how the hell is she going to get out bc she is restrained in the real world? And how did harry manage to work a full time job while taking care of Alice’s body bc she cant just lay there forever she’ll get bed sores and shit… also the whole car chase scene i was like what’s the point of this if its just a simulation? Can’t they just go to her house irl?? And those were just my immediate questions but you nailed the others. I just wish they would’ve spent more time answering those questions
Bed sores were a huge question of mine.
To get out of the stimulation they had to go to head quarters anyways. So it was a race to stop her, or get out before she did
@@bobsburgers8497 But they leave no one outside of it monitoring their bodies or anything? That seems like a terrible idea on their part.
I feel like the best thing this movie did was the final twist. Right when she’s at Headquarters and Jack runs up behind her. I read it as “you could switch roles. You could choose to stay and live here with a simulation of your husband the way Bunny has with her children.” But for that twist to work, Alice needs to actually believe she loves Jack and enjoys being a housewife. I think Jack is happy in the first act because he is getting whatever he wants. It’s a solid evolution on the stepford wives idea. The crime isn’t that they’re housewives. Some women, like Bunny, want and choose that lifestyle. The crime was that most wives weren’t consenting partners.
This is exactly my thought on the hit and miss of this film.
Are any of us free from coercion? If you are shown Happily Ever Afters with women becoming house wives from birth, can you really objectively decide that is what you want? Not that being a housewife should be illegal, but it isn’t so cut and dry as “some women choose that”
@@cole716 not to mention in the society we live in currently, choosing not to have your own income means basically forfeiting your autonomy. all fun and games, unless your husband/boyfriend turns out to be a cheater/abusive, and now you have no job experience, no money and nowhere to go. I'm so tired of watered down feminism acting like being a housewife is a totally neutral decision like there isn't a looong history of this dynamic being used to exploit and abuse women
It was The Matrix + Stepford Wives + The Village.. so many homages and I feel like they couldn't figure out how to end it without copying another big movie ending
My thought exactly.
I just watched the remake of The Stepford Wives, and this just seems like an updated version.
I haven’t watched the movie and I don’t think I plan to, but the summary made me think it kind of feels like it’s a poorly executed black mirror episode
I also got Fahrenheit 451 vibes with the moving men.
The Prisoner - but mostly the American Prisoner remake
You brought up A LOT of the questions I still have after watching it. I really wish we would've been given more answers. And actually I wouldn't have minded the movie being half an hour longer if we got a more satisfying ending.
The original Stepford Wives movie actually had the much darker and completely different ending where the twist was as follows (leaving room if you don’t want it spoiled)
They were killing the wives and replacing them with robot replicas, or more commonly might be called androids today. They weren’t implied to really be sentient either but rather just had a set range programming which is why the wives couldn’t possibly conceive “rising up” and the husbands could command them to anything they wanted. Both the original and the remake have an interesting premise but I tend to like the original more as it lends to the notion that the only way for the husbands to have a perfect domestic wife was to create an object only physically resembling a woman but lacking all the sentience and autonomy and therefore never being a true replacement. In other words hinting at the idea that these dudes never wanted their wives to be real people on par with them as equally valued people. They wanted them to be submissive much like a robot taking orders and being perfect, or at least the Men’s Club became a sort of cult that got these emasculated men to believe that was what they wanted and was the best way.
That's a better ending...
I think one of the reasons they didn’t show the ending is because it would’ve been a very downer ending, they know Alice’s location and can take her out before she goes public with what happened. She’s also bound and emaciated, I don’t see how she can get out of this situation.
There was a quick and passive comment about Peg being "forever pregnant" or something like that.
I took it as possibly her husband has a pregnancy kink, not necessarily a sexual kink, and so he would have set up their "account" to have his wife always be pregnant. Just adds to the "I'm the man who cares for my wife and family and my wife provides me with love and kids" vibe that the incel men had.
Now that you mention Jack being more resentful and angry making more sense, I'm starting to now see how Shia would've a more spot on casting choice.
