Rumors, resentment and ratings
Everything you need to know about the ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ drama
SARAH FAHEY / ASST. A&C EDITOR / THE USD VISTA
This past weekend, “Don’t Worry Darling,” directed by actress Olivia Wilde, premiered across the country. Set in the 1950s, the psychological thriller was widely promoted for its theme of societal impositions placed upon women through real life parallels. The characters, Alice and Jack, live in an experimental town where the men work and the women simply enjoy their time in the community. However, this all begins to fall apart when Alice starts to question her reality.
With the film’s two-year delay due to the pandemic, casting issues and the invasive curiosity of media outlets, it is no secret that drama occured between the cast. Shia LeBeouf was originally cast as the male lead in the film until he was allegedly fired for his combative behavior on set, making lead actress Florence Pugh feel uncomfortable, according to Wilde in a Vanity Fair interview. The claim was strengthened by singer FKA Twigs suing LeBeouf for domestic violence in late 2020.
As the popularity of the movie increased with the release of raunchy trailers, Florence Pugh spoke on her frustrations over the sex scenes in the promo videos.
“When it’s reduced to your sex scenes, or to watch the most famous man in the world go down on someone, it’s not why we do it. It’s not why I’m in this industry,” Pugh said in a Harper Bazaar interview.
Pugh then stopped press altogether for “Don’t Worry Darling,” amid the ongoing drama.
The Venice Film Festival, held from Aug. 31 – Sept. 10, created even more strain. With speculations of issues amongst the cast, Wilde spent the press conference dodging questions about alleged tension with Pugh.
Though Pugh stated that she would not be attending the film festival, she graced the festival’s red carpet in a sparkling, sheer black dress. However, Pugh, Styles and Wilde were kept separate all night, with the rest of the cast constantly in between the three.
In a viral video, Styles was even shown spitting at Chris Pine, one of the other actors in the film, which has since been refuted. This is now being referred to as “Spitgate” across social media platforms, even being joked about by Styles onstage during one of his “Love on Tour’’ concerts.
The biggest controversy of the night was Pugh’s premature exit. Four minutes into the film’s standing ovation, the rest of the cast followed Pugh out, cutting the audience’s applause short.
An inside source revealed in a Vulture interview, on the day of the film’s premiere, that Pugh was seen screaming at Wilde on set – most likely due to frustration with the director’s relationship with Styles, while also still with her ex-fiancé, Jason Sudeikis.
Leading up to the release of the film, USD junior Alex Hill reflected on her thoughts leading up to the release of the film.
“I did go into the movie with pretty low expectations. I had heard that it got low ratings by critics, so I wasn’t expecting very much from it,” Hill said. “However, I will say that because I had such low expectations, it definitely was much better than I expected.”
In an interview with Variety, film director, Wilde mentioned her desire to feature sex-positivity in the film. However, many of these scenes felt out of place and did not bode well with audiences.
USD sophomore Karla Astiazaran reflected on the movie’s sex scenes.
“The scenes just didn’t fit in the movie,” Astiazaran said. “It’s about a society where women’s wants and needs are stifled, but apparently their sexual pleasure comes first? They just feel forced and awkward.”Despite Wilde’s intention to create a sex-positive film, the drama surrounding the cast seemed to have overshadowed the movie. The publicity in the media mainly focused on issues between the actors, rather than the movie’s intended message – making it near impossible for many viewers to separate the actors from the art.