The Stepford(ish) Wives

There's a fantasy to being able to step into another life and be someone else. Just about any sci-fi or fantasy story, in a way, boils down to an escapist fantasy, and dream of what could be if you were this person, in this world, on this adventure. To be able to place yourself into some other reality, to enjoy the fruits of that world without having to worry about doubt or fear or consequence, that's a dream I think many would buy into, if it were possible. But then, there's a choice to that decision, the ability to say, "yes, I would like to live in this world for this reason."

But then you have stories like The Stepford Wives where the fantasy comes entirely from the male perspective. "Wouldn't it be nice if you could live in this perfect world, with the perfect house, the perfect car, the perfect wife?" The choice isn't there for the wive in that scenario; the fantasy isn't for her. In fact, the wife is treated more like an object, something to be owned and controlled along with the car and the house. thats what makes the fantasy scary, more horror than actual enjoyable fantasy. That's why that the 1975 film (and the book it's based on) are still referenced even today, a cautionary tale of what would be if certain men were allowed all the control.

When the trailers for Don't Worry Darling (the third directorial effort from Olivia Wilde) came out, the film drew comparisons to The Stepford Wives, which is to be expected. As depicted in the trailers (and the film itself, so I don't consider it spoilers), we have Florence Pugh's Alice, a wife living in the perfect town of Victory, with the perfect husband and the perfect life. But then things start to go weird. She starts seeing things, suspecting things, and soon the reality starts to fall apart. What's going on in Victory? What is really the plan for the town? Does the town even really exist? The trailers themselves spill the beans, more or less, that this is a Stepford-style story, and comparisons are all but required from there.

The fears that The Stepford Wives tapped into, the idea that the partner you trust could have you reprogrammed (robotized) into a compliant and docile partner, does still feel real now. With all the MRA assholes Online, the conservative movement calling for "a return to the family values of days gone by," there is a real concern that many out there really just want to see "traditional" gender roles become the norm once more, even if they really weren't traditional and more than half the country isn't on board with that plan. The days gone by are gone, for a reason, so what with those with the fantasy do about it.

It's a potent idea that's better in concept than anything Don't Worry Darling has to offer. You catch the idea of it on the edges, the hints about who Alice's partner, Jack (Harry Styles), may really be. But despite this film having a very strong potential argument to be made about the politics of certain Online fringes, it never really commits to it. It condemns the bad guys without truly engaging in its topic, remaining oddly shallow and hollow about the very issues it's raised in its own concept. A film that engages and yet fails to do so is just... weird. Weird and unsatisfying.

The issue stems, in large part, from the script by Katie Silberman, at least as it's presented on screen. The concept of the movie (and I won't spoil the specifics) is interesting, but the way the film is constructed fails to add the necessary depth to the whole story. Two acts are basically spent on the mystery of "what is Victory, really?" But, let's face it, the actual answer isn't anywhere near as interesting as the film seems to think. I guessed what was going on in the first five minutes just from the trailers and what was presented at the start of the film. This story doesn't go anywhere new or interesting with its ideas. This is stuff we've seen before, from multiple sources, all smashed together. It's not new, it's just... there.

That's not to say it isn't interesting to watch, at least once. Wilde, along with cinematographer Matthew Libatique, present a very handsome film. It's stylish and moody and even with essentially having guessed what was going on in the film I still found that there were moments that effectively built up to the eventual reveal. It's very artsy and dynamic, a well crafted film that presents the 1950s-style design quite nicely. It feels rich, lush. It's well crafted, make no mistake, even as it gets weird and moody. I liked the presentation even if the story felt rather flat.

Watching the film I tried to figure out how it could be fixed. It's a bad sign when I'm already analyzing correcting a story as I'm watching a film but considering I could guess the ending I then had to give myself something us to engage with. I think the expects the twist to be more of a surprise, that someone we couldn't possibly guess what was going on. Since we can, then instead the movie needs to spend less time building up to its "mind shattering" ending (which shatters nothing) and, instead, spend more time post twist actually working on the aftermath. The film doesn't do that, annoyingly. It needed to give us more in the last act but the film just kind of... ends.

In fact, frankly, it ends a tad too tidily for my tastes. Things wrap up with a bit of ambiguity in certain respects, like the writer didn't really know where to take the film next (or had plans for a sequel that is doubtful to occur). The main plot wraps too quickly, to neatly, and we're just supposed to accept the ending as is without asking, "wait, what happens next?" And then you're left with all these threads dangling that won't get answers because the tidy ending doesn't have any time for them. It's confounding and annoying and, again, deeply unsatisfying in so many ways.

It drags me back to the politics of it all. Jack, who is clearly telegraphed to be in on the whole, well, whatever is going on, really needed more development. We have to understand more why Alice is with him, why he turns to Victory, why he would want them in Victory. There's a lot of story there that the film glosses over because it doesn't fit into the story's three act structure. The film needed to be built differently to invest its time in resources in other ways, because the lack of development hurts not only his character but the whole concept of the movie once everything is revealed. More is more in this instance, and we unfortunately got less instead.

In fact, the ending leaves me with so many questions that simple were never going to be answered. Things like what's next for Alice? What's next for Victory? Can the town (such as it is) survive the events of this film or will it all come crumbling down? And, the big one: how does Alice even escape the situation she's in. Again, not spoiling anything, but the end doesn't even give you a satisfying conclusion that Alice can or can't escape her situation. She's at least a step or two away when the credits roll and even anyone with half a second to think would go, 'wait, there's at least one more scene to this film." It just doesn't work.

Conceptually I like this film. Artistically I think it has a lot going for it. Hell, the performances are great as well, with Pugh be a reliable standout (as always). But when it comes to the nitty gritty, the details that make the film, the story that carries it all through, this film falls apart. I want to like Don't Worry Darling but there just isn't enough film here to make the film into an experience I want to have again.