EDIT: I was just brainstorming alternatives to Shia La Beouf as he still in the midst of SA allegations. I thought about Andrew Garfield, Dylan O Brien, Zac Efron. But the was one actor Wilde overlooked as being a great equal to Florence Pugh - Dacre Montgomery from Stranger Things. He would’ve been the PERFECT Jack for Wilde’s original vision. Darn
Shia would have helped make the scenes at home feel far more intense. Harry just can’t be taken seriously when he’s angry or worked up, Shias range is scary good.
If anyone can bring aggrieved entitlement to a role its Shia LaBeouf
So many eligible male actors for this role and sadly a pop star with a squeaky clean image was selected and it didn’t allow for the sinister depth Jack’s character so desperately needed to maybe save this mess of a movie
or they honestly could've just switched Chris Pine and Harry's roles. I haven't actually seen the movie, but I know Pine could've pulled this sort of role off
Dacre Montgomery!! Yes! Billy was such an intense character, and Dacre would've been amazing in this role. He's naturally charming and charismatic as an actor, but could definitely flip the switch when needed.
Imagine having Chris Pines and Florence Pugh delivering fire performances on set - and you STILL manage to screw up the film. Considering Olivia Wilde had an incredible did a fantastic job with her first film, I'm inclined to believe the drama rumors - because what an absolute stinker!
Also while I know we don't want to talk about the drama, I think it's REALLY inappropriate for a Director to start sleeping with a main actor in the middle of filming. I mean if they did it on their own time, then okay. But literally being intimate on set and letting it become a distraction - is so disrespectful to the rest of the cast and the crew. Especially Pugh, who is trying to get into character and find some kind of chemistry with her co-lead.
If any other Director did this same thing, they would get dragged for their behavior.
Like how the director Rupert Sanders got roasted for having an affair with Kristen Stewart.
wait they were doing it on set?? like on filming days? is that confirmed or what bcz wtf
i mean rest assured shes alrdy getting dragged over it n theres deffo stuff going around that isnt true, but yeah its hard not to consider their relationship when he did badly in this movie and even if its unrelated they kinda set themselves up by not putting their relationship on pause until their project was done, plus theyve alrdy been accused of being inappropriate bc of the age gap, which wouldnt even matter on its own but it feeds into ideas abt their dynamic on set.
i think a lot of ppl have alrdy pre-judged dont worry darling bc of all of this and its pretty unfortunate one way or the other than harry styles was noticably bad in it. i imagine this is like, the nightmare scenario for a director.
@@grimlesbians The age gap is whatever to me, he's a grown man and can make his decisions. My problem is that the relationships likely colored her direction choices, and honestly I think she should have went with someone with much more experience in acting who could really shine against Pugh. I think he needs to have a lot more practice before he tries to lead a movie or show. His filmography is very bare. Just because he is a famous musician does not automatically mean he is able to act. I also always question when directors give themselves a role in a movie, but that's just a personal opinion.
@@chaoticneutralfae i mean yeah it rly isnt a big deal but i still saw articles and controversy abt their ages during dwd's production. its rly not much more than fuel for the fire tbh and many ppl pre-judging the movie r going off that too.
i would understand giving styles a shot bc lots of stage performers come to acting n do fine but hes just not up to such a big project. the full details of why that all happened will probs come out sooner or later and thatll be a helluva day
Lol your frustration with Harry in the movie is so relatable b/c even though I haven't seen the movie, I know exactly what you're trying to say since that's my thing with him irl. I have never been able to get into him since he went solo as an artist or a person because he's just constantly giving...nothing. Like it feels like his team is just hardcore committed from the start to making sure that no strong reputation or personality of any kind (outside of very broad, vague characteristics he's known for) are ever assigned to his public image. I saw a comment a little while back about him that suggested that it's extremely easy to market him to the level of fame he has when he's such a blank slate that fans are able to project whatever admiration/personality they want onto him. He IS whatever we want him to be. So maybe he's just very private irl and/or it's just a PR strategy, but either way I feel like that very large aspect of him just will never allow him to be anything much more than a "meh" actor. I saw him in Dunkirk when that one came out and based on that, I'm not surprised to hear your comments about how they seemed almost afraid to portray his character in DWD as an imperfect human with flaws and irrational emotions/reactions. Because honestly, he probably has no idea how to show that kind of character compared to how tame he is in his career. That is my thesis ty.
