Don’t Worry Darling is directed and produced by Olivia Wilde (Booksmart) and written by Katie Silberman, Carey Van Dyke, and Shane Van Dyke. Silberman previously penned Set It Up and Booksmart, while Carey and Shane Van Dyke are known for their work on movies such as Chernobyl Diaries. The screenplay for Wilde’s new project was on the 2019 Black List as one of the year’s “most-liked” yet unproduced scripts. Darren Aronofsky’s long-time collaborator, Matthew Libatique (Black Swan, Pi), serves as cinematographer, and the film’s original score was composed by John Powell (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Happy Feet).
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The movie was shot during the beginning of the pandemic, from late 2020 to February 2021, and centers on an unhappy housewife discovering perplexing secrets and sinking into madness.“A 1950’s housewife living (Florence Pugh) with her husband (Harry Styles) in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company may be hiding disturbing secrets.” – reads the psychological thriller’s logline.
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Olivia Wilde told Vogue the movie is made to ask its audience, “What are you willing to sacrifice in order to do what’s right? If you really think about it, are you willing to blow up the system that serves you?” Female hunger and female pleasure are reportedly focal points of the story and will not shy away from the portrayal of intimacy or craziness. She also claimed in the interview that such movies as Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal were her major sources of inspiration as they are “really sexy, in a grown-up way… I kept saying, ‘Why isn’t there any good sex in film anymore?’”
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Here’s why we can’t wait to check it out!
Rumor Has It: Delays & Cast Changes
Warner Bros. Pictures
Several headlines attracted much attention to the upcoming thriller during its production. Wilde originally wanted to cast Harry Styles (Dunkirk, Eternals) for the main supporting role, but he had to initially turn the part down due to scheduling conflicts. In the meantime, Shia LaBeouf (Honey Boy, Transformers) got cast as Jack. LaBeouf reportedly had continuous quarrels and vehement clashes with the cast and crew; therefore, Wilde fired the actor. The news relating to his sudden exit broke amid other allegations regarding his abusive behavior while in a relationship with his ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs. Later that month, Wilde showed support for Twigs on social media, writing, “Love, respect, and support, @fkatwigs.”
Because of the pandemic, Style’s tour had to be canceled; thus, the scheduling issue preventing him from participating in the project got resolved all of a sudden. Nevertheless, in November 2020, filming had to be halted for two weeks because someone on the set tested positive for COVID-19. The actress-turned-director opened up about the difficulties she had to face while working on the project by saying, “It definitely affects that exact ingredient in the process, that camaraderie. It definitely makes it more difficult.” She told Variety about the safety measures on set, stating, “You have to really focus on everybody’s eyes. Everyone is communicating so differently, and there’s a lot of gesticulating.”
In the interview, she also spoke candidly about what led her to make the big decision to fire LaBeouf. “Someone, who’s a very established actor and director in this industry, gave me really terrible advice that was helpful, because I just knew I had to do the opposite,” the House alum said during the Variety interview. “They said, ‘Listen, the way to get respect on a set, you have to have three arguments a day. Three big arguments that reinstate your power, remind everyone who’s in charge, be the predator.’ That is the opposite of my process. And I want none of that. … The no a–holes policy, it puts everybody on the same level.”
Soon after Styles replaced LaBeouf in the project, news broke that the former One Director star and the House alumni started dating. They confirmed their relationship by attending a friend’s wedding together.
Casting Is Key
Originally, Wilde planned to play the lead role herself but changed her mind after getting impressed by Florence Pugh in Ari Aster’s unsettling horror, Midsommar. Dakota Johnson (Suspiria, Black Mass) was also attached to the movie at one point. However, she had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with the filming of her movie – Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, The Lost Daughter.
Alongside Pugh and Styles, who will eventually star in the film, the cast includes such names as Chris Pine (Wonder Woman, Star Trek Into Darkness), Gemma Chan (Eternals, Humans), Dita Von Teese (The Death of Salvador Dalí) and Nick Kroll (Adult Beginners). Wilde herself eventually opted for a supporting role.
The first short clips of the project debuted on social media last September, and as of now, there is still no official trailer for it. The first teaser introduces us to an idyllic suburban setting, something unnerving bubbling under the surface, Pugh’s character (casually) strangling herself, and steamy scenes with the dream of all teenagers’ dreams, Harry Styles’ character. Knowing the hysteria Styles’ fan base is capable of and their level of devotion to the British singer, Don’t Worry Darling should be an instant box office hit upon its release. Let’s hope the film will be an intense piece of art, not only an intense gossip tsunami.
Don’t Worry Darling is scheduled to arrive in cinemas on 23 September 2022 from New Line and Warner Bros. Pictures.
