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Don't Worry Darling is a 2022 American psychological thriller film directed by Olivia Wilde from a screenplay by Katie Silberman, based on a spec script by Silberman, Carey Van Dyke, and Shane Van Dyke. The film stars Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Chris Pine. The film follows a housewife living in an idyllic company town who begins to suspect a sinister secret being kept from its residents by the man who runs it. Following the critical success of Wilde's feature directorial debut Booksmart (2019), a multi-studio bidding war took place for the rights of her second film, with New Line Cinema eventually winning. Pugh joined the cast in April 2020, with Styles added that September, replacing Shia LaBeouf after production had already begun. Filming began in Los Angeles in October 2020, lasting through February 2021. The film was the subject of media attention and controversy, including conflicting reports regarding the circumstances of LaBeouf's departure and alleged conflicts between Wilde and Pugh. Don't Worry Darling premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on September 23, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $87.6 million. Plot Alice and Jack Chambers are married, living in Victory, California, an idealistic 1950s desert company town. Every day, the men leave for work at Victory Headquarters in the surrounding desert, which their wives are prohibited from entering and discouraged from asking about. The women live as housewives and enjoy luxuries and leisure while the men are out. Alice spends her days with other wives, including her best friend, Bunny. Another resident, Margaret, has become estranged from the community ever since she had a mental breakdown after her unauthorized desert visit resulted in her son's apparent death. Margaret claims Victory took him as punishment for breaking the rules. At a party hosted by Victory's founder, Frank, Alice sees Margaret's husband attempt to medicate her after an outburst. Alice and Jack then have sex in Frank's bedroom, but she notices Frank observing them in silence. While riding the trolley, Alice sees a plane crash in the desert and rushes to help. She stumbles onto Headquarters and touches one of its mirror-like windows, experiencing surreal hallucinations about another life before waking up at home that night. Alice continues to have increasingly strange experiences, then receives a phone call from Margaret, who claims to have seen the same things. After brushing her off, she sees Margaret slit her own throat and fall from her roof. Before she can reach Margaret's body, Alice is dragged away by men in red jumpsuits who work for Frank. Jack dismisses Alice's claims and says Margaret is simply recovering from a household accident. When Alice asks him what is really happening at the Victory Project, he becomes angry and refuses to answer. The town physician, Dr. Collins, prescribes Alice medication, which she and Jack decline, and she steals Margaret's heavily redacted medical file from his briefcase before burning it. Becoming increasingly paranoid during a company celebration where Frank promotes Jack, Alice breaks down in the bathroom. Confronted by Bunny, she attempts to explain her suspicions. Bunny reacts angrily when Alice tells her she went to Headquarters, accusing her of jeopardizing their livelihood in Victory and comparing her to Margaret. Alice and Jack invite their neighbors to dinner, including Frank and his wife Shelley. Frank privately confirms her suspicions and dares her to challenge him. Spurred on, Alice attempts to expose him over dinner, but Frank makes her appear delusional to the others, causing Jack grief. Afterward, Alice tries to tell Jack that Frank confirmed her suspicions as true. However, he shoots her down. Nearing the end of her rope, she begs him to leave the Victory Project with her. He feigns agreement, then lets Frank's men take her away in the driveway. Dr. Collins gives Alice electroshock therapy, during which she sees herself in the 21st century, struggling to get by as surgical resident Alice Warren and living with the unemployed Jack. After her treatment, Alice resumes her life in Victory, but comes to realize the visions are actually memories. Confronted by Alice, Jack confesses the truth: Victory is a simulated world created by Frank, where he and the other men lead their version of perfect lives; the women they have forced into the simulation are unaware that their lives in Victory and their children are artificial. When the men leave for work each day, they are actually logging out of the simulation for real jobs to pay for their captive wives to stay there. Jack argues that Alice was miserable in the real world while in Victory they can both finally be happy, but she is livid she's being held there non-consensually and without her autonomy. Jack begs Alice to stay, forcefully grabbing her, prompting her to smash a rocks glass over his head, killing him in both the simulation and reality. Frank immediately hears of Jack's death. Bunny finds Alice and admits she has always known about the simulation, but chose to stay to be with her children, who died in real life. She tells Alice that Frank's minions will kill her if she doesn't get to Headquarters—the exit portal from the simulation. Alice silently confronts the neighborhood, and as small explosions begin, the husbands panic. Fleeing in Jack's car, Alice is chased by Dr. Collins and Frank's men. She maneuvers them into fatally crashing into each other. Meanwhile, Shelley fatally stabs Frank to take control of Victory. Arriving at Headquarters, Alice has a final vision of Jack, then puts her hands on Headquarters just before Frank's men can reach her. Seeing disturbing images mixed with visions of herself in the real world, the screen cuts to black as Alice is heard gasping for air. Cast Production Development and writing The film was announced in August 2019, after a bidding war among 18 studios to acquire the next Olivia Wilde-directed project. New Line Cinema won the auction. The original spec script was written by 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. According to Wilde, Frank is inspired by psychologist and author Jordan Peterson, whom she called a "pseudo-intellectual hero to the incel community". Peterson rejected the characterization, but expressed interest and said that perhaps he would watch the film.Variety initially put the budget at about $20 million, while Forbes estimated the production budget was in the range of $20-$30 million. Variety and Deadline Hollywood later said the film cost €35 million to produce. Casting In April 2020, Florence Pugh, Shia LaBeouf and Chris Pine were added to the cast o.... Discover the Olivia Cunning popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Olivia Cunning books.