P.S. Don't come for me I was an OG 1D stan and I generally like Harry, I just think it's such an interesting topic!
I've had this same thought. I find it so interesting the he always is giving interviews and vehemently refuses to meaningfully answer any questions about himself. It's the perfect marketing strategy-- his fans defend his (lack of) a public persona by saying that we have no right to have access to his personal life, and they get to continue projecting onto this completely blank slate of a person. And he gets a perfect reputation because all we know about him is that he's generically polite which is... super easy to maintain lmao. His entire brand is being unproblematic but that's because he doesn't do anything.
I can't believe Harry Styles character CHOSE to be British
No I think he was actually trying to do an American accent lol
@@idkiuingjonct7941 No no, there's a line when he's in Discord-mod-mode where he chooses his ethnicity and he says "British"
@@bronzeandsteel3344 oh I must've missed that. that's really lame lol but why does he still sound so weird the entire movie?!
@@idkiuingjonct7941 because he's a shit actor
@@idkiuingjonct7941 I think Harry Styles has just lived in the States so long that that’s his accent now. Like a weird American British jumble
I take back all the laughing at Harry Styles saying that it's a movie that feels like a movie because I saw it and about all I can say is it's certainly the most Movie I've seen in a while
Maybe that's the simulation! You go into the cinema, they knock you out, strap you to a bed, put electrodes in your brain and stimulate your visual receptors to make you think you've really watched a movie, but you haven't- it was all in your head. It was just a series of moving images and sounds conveying a narrative and not a movie at all.~ ooooohhhhh spooky.
The starving surgeon needing to work extra shifts to afford their dirty apartment and struggling with him being unemployed really took me out of the movie completely. 😵💫
Olivia Wilde has real potential to be a great director. I love Booksmart, she did very well with that movie. Styles is definitely the weakest link among the actors, but I don't think he is awful - he just pales in comparison to Pugh, Pine, and Chan. Visually, the movie looks really good, and the score SLAPS. Most of the problems of this movie are all in the script. It's ambitious but never fully fleshes out its own premise.
It was a little ambitious for a sophomore film imo
In the case of booksmart, she was brought on after preproduction after a separate director left the project. The previous director and writer signed NDAs and could not discuss their involvement in the project. This makes me think her actual contributions to Booksmart were exaggerated.
I hated saying that John Powell the middle aged white man was the best thing about the female directed and starring film but his score was incredible. I think he understood performances and the script wasn’t fully working so the music had to carry all the emotion
i'd say the editing and pacing were what made the movie really rough. according to the actress who played Margaret a bunch of her scenes were cut even though they were important to the plot, so I'm wondering if the script would have come off better if the movie wasn't edited the way it was
@Rachel Forshee she was a name before she started directing
Two things:
(1) I believe Jack‘s motivation to be British is supposed to be because he idolizes James Bond (there’s a poster by his workstation). But it felt like an afterthought so I absolutely believe they made that change to explain Harry’s accent.
(2) Given how the other, more experienced actors handled their roles it wouldn’t surprise me if there was supposed to be nuance in Jack that Harry didn’t do a good job of portraying as a novice. Also, throughout the whole film I kept imagining Shia playing Jack, so that also didn’t help.
I’m 53. If you live long enough, these surprise ending secret twist it’s not what you think moments in movies grow tiresome.
This idea has been done to death. I don’t think this movie is better than its predecessors, so I wonder why they bothered to make it.
