Don't Worry Darling is an American psychological thriller film directed by Olivia Wilde. The screenplay was written by Katie Silberman, based on a story by Carey van Dyke, Shane Van Dyke, and Silberman. Produced by New Line Cinema and Vertigo Entertainment, the film stars Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Chris Pine.
Don't Worry Darling was released in the United States on September 23, 2022, by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Premise[]
Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack Chambers (Harry Styles) are a young, happy couple living in the seemingly perfect company town of Victory during the 1950s, which is created and paid for by the mysterious company Jack is working for. Curiosity about the nature of her husband's work on the secret Victory Project begins to consume Alice which leads to cracks in their utopian life as Alice raises tensions within the community during her investigation of the project.
Cast[]
- Florence Pugh as Alice Chambers
- Harry Styles as Jack Chambers
- Chris Pine as Frank
- Olivia Wilde as Bunny
- Gemma Chan as Shelley
- KiKi Layne as Margaret
- Nick Kroll as Bill
- Sydney Chandler as Violet
- Kate Berlant as Peg
- Asif Ali as Peter
- Douglas Smith as John
- Timothy Simons as Dr. Collins
- Ari'el Stachel as Kevin
- Alisha Heng as Rose
- Dita Von Teese as Herself
- Marcello Julian Reyes as Fred
- Mariah Justice as Barbara
Production[]
The film was announced in August 2019, after a bidding war amongst 18 studios to acquire the next project directed by Olivia Wilde; New Line Cinema later won the auction. The original spec script was written by the brothers Carey and Shane Van Dyke; the screenplay appeared on the 2019 Black List. Katie Silberman was brought on to do a rewrite which became the film's screenplay.
In April 2020, Florence Pugh, Shia LaBeouf and Chris Pine were added to the cast of the film, with Dakota Johnson joining the next month. In September 2020, Harry Styles joined the cast of the film, replacing LaBeouf who had allegedly dropped out due to a scheduling conflict. However, it was later reported that LaBeouf had been fired by Wilde over poor behavior and clashing with the cast and crew. In October 2020, Gemma Chan and KiKi Layne joined the cast of the film, with Layne replacing Johnson who had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict with The Lost Daughter. That same month, Sydney Chandler, Nick Kroll, Douglas Smith, Kate Berlant, Asif Ali, Timothy Simons, and Ari'el Stachel joined the cast of the film.
Principal photography began in Los Angeles on October 20, 2020. It was temporarily halted for two weeks on November 4 after a crew member tested positive for COVID-19, which resulted in stars Pugh, Styles and Pine being quarantined. Filming wrapped on February 13, 2021. The film's original score was composed by John Powell.
Marketing[]
At the CinemaCon 2022 for the stage at Caesars Palace, Wilde confirmed that the idea of the film was inspired by Inception, The Matrix, and The Truman Show. The presentation received heavy news coverage when Wilde was delivered an envelope containing confidential child custody documents from ex-fiance Jason Sudeikis, who was unaware about the envelope being delivered onstage to Wilde. This resulted in the event reevaluating its security protocols. The trailer, which was also shown at CinemaCon, was released online on May 2, 2022.
Release[]
It is scheduled to be theatrically released on September 23, 2022. It will be streamed on HBO Max 45 days after its theatrical release. It is also among the films in consideration to receive a world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival.