Three years ago, actress and filmmaker Olivia Wilde made her directorial debut with the critically-acclaimed coming-of-age movie Booksmart. This year, she is back with a second movie ominously titled Don't Worry Darling. Quite unlike her first directed movie — which follows two high schoolers in present-day — Darling is a psychological thriller set in the 1950s.
Starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles as well as other big-name actors, the trailer for Darling generated a lot of buzz upon its release in May; in the first look, viewers see Pugh and Styles play a young couple with a sickeningly perfect life: Their house is grand, their neighborhood is a suburban paradise, and they are madly in love. Things begin to fall apart, however, when Pugh's character is struck by the (literal) superficiality of her surroundings: Nothing is as it appears, and no one can be trusted. Provocative in more ways than one, the trailer leaves many questions. From plot to release date, here's what we know so far.
The Plot
The synopsis for Darling teases fear, distrust, and cult-like goings-on. As seen in the trailer, Alice (Pugh) and Jack Chambers (Styles) are a happy couple living in the experimental company town of Victory during the 50s. Alice is a housewife, and Jack works for the top-secret Victory Project. Everyone in their community is happy: the men spend their days in Victory HQ developing "progressive materials," and the women live in the lap of luxury.
But something sinister lurks beneath, and Alice can't help but go against CEO Frank's (Chris Pine) request for "discretion and unquestioning commitment" and investigate. What are they doing in Victory, and what is the secret project her too good to be true husband is working on?
The Cast
As of late, it's success after success with leading lady Florence Pugh. Having risen to fame in 2016 with her Bafta-winning role in LadyMacbeth, Pugh has since gone on to star in many major motion pictures, including Midsommar, Little Women, and most recently, Black Widow. Singer Harry Styles has also taken the film industry by storm, with pivotal roles in Eternals and Christopher Nolan's Academy Award-winning Dunkirk.
Pugh and Styles are joined by many familiar faces in Darling, including the director herself, who has a supporting role as Mary. Other supporting actors include Chris Pine (Star Trek, Wonder Woman), Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians, Eternals), Douglas Smith (Big Little Lies, The Alienist), Kiki Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk, Native Son), Nick Kroll (The League, Big Mouth) Asif Ali (The Mandalorian, WandaVision) and Sydney Chandler, for who Darling will be her first major studio role. Originally, Shia LaBeouf was supposed to play the lead role of Jack, and Dakota Johnson was supposed to play Kiki Layne's part; however, LaBeouf was dropped after reportedly clashing with Wilde, and Johnson left due to scheduling conflicts.
The Crew
Olivia Wilde established herself as a director to watch with Booksmart, which has a current rating of 7.1 on IMDb and 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. The high school comedy, which stars Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein in the lead roles, was praised for its fresh approach to the coming-of-age genre and portrayal of its young female protagonists. At the 35th Independent Spirits Award, Booksmart won Wilde the Best First Feature award.
As well as directing and starring in Darling, Wilde is also producing the movie alongside Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee and Miri Yoon, and screenwriter Katie Silberman: one of the writers on Booksmart. Silberman wrote the script for Darling based on a story by Shane and Carey Van Dyke, who serve as executive producers on the movie. With the success of Booksmart, Wilde had 18 bidders after Darling — including Netflix, MGM, and Blumhouse, but eventually, production company New Line walked away with the project. John Powell provides the score for the movie, and judging by Darling's trailer, fans can look forward to hearing Pugh sing, too.
The Release Date
Don't Worry Darling is scheduled to arrive in theatres later this year on September 23. With filming beginning in 2020, Darling was one of many movies impacted by the pandemic. According to an article by Deadline, New Line was forced to halt production when a member of the crew tested positive for COVID. Fortunately, that didn't last long, and filming for Darling wrapped last year.
Aside from Darling, Wilde has two more directing projects on the horizon: Perfect and a secret Marvel movie. The first, Perfect, is a Searchlight biopic about retired gymnast Kerri Strug. Adapted from Strug and John P. Lopez's book Landing on My Feet: A Diary of Dreams, the movie is set to star Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit, Last Night in Soho) in the lead role. The second is shrouded in mystery, but if rumours are to be believed, the secret Marvel movie may well be Spider-Woman.