Also, in what world would a man want his surgeon wife to revert to a 50s housewife? The premise is lame.
I'm 30 years old and don't get surprised on twists anymore either.
There are men who are intimidated by successful women who make more money than they do. There are men who resent women “taking their jobs”. There are men who think traditional roles where wives stay home and men support the family are best. So, they part is not unrealistic.
@@choreomaniac I think what Ali is saying, and forgive me for guessing at her intentions, is that while yes those men definitely exist...do they tend to date medical students? If a "woman in the home" is what you're after you couldn't make a worse choice. They wouldn't last a week before she even got out of college.
So while those men absolutely exist, you'll find they select women from their weird culty religions who have already been indoctrinated to agree with them.
I'm 19 and I'm over it I can see them coming easy
My theory is that Shelley either created/came up with the idea of the Victory Project on her own or both her and Frank did it together but Frank stole it and turned it into what it was shown as in the movie. Her killing him and saying it’s my turn was her wanting to restore the Victory Project as what it should’ve been from the start. There’s a lot of holes in my theory but it’s the only thing that I can think of to make sense of her killing him.
You gotta admit, the score went hard, harder than it had any right to go honestly. Was my favorite aspect of the film and it's the only reason I'm glad I saw it in a theater. I love a score that has a strong personality.
Florence was the best thing about this film. We literally went home and watched Stepford Wives instead straight after
I saw it yesterday. I went in with low expectations and it met them. But if I had to describe the film it'd be that Olivia Wilde wanted to make a beautiful and engaging film with subtle social commentary in the vein of Jordan Peele, but ended up with good looking film with plot holes you could drive a semi through and subtext that's about as subtle as a bullhorn at the opera more akin to late 2000's M. Night Shyamalan.
The thing I find so weird is how Olivia Wilde kept trying to hype up how this movie was about female pleasure? When in the context of the movie It's vey much forced and not actually for Alice.
ur intro is top tier, it brings me so much joy and i have no explanation to why
There was a part where the voice asked if this relationship was a preexisting one. Can you imagine if the movie went into some non preexisting relationship?
When you described the end of Stepford Wives I was pretty confused and thought "Uhhh that's kinda the complete opposite of how it ended?" It took me a minute to realize you were talking about the 2004 remake instead of the original 1975 film XD. You're right that 2004 is pretty fun, but if anyone ever wants to dive into the full horror of this concept, check out the 1975 version. It does not disappoint.
Thank you for not giving another rundown of the drama I’ve seen so many of those
It was basically The Stepford Wives with an incel twist. A bit unoriginal in my opinion, but the movie has solid performances from Pugh, Chan, Pine and Wilde. It's definitely one of the movies of all time, only notorious because of the "backstage drama" and Harry Styles. For better or worse.
Interestingly enough, the rewrite of the original script changed enough that the writer who reworked it is credited as the main writer. As in, over 2/3s of the script was changed
i quite liked harry's yelling in the car scene but when he started "crying" i burst out laughing in the cinema. he scrunched up his face and made noises. it was not enough.
the experience of being in the theater to share the ridiculous moments laughing with everyone else in the theater, this movie is worth it for that alone 😅
Honestly, all of the scenes Harry Styles was in felt like they came straight out of fan fiction.
For real, the sex scenes were so random and they weren't even good.
i clicked on this thinking “i NEED amanda’s take on the drama” but found myself thoroughly enjoying a movie review
Thank you for reviewing it so we don't have to 🍿
Preach, I don't intend to actually watch it, but UA-camrs like Amanda have saved me the hassle.
So freakin glad I don’t have to go see a full length movie anymore, I see a shitty trailer & think, “ nah my girls gonna review that one soon I don’t have to go see it she’ll tell me about it”
Yes this 😂 if these movies are set to stream on peacock, Hulu, Netflix, Disney+ then sometimes I watch when I can't sleep at night buuuut after I watch her or Amanda the Jedi's reviews haha 😂😂
@@Adrian-gk5vs exactly!
