The latest episode of Screen Rant’s Pitch Meeting series takes aim at Don’t Worry Darling. Actor Olivia Wilde made her directorial debut in 2019 with Booksmart, which was lauded by critics as an endearing coming-of-age comedy. For her sophomore feature, Wilde and her Booksmart co-writer Katie Silberman decided to go in a different direction with Don't Worry Darling, a psychological thriller packed with social commentary. Unfortunately, the film has been plagued with various controversies since the start of production and well into its world premiere.
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Two Marvel Cinematic Universe stars, Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, lead Don't Worry Darling's all-star cast as Alice and Jack Chambers, a couple in the idyllic company town of Victory whose seemingly perfect lives begin to unravel when the devoted housewife starts questioning the nature of her husband's work. The film's stellar supporting cast includes Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Wonder Woman's Chris Pine as Frank, the founder of the mysterious Victory Project. Intrigued by the enigmatic plot and off-screen drama, audiences rushed out to theaters on September 23 to see Don't Worry Darling, resulting in a respectable $19 million opening weekend.
Now, Pitch Meeting is taking aim at the buzzy new drama. Screen Rant's series hosted by Ryan George imagines the pitch meeting at Warner Bros. Studios that led to Don't Worry Darling, satirizing its various unsolved mysteries and the off-screen drama in the process. Along the way, it raises some very fair points.
Don't Worry Darling Has Too Many Unanswered Questions
As Screen Rant's series consistently does, the new Pitch Meeting points out the many unanswered questions surrounding the film; in Don't Worry Darling's case, there are many, both behind-the-scenes and concerning the actual plot. Shortly before filming began, Shia LaBeouf departed the project and recently, the Transformers star and Wilde had a public disagreement over whether he was fired. During production, there were rumors of a romance between Wilde and Styles, and a falling out between Pugh and the director. To top it all off, the "Spitgate" controversy stole the show at Don't Worry Darling's premiere at Venice, leaving many wondering whether Styles really did spit on Pine.
As a result of the social media frenzy, the film itself seems to have taken a back seat, which has been panned by critics for its overly familiar plot and rehashed themes. Here, the biggest unanswered question seems to be the big twist that reveals the Victory Project is all a simulation. However, as the Don't Worry Darling Pitch Meeting points out, the ambiguous ending (and all the off-screen drama) at least leaves plenty for fans to discuss.