Is Don’t Worry Darling Based on a True Story? – Don’t Worry Darling is a 2022 American psychological thriller film directed by Olivia Wilde from a screenplay by Katie Silberman. It is based on a story by Carey Van Dyke, Shane Van Dyke, and Silberman. A cast led by Florence Pugh and Harry Styles also includes Chris Pine, Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Nick Kroll.
Following the critical acclaim of Olivia Wilde directorial debut, Booksmart (2019), a bidding war between many studios ensued for the rights to her follow-up picture, which New Line Cinema ultimately won. Styles replaced Shia LaBeouf in the cast in September of that same year, after Pugh joined in April. Filming began in Los Angeles in October 2020 and lasted through February 2021. Media coverage and debate surrounded the movie’s purportedly problematic production, which included contradicting accounts of LaBeouf’s exit and alleged tensions between Wilde and Pugh.
We have gathered all the information to help you choose whether “Don’t Worry Darling” is based on actual events or true stories.
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Is “Don’t Worry Darling” Based on a True Story?
No, “Don’t Worry Darling” is not based on a true story. An original tale by Carey Van Dyke, Shane Van Dyke, and Katie Silberman served as the basis for the movie. The latter also wrote the film’s script, which Olivia Wilde directed. Carey and Shane Van Dyke’s speculative script served as the basis for the project.
Director Olivia Wilde revealed in a Variety interview that she was seeking her next directing gig and wanted to dabble in science fiction to examine contemporary sociopolitical concerns. She discovered the spec script and collaborated on the project with Silberman. To investigate pertinent subjects, the two looked into incel culture and online misogyny. Wilde also said that her portrayal of a utopia in the movie was motivated by nostalgia for the society she grew up in, which did not value women. The feminist undertones of the movie are, therefore, clear.
The central conflict in Alice and Jack’s relationship is portrayed through sex and certain fantasy elements in the film’s plot. In the interview above, Wilde clarified the story’s emphasis on the sexual relationship between the two central characters.
According to Wilde, “It’s all about immediacy and (an) extreme passion for one another. The impractical nature of their sex speaks to their ferocious desire for one another. I think it’s integral to the story itself and how the audience is meant to connect to them. My early conversations with the cast were all about how the audience had to buy into the fantasy.”
Thus, despite the movie’s surrealistic take on romance genre clichés, Wilde’s comments demonstrate that the plot is grounded in human feelings. Because of this, the film’s fantasy components and the most bizarre depiction of sex seem credible. In the movie, Chris Pine plays the mysterious billionaire Frank, the creator of the utopian community that Alice and Jack live in. The novelist and psychologist Jordan Peterson is said to have been a loose inspiration for the character. Peterson, meanwhile, has declined to accept the accusation.
In the end, “Don’t Worry, Darling” is a fictional and unique tale examining several contemporary sociopolitical issues affecting women. Reading a woman’s place in a complicated relationship and providing a female viewpoint on sexual satisfaction requires a surrealist approach. The movie also offers societal commentary on contemporary misogynistic behaviour, its spread, and incel culture through several analogies and allegories.
Warner Bros. Pictures plans to release Don’t Worry Darling in the US on September 23, 2022, after having its global premiere on September 5, 2022, at the 79th Venice International Film Festival. Critics gave the movie mixed reviews, praising Pugh’s acting and the production design while criticizing Wilde’s directing, the script, and Styles’ acting.