18:40 in GTAV online, when a player disconnects from a server, their character will still remain and walk around like an npc. harry styles's dead body data is probs still in the victory project to keep the realism of the server (??)
I think a large reason Harry wasn't ready for the role is because of Olivia Wilde's crazy timeline. When Shia quit he said he felt rushed and I'm sure after they hastily cast Harry they kept the same timeline.
It makes much more sense all the complaining Shia made about not rehearse
Considering Shia appears to be on a PR tour it’s possible he was simply lying and Harry is just inexperienced
I watched it. I knew about the drama but I didn’t think much of it. I think the reason for the earthquakes may have been signs of the simulation starting to breakdown, like when a server crashes it glitches it, but in this case when there is a glitch in Victory, something significant happens, an earthquake or the street lights shattering. The way I viewed the movie was like if someone was playing the sims, and but the sims in this case are actually connected to people IRL. This would explain why Jack’s body was still in the house, if a sim dies, the body is still there and you can even have a cemetery. Also I wonder now what if Shelly was the creator and Frank was a simulation that failed in all aspects of life and the entire thing was a social experiment.
im glad u didn't cover the drama bc i feel like literally everyone has now talked about it to the point where im so sick of hearing about it lmao, so thank you!!
Yeah if it's a simulation who's running it and not deleting Florence's escape car or something? Like the rules make no sense. My group got a good chuckle out of the "You die in the game, you die in real life" moment
I'm extremely pleased that you talked about the movie itself and not the drama. I had no idea what this movie was, my friend invited me to go see it with them, I saw it, I was confused, so I googled it...and all I could find was stuff about this "drama" that I do not care about. So, thank you!
I think it would’ve been better as a TV series, everything felt so rushed.
Ooohhh, yeah. This as a limited miniseries would’ve been much more satisfying and high quality. The premise is just too ambitious to do as a movie.
Yea but only a one series show
I haven't seen it but based on what you've said in this video and what I've heard elsewhere, it says a lot that Jack was supposed to be played by Shia Lebouf. Like I agree that he shouldn't have been cast, but Shia LeBouf and Harry Styles are very different and it just feels like a poor choice, especially considering that Harry clearly didn't have the acting skills necessary to compensate. It just feels like a lot of artistic concessions were made to make Harry as Jack work, and I honestly find those choices baffling because the film seems to be much, much worse for it :/
I don’t think there was really a choice because covid had already set them back
I went to see this yesterday and the cinema screen was the busiest I've ever seen it. It's crazy how many people would never have watched this film if not for Harry Styles.
It did feel like there was supposed to be a twist where Gemma Chan's character was actually the brains behind the operation but I don't think there would be much point to that?
it would've been better if frank was the face but shelley was the brains. basically the whole shtichk of the simulation was fake and built on lies.
Saw this over the weekend and the tagline my group all immediately agreed on was "Stepford Wives" meets "The Village". I think the reveal of what was happening needed to come at the end of the first third of the film, so that we'd have more time to build this world and flesh out some of the ideas here. For instance, if she becomes aware of the simulation when she touches 'headquarters' the first time, then the conversation between Bunny and Alice in the bathroom can be the revelation that some of these women choose this, want this, and maybe we could get more than just 'Bunny wants to be a mom'. I also think there's a bigger conversation about work and choice and capitalism that's under the surface in this film, but that no one involved really knows how to articulate.
yes thank u
“Oh lame” was my immediate reaction to the twist. Not that virtual reality cant be used as a plot device, like if going to his job was where he automates what she does or making sure the world around her is stable (or unstable.) however when its used like this its just a sciency way of saying “it was all a dream”
Would love for you to read the original IP script and give your thoughts on the differences! Honestly a lot of these plot holes could be addressed by that script
I’m curious about the original script too because I know there was a huge bidding war over it. Apparently Olivia won it and then re-wrote it.
