Now streaming on Netflix, Don’t Worry Darling quietly re-enters the spotlight, drawing in viewers who may have skipped it in theaters but are now discovering it at home. Its 1950s aesthetic, sun-drenched modernist houses and immaculate surfaces conceal a slow-building unease that feels even sharper today. For fans of psychological thrillers, the film offers a striking world where perfection becomes disorienting and emotional stakes rise with every crack in the facade. Here is everything you need to know about Don’t Worry Darling – from the plot and cast to reviews and what makes it worth watching now.
Don’t Worry Darling: All the key details
- Title: Don’t Worry Darling
- Format: Film
- Runtime: 122 minutes
- Genre: Psychological thriller
- Country of production: United States
- Release date: September 23, 2022
- Director: Olivia Wilde
- Lead cast: Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde
- Produced by: New Line Cinema, Vertigo Entertainment, Warner Bros.
- Age rating: R
Also read ► This film with Jessica Chastain left the Netflix audience speechless… And it’s a true story!
The story centers on Alice and Jack Chambers, a seemingly perfect couple living in the idealized community of Victory. Days are filled with cocktail parties, poolside afternoons and strictly defined roles: the men drive off to mysterious jobs, the women maintain flawless homes and friendships. As strange incidents accumulate and one neighbor starts to unravel, Alice begins to question the rules she has been told never to challenge. The more she pushes against the carefully arranged world around her, the more dangerous the pursuit of truth becomes.
At the heart of the film is Florence Pugh (Alice Chambers), delivering a performance that gives the story its emotional weight. Pugh, an Oscar nominee for Little Women and a streaming favorite thanks to titles like Midsommar and Netflix’s The Wonder, plays Alice with clarity and control, making every shift in her perception feel tangible. Her slow realization that something is wrong becomes the engine of the narrative, and critics widely agreed that she carries the film.
Opposite her is Harry Styles (Jack Chambers), whose casting alone sparked intense discussion when the film was released. At the time, Styles was transitioning from global pop icon to actor, and the project arrived in the middle of his chart-topping solo career and a massive world tour. His role in a glossy psychological thriller directed by one of Hollywood’s rising female filmmakers turned the movie into a cultural talking point long before audiences saw it. On screen, he plays the picture perfect husband whose charm begins to fracture, exposing the power imbalances that define Victory.
Chris Pine (Frank) delivers one of his most controlled and unsettling performances. Known for Star Trek, Hell or High Water and Netflix’s Outlaw King, he plays Victory’s enigmatic leader with a calm confidence that never quite reads as friendly. Pine’s scenes with Pugh stand out as some of the film’s most charged moments, hinting at an ideological battle beneath the town’s polished routines.
Also read ► Deception, desire, and a twist you’ll never see coming in Netflix’s erotic psychological thriller
Olivia Wilde (Bunny) appears on screen but is also the film’s director, following her acclaimed debut with Booksmart. Before moving behind the camera, Wilde built a long acting career across television and films, from House to Her and Tron: Legacy. Her second directorial effort is visually ambitious, leaning heavily into controlled aesthetics, architectural symmetry and curated domestic perfection to tell a psychological story about fantasy and constraint.
Visually, Don’t Worry Darling is defined by its locations. The film was shot primarily in Greater Palm Springs, California, where desert landscapes and sharp mid century architecture helped shape its distinctive look. The production used iconic landmarks such as the Kaufmann Desert House and the circular Volcano House in Newberry Springs, whose geometric lines and open horizons reinforce the tension between openness and entrapment. The region’s light, terrain and architectural history shape the film’s entire visual identity, turning every frame into part of the story.
Behind the scenes, Wilde cited influences ranging from The Truman Show to The Matrix, grounding the film in ideas of constructed realities and the seductive nature of idealized worlds. Production design and costume design played central narrative roles: every surface, color and silhouette was chosen to reinforce the sense of order closing in around Alice. Bright palettes, precise symmetry and pristine interiors are not just decorative – they are tools to show how control can be disguised as comfort. The result is a thriller where style is not an accessory but a structure, and where the environment tightens around the characters’ secrets.
Early reviews were sharply divided, though almost all critics singled out Florence Pugh as the film’s standout element. Many praised the visual world-building, the commitment to a stylized psychological thriller tone, and Pine’s controlled performance. Others felt that the final reveal did not fully match the strength of the buildup, arguing that the mystery is more powerful than the explanation. Audience reception was similarly mixed, but the film has since gained traction on streaming as viewers revisit it with adjusted expectations and greater interest in its themes of control, illusion and curated perfection.
This is precisely why Don’t Worry Darling on Netflix feels relevant now. In a landscape full of sleek, high-concept thrillers, it stands out as a film that pairs a meticulously designed world with questions about who benefits from stability and who pays the price for it. For anyone in the mood for a stylish, slow-burning psychological thriller with a powerhouse lead performance and a visually striking setting, it is a title that rewards both first-time viewers and those curious to see how it plays a second time around.
Don’t Worry Darling is available to stream on Netflix.Watch on Netflix