Imagine watching a perfect life crack apart, exposing something ominous underneath and realizing the whole reality is a facade. Harry Styles and Florence Pugh’s new film “Don’t Worry Darling,” directed by Olivia Wilde, released on Sept. 23, explores this idea. Although it’s a captivating film, the obvious flaws in plot development outweigh the excitement of the movie and the anticipation for its release. The movie’s conclusion comes as a surprise, and not in a good way. Rather, it is shocking that the viewer is left with so many unanswered questions.

The movie explores the eerily picture-perfect life of a couple, Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles), living in the corporately controlled 1950s town of Victory. From empty eggshells to the strange synchronization of the residents’ morning routine, Alice begins to notice aspects in her life don’t add up. Subsequently, the psychological torture of the film itself escalates and plays with the audience’s mind through creepy cinematography and eerie occurrences. Alice’s reflection in a mirror moves separately from her own face and she doesn’t seem to have complete control over her actions. 

Additionally, Pugh’s acting in the film is on par with performances that her viewers have received positively in the past, such as her roles in “Midsommar” and “Little Women.” Her emotions are conveyed simply with her expressions, capturing the audience instantaneously and effortlessly. This aspect of the movie makes it slightly more engaging.

Questions build up as the plot thickens, but the moment in which all of the puzzle pieces come together never happens. It is as if the movie is built up to a climax and then dropped off of a cliff. The overarching conclusion is reached but the carefully added details are hastily tied up and loose ends still remain. Many of the displaced scenes and imagery created to portray a sense of paranoia and surrealism are out of context and fail to ever give a backstory. Many aspects of the mystique are left floating without an obvious connection to each other. 

Considering the perspective that the confusion is purposeful, the verdict stands that it’s taken too far. “Don’t Worry Darling” makes it clear that it is in fact possible for a horror movie to have too much mystery. 

If the goal is to find a movie with fan-favorite actors, this may be worth the watch. But it’s fair to conclude “Don’t Worry Darling” fails to cover all of the bases in terms of plot development and is a poor choice if one has any desire to feel satisfied after the movie has ended.