"I want more of you I want a little you" LMAOOOOO I see inspiration from 1D imagines perhaps
Maybe he was overly doting on his wife bc of his guilt having her dragged into the project. So then hes telling himself he loves her and hes doing it for her and he wants that to be true so he goes over the top being lovey to get her to love it like he wants her to. And so he can remain in denial that shes a hostage.
When I went to see this movie the theatre employee told us that the movie was about two hours long, and I remember thinking at that point “wow. That’s a short movie”. And lo and behold, my first thought when the movie ended was that it would have massively benefited from another 15-20 minutes of footage.
I haven't seen the movie, but why would Jack have to be the one to put Alice back under? That makes the least sense. There would be technicians operating everything: monitoring people's vitals, administering IVs, messing with memories, etc. Jack wouldn't be involved in any of that any more than Frank would be. So Jack could very easily have been caught by surprise that Alice made it to headquarters. The only person the techs would have informed is Frank, because he's the boss.
Jack is responsible for keeping her alive and in the simulation. It's in the voiceover that plays when he signs up to take part in the project - they handle all of the set-up and maintenance themselves.
It sounds like a movie with an interesting story that the writers didn't know how to wrap up at the end.
1. i always love your movie reviews, you have a great way of identifying the strengths and weaknesses and talking through what could work better. 🙂 2. i have been interested in the drama surrounding the film but i had no interest in watching it until i saw that many of the scenes were filmed at the kaufmann desert house, richard neutra's mid-century modern masterpiece as well as other beautiful homes in palm spring in that style. the kaufmann family also commissioned a much more famous house, frank lloyd wright's iconic masterpiece affectionately known as fallingwater. i find it interesting that they chose not to work with frank lloyd wright again on their summer house in palm springs. as incredible as fallingwater is, it doesn't function well as a house, and the kaufmann family have essentially invested their entire fortune into maintaining it. keeping it open to the public as a museum helps pay for the upkeep as well. i think of fallingwater as less of a house and more of an incredible piece of fine art. they sold their desert house and it fell into a state of extreme disrepair. the couple who bought and restored it were shown the property by their real estate agent essentially as a complete teardown, it had been abandoned for years and was in a very sad state. luckily the couple could tell that it was something special and scooped it up before it was too late. they ended up getting in contact with iconic architectural photographer julius shulman, whose photographs truly shaped how people think about mid-century modernism in south california, and were amazed to find that he had photographed pretty much every square inch of the house when it was new and knew the story behind it as well. some of his most well-known photographs are of that house in particular. the couple hired an architecture firm to lovingly restore it back to its original condition, saving one of the most important houses of that period from a terrible fate. hopefully viewers of "don't worry darling" will appreciate seeing it in all its glory. based on the clips amanda showed i believe it is frank's house in the movie. 🤓
I read the script leak before the movie came out, but I still saw it for Florence. I’m obsessed with that woman.
I mean, what's not to obsess over?! You have excellent tastes 👍
You know the worst part? The movie had such potential but I think it needed strong tweaks and better scripting. It could have done some great waves but it got shit on because they did not know how to develop the plot. Olivia got caught up in trying to hype up how unique and different this film was going to be, she didn’t stop to focus on the important aspects.
Watched it last night and I enjoyed it more than I thought it would. Florence can do no wrong. But i think that the time between the beginning to Alice completely losing it and challenging Frank was way too long. I think some of that time should of been used to explain the Future project or giving a POV to Jack in the simulation, doesn't have to give away that its a simulation but more things would make sense later on.
I feel that if shia laboeuf, who was supposed to be jack stayed on this movie, it would of been better. Their would of been no fear in unraveling Jack into an horrible and "ugly" character, unlike with Harry's Jack where it seemed like they were afraid to shatter the good man appearance.
Also i don't think making the movie longer is a bad idea. There is a lot that i think is still questioned, and movies can leave viewers questioning and theorizing but there was too much here to interpret yourself.
