Prime Time: Don't Worry Darling (2022)

Now that we've all moved on from all of the behind-the-scenes madness that seemed to plague the production and release of Don't Worry Darling, it's possible to watch the film and review it simply for the film it is. Okay, I still remember the wild speculation when everyone thought Harry Styles spat on Chris Pine, look it up if you somehow missed it, but it was very easy for me to clear my mind (insert "far too easy" gag here) and finally find out whether or not the movie was deserving of any of the compliments and criticism it received.

Florence Pugh plays Alice, a 1950s housewife who ensures that the household is an oasis of domestic bliss for whenever her husband, Jack (Harry Styles), returns from his daily work at a mysterious desert-based facility. This is all done in service of Frank (Chris Pine), a benevolent leader who Alice starts to view with suspicion. Then things start getting strange, leading to Alice questioning her entire reality.

The second film directed by Olivia Wilde, reteaming with writer Katie Silberman (who also worked out the story with Carey Van Dyke and Shane Van Dyke), Don't Worry Darling is actually, and it gives me no pleasure to say this, painfully derivative and crushingly dull. Many viewers will spend the runtime waiting for one or two reveals that, when they do come along, lead to shrugs, at best, ahead of any wide eyes and dropped jaws. In fact, the third act is so bad that I almost willed it to be a parody.

Pugh is as good as she always is, so that is a plus, and Pine is enjoyable in his role, and there are decent supporting turns from Wilde, KiKi Layne, Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll, Timothy Simons, and Sydney Chandler. You also get a very brief cameo from the legendary Dita Von Teese, who adds a touch of burlesque elegance for just a few seconds. The weak element is Styles, who is unable to show the full range that is required for his character. He's perfectly fine when in the mode that has him closest to a '50s gent, but not so good when he is required to show cracks in his facade.

There's a good idea buried in this, one about some people preferring to be controlled in a way that allows them to maintain a personal bubble of domestic bliss, but it's far from original, and the 123-minute runtime isn't justified by such a disappointingly thin plot. I could recommend you half a dozen films much better than this, and I could even recommend you a few worse films that are at least more entertaining. It turns out that all of the drama that happened when this was released was actually more interesting than anything that Wilde put into the film, sadly.

4/10

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The Creator (2023)

With a basic narrative that will feel very familiar to fans of popular media (a man has to ferry a child from A to B while trying to stop people from realising how important/powerful the child is), I can see why The Creator didn’t really make the impact that writer-director Gareth Edwards would have been hoping for. That’s a shame though, because The Creator is a visual feast that ends up being more than just the sum of its parts. 

John David Washington plays Joshua, a former soldier who is tasked with heading into enemy territory and taking ownership of a weapon that could turn the tide in an ongoing battle between humans and A.I. robots. The weapon doesn’t look like a weapon though. It looks like a child (Madeleine Yula Voyles), albeit a robo-child, and details are revealed that make the situation increasingly complicated for Joshua.

The cast is a big plus here, and Washington continues to deliver great performances in everything he’s attached to. Voyles is also very good, playing her innocent and powerful character with just the right amount of constant vulnerability. Gemma Chan doesn’t get much screentime, but she plays a pivotal role in the proceedings, and Allison Janney once again shows how effortlessly badass she can be, this time playing a badass military figure. Other familiar faces include Amar Chadha-Patel, Ralph Ineson, and Ken Watanabe, all being as reliable as our lead.

The other big plus, and the main selling point, is the gorgeousness of the full world that has been realised onscreen. Edwards knows how to stretch every dollar of a budget, and the spectacle he presents here rivals that of many movies that would have cost two or three times what this cost, if not more. Although it doesn’t take time to dwell on every detail, this is a film that feels as if a whole world keeps on turning just beyond the edges of the frame. The score from Hans Zimmer works in perfect harmony with the visuals, and sci-fi fans should find plenty to soak up and enjoy here.

The script is where things fall down. Working with Chris Weitz, Edwards is unable to craft any dialogue or set-pieces worthy of the world that the characters inhabit. There are very good moments here and there, and it’s still engaging thanks to the central characters, but things are dragged down by a mix of predictability and stretched plausibility. The backstory for Joshua doesn’t seem to fit pieces together as well as it’s supposed to, but maybe that’s just me being cynical.

Weakness be damned though. I loved The Creator. The strengths ultimately outweigh the weaknesses, and I am happy we have this kind of originality to savour, even if it’s as derivative and faltering as some other movies I might judge more harshly, depending on my mood and the timing.

8/10

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Eternals (2021)

If you want some wholesome and enjoyable content to make you smile then you should check out the many photos of Lia McHugh on her IMDb page. Most of them have clearly been out there by McHugh herself, complete with contextualising text descriptions that show how much she loves her acting career.

If you can spend two hours browsing that selection of photos then you will probably have a better time than you would if you actually watched Eternals, a Marvel movie that feels more redundant than any others we have seen so far.

