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| Photo from Internet Movie Poster Awards |
Director: Olivia Wilde
Length: 2h 2m
Genre: Psychological Thriller/Mystery
Rating: Restricted.
Released: September 23, 2022
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
Hello again!
Let me just say, I saw this film in the theater when it first came out but I hadn’t watched it again until recently. Quite truthfully, I forgot about it because I couldn’t immediately watch it again on a streaming platform. Do not let that deter you; I have no idea how I am just coming back to the film because it is such a good film. Then again, the film stars Harry Styles and Florence Pugh so it could never really be bad.
I love Ms. Pugh; she is definitely one of my top favorite actresses and I truly could probably write a whole post about her. She just has this amazing talent at playing characters that are on the brink of losing their minds (please watch Midsommar). I also want to dig into Harry Styles a little bit here too. I haven’t see any other film Harry Styles has been in other than this one. Granted, he has only been in three other films but I am shocked that I haven’t watched Dunkirk yet. Do you recommend that film? Anyway, I think we all know Mr. Styles because of his musical career where he seems to be full of positive vibes, so I’m glad to see him play a serious role here. I think since he is so positive in real life (as least that is what I have gathered) that seeing how his character acts in the film is a little jarring because of the contrast, but I also think that, that makes the casting of his character so good. I don’t think many other actors would have had the same effect playing the character as Harry Styles did. I also like how Olivia Wilde directed the film and also played an important character. I think it’s just so cool how she could multitask like that. I googled her after I rewatched the film (I love to Google) just to see if she had directed any other films. She has, but I have heard of any of them other than Don’t Worry Darling. While we are discussing the cast, let me mention that I didn’t realize that Chris Pine and Nick Kroll are also in the film. I have come to realize that it is going to be difficult to talk about this because I don’t want to spoil the story but it is so crazy and I have so many thoughts.
The film is set in the 1950’s. I don’t think I really thought about it when I first watched the film, but it really shows the culture of the time period. The women don’t work, they stay home all day to clean and cook in their dresses that they bought with their husband's money. They are essentially oblivious to what is going on, clueless, but that’s the point, isn’t it? The society that is created is reliant on the women being submissive. They want them to listen and support their husbands. In a way, I kind of like how the women are relied upon for support. It reminds me of a partial quote that I think about often from The Wife of His Youth by Charles W. Chesnutt and it reads, “There is no one of us of the sterner sex who is not at some time dependent upon woman…” If and when you watch this film, I hope you keep that quote in mind.
From the beginning of the film I get an uneasy feeling, not that I’m going to be nauseous but I know something is going on that I don’t know about. Even after watching the film multiple times, I fear there are still some things in the film that I don’t know about. This is one of those films where you see something new every time you watch it which is partially why I am such a fan of it. I love to watch a film that requires critical thinking skills and full concentration and thankfully I have friends who do as well. This film makes me question and reflect on real life. It makes me wonder if our reality is true. I know that sounds very skeptical of me and I’m not usually one to say things like that but when we take a look at the advancing technology, it doesn’t seem that far out of reach for us.
I think another thing that makes this film so good is the sounds. I think the film score for the film is fantastic. All of the eerie, unnerving sounds make the film. If I’m being honest, I don’t think the film would be as good without them. I guess that is the point, obviously it is supposed to be good and an integral part of the film but I don’t think I notice it often. Every film has a film score but it’s never something where I think “oh, that was the perfect audio for that moment,” until now. Bravo to the sound staff.
I just watched the film and I already want to watch it again to see what other new things I see. I think this is going to quickly become a comfort film.