Movie Research- Don’t worry Darling

 Today we researched the psychological thriller "Don't Worry Darling" directed by Olivia Wilde. This film stars Harry Styles and Florence Pugh two well known celebrities. 

The premise of this movie is that Alice, a stressed surgeon is in a relationship with the lazy, lowlife Jack. In a last ditch attempt to keep her affections, Jack places Alice in a simulation town called "Victory". The husbands each day leave the wives and return to the real world to earn money to keep the simulation going. Meanwhile, the wives enjoy a luxurious and Idyllic life, believing that the husbands are simply working on a "top secret project". Alice begins to see cracks within the simulated reality and questions the deeper meaning of this. 

Conventions of the genre this film includes: 

-The costuming uses darker colors for the men who know that they are keeping the wives in a simulation. The women are wearing brighter colors synonymous with the atomic era way of dressing.

-Noticeable contrast is used between moments where the character is unaware of her troubles and those where she is aware of them. Brightly colored furniture, clothing, and happy music is used when she is seemingly living a perfect Norman Rockwell life. However, in moments where something seems off or just too easy, there is limited lighting making the bright colors seem eerie. The music also turns mysterious and haunting. 

-Extreme Close Up shots are used to showcase Alice's facial expressions in contrast with those around her to highlight her acting. 

-Tracking shots are used to showcase Alice going about her daily chores as she starts to notice things are off.

-The digetic sounds such as the Victory radio station reporting a "security level for the town" creates an off-kilter liminal feeling. 

-Digetic sounds include songs appropriate for the time period. Their mood alters based on the character's emotions.

-The set of Alice's bathroom has an unsettling multi-mirrored wall lining the bathtub. Although common among architecture of that time, it creates multiple reflections of her and creates an overwhelmed feeling.

-A pan shot is used to create tension of the ballet students waiting to be addressed by the teacher. 

-All the women in the town go to ballet which is out of the ordinary and the class is taught by the creator of the town's wife. Within the studio, there is a picture of the town's creator high on the wall seemingly looking down on the students to watch. 

-The dialogue consists of a lot of arguing between Jack and Alice as she questions the meanings of the fallacies in the world around her. 

-High angle shots of Alice scrubbing the tub showcases her in a vulnerable state; whereas when she escapes the simulation she is portrayed through a high angle, towering over Jack. 

Elements of the genre this movie had that we liked: 

-The soundtrack switched from upbeat to uncouth to portray when something is lurking around that the audience should be aware of. 

-The contrast of colors portrayed moments of ease an unease noticeably. 

-The tension is built slowly meaning it will be achievable within the two minutes. 

-The costumes are fitting with the time period and events and since we are going for a road trip, we can likely dress comfortably to film.

Elements of the genre this movie had that we did not like:

-Lots of extreme close ups on the face. This works better when you have a professional makeup team to polish up blemishes, but the reality is, we are students with sometimes asymmetrical lipstick and blemishes. 

-The acting is mainly portrayed through facial expressions rather than dialogue which is difficult since we are not professional actors. 

-Shot-reverse-shots, while powerful to portray dialogue, are difficult to edit with the resources we are given.