This was GREAT, so in depth. If the concept is interesting there's a British 1960s drama called The Prisoner which is about an agent who resigns and gets taken to "The Village" where everyone is assigned the number and is super happy and the sun always shines - but you can't leave. Its about him trying to escape and very kind of surreal. I think if the concept of Don't Worry Darling interests you, you'd like The Prisoner! The acting and writing is impeccable.
I really thought the song was gonna be something that the Dr or Frank hummed when they were “reprogramming” or brainwashing the women as they entered the program and that it was all in the real world and they were in a remote location somewhere. I also thought that the plane was real and someone from the outside world but then we got the whole simulation reveal and I was like “what, why?”.
With all the drama surrounding this movie, it being mid as hell does not shock me at all. Like, it seemed like the only possible outcome. I was initially really excited for this movie because I love Booksmart and Florence Pugh, but the more I got the trailer for it before different movies (which was A LOT. There was a period of like 2-3 months where I SWEAR I got the trailer before every movie I saw in theaters), I started to get more and more apprehensive about it. Honestly, all the movie ultimately did was solidify two things for me: 1) Florence Pugh is one of, if not the best young actors of this generation and 2) Harry Styles should really stick to music
This is what I expected. I thought Booksmart was also just mediocre but I appreciated what she was trying to do.
This movie seemed ambitious.
I’ll definitely watch it when it comes to TV/streaming.
I saw DWD in a test screening about a year and a half ago, and they hardly changed a thing from that screening to its release. The changes that were made were good, but I remember commenting on some of its major flaws in my feedback after that first screening, lmao. Figured they wouldn't change much because of how expensive a lot of it seemed
How do you gain access to test screenings?
@@notwithoutpizza4702 A lot of times it's just random. I got chosen (long long ago) to be in one for Super Troopers and I lived a long way from CA or NYC or anything. So even if you live in the boonies there's sometimes hope I guess. We saw this extended cut that mostly just had longer scenes (a big one I remember is the intro where they're messing with the stoners in the car was a lot longer especially the backwards scene) and the ending was a little different.
@@ironwolf56 how do you get chosen though?
I couldn't agree more about the seeing Harry and not that character.....but i wonder to what extent that affects my perception of his acting cause he's not the only one that this happens with for me. like song ji hyo everyone keeps telling me she's a great actress but i know her as herself so well that i can never invest myself in the characters or just find things that she would never do awkward in the character.
Honestly, that one Battlestar Galactica/Star Trek episode of Black Mirror wore it best. Olivia also dumbed down the original script with her screenwriter in order to make things much more basic and less intriguing or creepy. Just watch Black Mirror instead.
So freaking true. Down to the social commentary on inc*ls and everything. And a much more satisfying watch, despite the fact that it’s shorter than this movie. The power of good execution and directors that know what they’re doing lol
Thank you for saving a few hours of my life. I was very curious about the movie, but had a feeling I would be disappointed if I actually watched it (sounds like my guess was right based on your summary)
This entire plot is basically a mix of Wanda Vision, the Truman show and the giver in one
You are so right the movie is just basicly you get to go live as a sim. That being said if the husband is the one who is jobless where is getting the money for this like when did he a job or how if the whole point of going here was to escape the fact that he was jobless.
I'm actually super glad you covered the movie in depth and went on all those tangents, because I'm not watching the movie but was really curious to know what's it about lol
So it sounds like there's the bones of a solid "Guys Would Literally VR Gaslight Their Wives Rather Than Go to Therapy" movie in there and thats definitely a movie I'd like to see, and the mechanics are clashing with the metaphor for you.
Maybe if they leaned into the surreality you'd be happier with less of the nuts and bolts being exposed?
The main problem with this plot is, why not tell everyone involved about the project? Surely, if everyone had a comparison between the simulation and real life, they’d all choose the simulation because it sounds like real life sucks there. People wouldn’t think they were going crazy, so there wouldn’t be any problems.
What even was the modus operandi of the victory project? What was the project part of it, the goal?