rottentomatoes – Florence Pugh could land another Oscar nomination for her performance in Don’t Worry Darling, if the movie as a whole isn’t dismissed by audiences. From its Venice Film Festival premiere, the first reviews of the twisty, feminist sci-fi drama mostly highlight Pugh as its revelatory saving grace, or close enough. This stylish sophomore directorial effort from actress-turned-filmmaker Olivia Wilde (Booksmart) is also said to look great and offer a debatably entertaining turn by pop star Harry Styles, and it will get people talking, whether the third act works or not.
DOES FLORENCE PUGH MAKE IT WORTH WATCHING?
– Florence Pugh shines in a tour de force leading performance… even better than her part in Midsommar, which is saying something. – Lex Briscuso, Film School Rejects
– One of star Florence Pugh’s best performances yet… She’s the film’s unmitigated highlight. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire
= In this she graduates to fully fledged movie star – poised, glamorous and bogglingly beautiful, yet also emotionally right beside you, and lifting every scene with sparklingly smart choices. – Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph
– With her finely calibrated mixture of ferocity and doubt, Pugh grounds the film as a woman who won’t be gaslit but may find that the alternatives are even worse. – Steve Pond, The Wrap
– None of Darling works at all without such a committed performance from Pugh. She brings it her all like she’s in an old-fashioned Hitchcockian thriller. – Brian Formo, Collider
– Pugh, like she’s done with Black Widow, Midsommar and others, continues to make everything she’s in better – and, boy howdy, it’s needed here. – Brian Truitt, USA Today
– The normally excellent Pugh has not been interestingly directed, certainly not compared with her work in broadly comparable movies such as Midsommar or The Falling. – Peter Bradshaw, Guardian
BUT IS SHE THE ONLY GOOD THING IN THE MOVIE?
-Everything around Pugh manages to fall flat in comparison. – Hoai-Tran Bui, Slashfilm
-Pugh makes a meal of Alice and, frankly, everyone else. Her many co-stars turn in serviceable performances with occasional bits of brilliance, but no one comes close to her. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire
-It’s her movie, even if actor Styles gets to turn into pop star Harry Styles (a role in which he seems more comfortable) and dance on a big stage in one particularly boisterous scene. – Steve Pond, The Wrap