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Don’t Worry Darling – Film Review

Cast: Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Olivia Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, Chris Pine

Director: Olivia Wilde

Synopsis: A housewife living in an idyllic neighbourhood in the 1950s with her husband begins to suspect not everything is as it appears to be in their perfect community…

Review: It is always interesting to see what happens when an actor opts to move from in front of the camera to try their hands at directing. In the case of Olivia Wilde, her directorial debut Booksmart proved to be an uproarious comedy which explored what happens when two studious high school students opt to swap their books for one night of raucous partying. Unfortunately in the run-up to the release of her sophomore feature, much has been made of the reported drama that has seemingly plagued the film in the build-up to its release. From reported arguments between cast members during the production, reported arguments between cast members, and even more drama during its premiere at the Venice Film Festival which has all cast a very large shadow over the project. With this in mind, one would have hoped all the drama would fade into the background had Wilde followed up her wonderful directorial debut with another roaring success. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite live up to that billing.

In 1950s America, in the picturesque but isolated neighbourhood of Victory, lives Alice (Pugh) and her husband Jack (Styles). In this community, while all the men go off to work on their mysterious jobs during the day, overseen by Frank (Pine), all of the women are expected to be at home doing chores enjoying all of the comforts the community of Victory has to offer. While at night, the couples mingle and throw lavish parties. However, Alice soon begins to experience strange events which lead her to question her existence in this community and suspect something may be amiss with their idyllic lives.

Without any question of a doubt, the greatest asset of the movie is another incredible performance from Florence Pugh. An actor who continues to demonstrate every time she’s on-screen why she is one of the most popular, and best, actors working today. She commits everything to her performance and we watch how this seemingly perfect lifestyle, where she has everything she could possibly want, slowly begins to crumble around her. It leads her down a dark and disturbing path where she soon starts to question everything, including what it is that Jack and all of the other men are really doing at Victory HQ, leading some of the other residents of Victory to dismiss her as paranoid and delusional. After his incredible debut performance in Dunkirk, Harry Styles had the unenviable task of acting alongside his talented co-star. While he can’t quite make up his mind about his character’s accent, he does a solid enough job and has decent chemistry with his co-star, but Pugh outshines him, and everyone else. Furthermore, aside from a rather menacing turn from Chris Pine as the leader of this community, the rest of the cast is severely underutilised, particularly Gemma Chan and KiKi Layne.

Matthew Libatique’s superb cinematography expertly juxtaposes the sun-drenched tranquillity of Victory with the dark and sinister imagery of burlesque dancers hinting at something deeply sinister at the heart of this community. Wilde steps up her game as a directing and brings a unique visual flair to this contrasting imagery, while she also delivers some pulsating chase sequences in the third act. However, what ultimately really lets the film down is its severely lacklustre script. Reteaming with Katie Silberman, one of the co-writers of Booksmart, it starts on a strong footing as it maintains the intrigue as Alice begins to investigate what is really happening in this perceived utopia these people find themselves. Furthermore, the unnerving score from John Powell maintains the suspense as some rather disturbing truths soon come to light. Without getting into spoiler territory, the film’s exploration of pertinent themes, namely the patriarchal nature of society and the male gaze is to be commended. Unfortunately, once certain details about the world of Victory and its inhabitants have come to light in the third act, the reveals are wholly unsatisfying as they fail to fully develop and expand on them. It all amounts to sheer frustration that by the time the credits begin to roll, the audience is left with more questions than answers.

Despite these shortcomings, Wilde cannot be faulted for her bravery in following up her extremely successful directorial debut with an ambitious sophomore effort which reinforces her as a director to keep an eye on. It is ultimately a real disappointment given the scope of the project and the talent in front of and behind the camera, that potential has frittered away by the time the credits begin to roll. A real shame, darling.

Despite a premise bursting with ideas and promise, not even a stellar performance from Pugh can prevent Wilde’s follow-up to her brilliant directorial debut from failing to capitalise on its vast potential.

If Beale Street Could Talk – Film Review

Cast: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Ed Skrein, Brian Tyree Henry, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave Franco, Diego Luna
Pedro Pascal

Director: Barry Jenkins

Synopsis: After finding out she is expecting a baby with her partner, a young woman and her family seek to clear her lover’s name after he is arrested for a crime he did not commit…

Review: What do you do when only your second feature length directorial feature wins you an Academy Award for its screenplay, as well as (eventually) the Academy Award for Best Picture? This was the quandary for Barry Jenkins, the writer/director of Moonlight, having been catapulted him into the spotlight by the film’s incredible success. The answer to that question, is to make something that’s cut from a similar cloth as Moonlight, a story that tells a very human, emotional journey.

Adapted from the novel of the same name by James Baldwin, we are taken back to 1970s Harlem, where we meet Tish (Layne) and Alfonso (or Fonny as Tish affectionately calls him), two beautiful young people who, having been very close as children, have since become a blossoming couple, seemingly made for one another. However, their romantic bubble is burst when when Fonny is arrested and charged with a horrific crime that Tish insists he is innocent of, and Tish and her family must do whatever they can to clear Fonny of these charges.

On the surface, this would appear to be a simple story about the love that two young people have for each other, and the desperate bid to prove her husband-to-be innocent of the crime he is being accused of. And while it is undeniably beautiful and romantic to watch these two fall in love with each other, much like his work with Moonlight Jenkins’s screenplay goes much deeper than that exploring a variety of themes such as racism, family and the brutal horrors of the justice system that can bring such an unfair injustices to Black communities and devastate these families across America, even when people may be innocent of the crimes they are being accused of.

As the main couple, KiKi Layne and Stephan James are both excellent. Their chemistry is just so honest and authentic that you completely buy them as a couple. You revel in their moments of love and affection for one another, and are equally devastated when they are torn away from one another. As Tish’s mother Sharon, Regina King is just utterly marvellous as she leads the fight to win her prospective son-in-law’s freedom, even in the face of extremely long and difficult odds, and indifference from some members of Fonny’s family to Tish’s plight.

The cinematography from James Laxton is once again sumptuous to look out, even when the circumstances may be extremely bleak, his cinematography shines a hopeful light on the situation of this couple. Nicholas Britell also returns to provide the score, and once again, the work he does to add to the romanticism and by contrast, the heartbreak of this story is remarkable. For those who might have had issues with Moonlight’s pacing, they could well run into some issues again here as Jenkins does take his time to slowly build up Tish and Fonny’s relationship. Though some scenes do feel necessary, others do drag on perhaps for a tad longer than they really need to.

For characters depicted in the 1970s, Jenkins’s characters feel very contemporary and the story and the themes are very topical, but the film never gets preachy with the events depicted on screen. It is above all else, a very sweet story about the love two people have for one another, and the challenge that the human spirit faces when facing the going up against the cruel nature of the world and its institutions, Barry Jenkins has once again crafted something that, in these very emotionally charged times, he has made a film that will speak something to everyone who sees it.

Beautiful and melancholic,sometimes in the same shot, with a fantastic ensemble of well realised characters, Jenkins once again crafts a moving tale of love and hope in the face of terrible adversity.