Described as Earth’s first superheroes, Eternals are a group of people with different powers who work together to help care for the human race. They can only ever intervene when humans are being attacked by monsters called deviants, which conveniently explains why they never tried to help when “the snap” happened, and most of their time is spent just observing people and trying to act like one of them. There hasn’t been any deviant attack for a long, long time. And then there is one, one unlike the others. This deviant may be able to absorb powers while it takes lives. And it may reveal a truth about the Eternals that they will struggle to accept.

Although it’s not actually a bad movie, in many ways, I can feel my enthusiasm for this film ebbing away with every word I write. There is a mildly interesting development in the second half that takes things in a slightly unexpected direction, but the end result is still a group of people dealing with some giant CGI. What’s worse is that the more enjoyable characters seem to be too quickly dismissed from the action.

Director Chloé Zhao, who also helped write the screenplay (Patrick Burleigh and Ryan Firpo being the other writers on this), does what is expected of her, trying to liven things up enough with an action sequence here and there to distract from the fact that these are the dullest superheroes we have seen in a long time. Sadly, she cannot do enough to make up for the central problem.

At least the cast help, although the lead being played by Gemma Chan leads to the big problem of, well, the lead being played by Gemma Chan. Richard Madden does a bit better, as does the aforementioned McHugh, but the best cast members are Angelina Jolie, Brian Tyree Henry, and Kumail Nanjiani. Barry Keoghan plays an interesting character, but plays him as if he can barely be bothered to stay awake. I don’t blame him, it’s a tough job to stay energised with such a mix of deja vu and plodding mediocrity. Even Salma Hayek cannot help, although her relatively small amount of screentime was better than no Hayek at all.

There is a nice cross-section of characters here (Lauren Ridloff is a deaf Flash-like character who speaks in sign language), but the bad outweighs the good. By far. With the pacing issues, the inability to engage viewers properly, and the tired feeling the material has, I have to say that this is the weakest big MCU movie so far. I hope it is an anomaly.

4/10

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Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Crazy Rich Asians is a bright and fun romantic comedy, made into something that feels a bit different from so many others thanks to the cultural caricatures and lavish displays of wealth. Both of these things could put off anyone looking for reasons to be put off, but they work well in service of the actual focus of the movie, which is a very standard tale of love, family, and identity.

Constance Wu plays Rachel, a young woman who is about to accompany her boyfriend (Nick, played by Henry Golding) to a wedding that will allow her to finally meet his family. What she doesn't realise is that Nick is part of a ridiculously wealthy family. We're talking "let's just buy the island" kind of money. Hoping to make a good impression, Rachel soon realises that she doesn't have a fan in Nick's mother (Eleanor, played by Michelle Yeoh).

This could have been a much more unpleasant movie to watch if everyone had been snotty and quick to look down at those who don't have a gazillion pounds in their bank account, which is why the script from Peter Ciarelli and Adele Lim (adapting the novel by Kevin Kwan) is commendable for offering such an enjoyable array of characters. There are plenty who enjoy their wealth, some who prize it above everything else, and some who couldn't care less about it. Of course, it's easy to say you don't care less about wealth when you have it, which is why Rachel is the constant we root for in the busy series of gatherings, parties, shopping, and general socialising. Things are also helped along by a prologue that shows part of why this very rich family may have such an ingrained desire to keep hold of their position in society.

Wu and Golding are a solid central couple. The film focuses on the former, of course, but Golding isn't shown as a complete pushover. He's a nice guy who doesn't want his wealth to affect the woman he loves, and the film keeps him around long enough to remind viewers that he's exactly how he puts himself across. We never have doubts about Wu, or the integrity of her character, so making time for Golding is equally important here, underlining the fact that the main obstacle in this particular romantic adventure is the close family, the matriarch driven by self-preservation and a misplaced notion of what is best for her son. Yeoh is excellent in her role, easy to dislike while also easy to grudgingly admire. Everything she does is for her family, even if that doesn't mean things are going perfectly in the lives of her children. Gemma Chan is quite lovely as Astrid, Nick's sister and a shining example of how to act while representing the public face of the family (despite personal difficulties), and there are laughs to be had in most scenes that involve Awkwafina (playing Rachel's friend, Peik Lin Got) and Ken Jeong.

Director John M. Chu does a great job, crafting a layered film that provides plenty to think over while it also provides simple entertainment. The subgenre tropes may be hidden under a different coating but they're all there, nonetheless, and Chu makes sure to tick them off the checklist. He also takes the script and embellishes the dialogue with relevant mise-en-scènes, great work that peaks in a third act scene showing an important game of Mahjong between two central characters.

Everything is topped off by a soundtrack full of great cover tunes, plenty of moments that will have people daydreaming about what they would do if they ever had their own overstuffed bank accounts, and a standard rom-com finale that proves to be as satisfying as expected.

8/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.