'Don't Worry Darling' Reviews: Florence Pugh Praised in First Reactions as Film Divides Critics

Don’t Worry Darlingis a mostly stylish, fun experience despite some pitfalls, according to critics.

ForUSA Today, Brian Truitt said Oscar nominee Pugh, 26, “continues to make everything she’s in better — and, boy howdy, it’s needed here as the plot grows more convoluted. She takes [her character] Alice from ever-doting to paranoid conspiracy theorist and back again, making both happiness and terror feel impressively authentic in a waxwork world.”

Kate Erbland, forIndieWire, said Pugh “has never turned in a bad performance,” and noted that she “excels at turning her characters — all women on the verge — into fully realized people, unafraid to tap into their worst impulses alongside their most admirable ones. Most ofDon’t Worry Darlingis told through Alice’s perspective and thank goodness for that, because she’s the film’s unmitigated highlight.”

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“Pugh always delivers, even when the material is beneath its star,” wrote Erbland.

Florence Pugh inDon’t Worry Darling.Merrick Morton

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In hisDeadline review, Pete Hammond said the film is “actually quite entertaining if you’re in the mood, even if” it “doesn’t rewrite the rules of the genre in any significant way.” AboutHarry Styles' performance, Hammond added that the pop star, 28, “shows he is the real deal as an actor and has great promise.”

Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

However, some reviewers were less in favor of Styles' work here. David Rooney ofThe Hollywood Reportersaid, “When things turn dark and strange and Jack’s idealized world is threatened, that’s when doubts arise about Styles' range. Is he just a magnetic screen presence who looks fabulous in 1950s threads, or an actor capable of depth and nuance? He’s fine in the role, but based on this, the jury’s still out.”

Meanwhile,The Daily Beast’sMarlow Stern said Styles “struggles to match [Pugh’s] go-for-broke intensity,” adding that he “is like a deer in headlights throughout much of the proceedings.” Stern said it is perhaps “unfair” that Styles “was paired with an actress as formidable as Pugh in his first leading role.”

At the film’s press conference at Venice Monday, Wilde said she set out to make a “provocative” and entertaining movie with deeper messages underneath. “I hope it provokes conversations,” she said. “I hope people think and question the system that serves them. We also want this film to be incredibly entertaining.”

Don’t Worry Darlingis in theaters Sept. 23.

source: people.com