After months of debate and behind-the-scenes drama, Don't Worry Darling is finally in cinemas across Aotearoa.
Set against a backdrop of 1950s America, Don't Worry Darling is focused on a small company town called Victory - where men work on a mysterious project by day, while wives stay home to cook and clean.
The film revolves around the mystery of what exactly Victory's men do during the day - posing the question of whether everything is really as it seems in the 1950s town.
Florence Pugh stars as Alice, who is the wife of Jack - played by popstar Harry Styles. At this point, I'd like to greet anyone who doesn't normally read movie reviews, but clicked on this as Harry Styles is mentioned in the headline - hello!
I'd rather discuss the film itself, but it's worth mentioning the rocky road to release for Don't Worry Darling - which included Shia LaBeouf being fired from the film and then claiming he wasn't fired, an on-set romance between director Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles, and a bizarre video in which Styles appears to spit on Chris Pine at the film's premiere. For a more comprehensive breakdown, check out 1News on TikTok.
As for the film itself, the best it has to offer is in the visuals. The production design is flawless, from the way all the houses are dressed, to the costumes, to the layout of the town of Victory. The cinematography is top-notch, with inventive camerawork and colours popping from the screen.
But then there's the story.
I'm not going to spoil any plot elements, but the way the mystery builds and unfolds is very clunky. Right from the get-go, we're shown that there's something deeper to the film, but then for the next hour, we're only really given that same information.
The ending is going to be divisive for people. I was not a fan but to say any more would be venturing into spoiler territory.
At the best of times, Don't Worry Darling feels like an episode of Black Mirror - at the worst of times, it feels like a bad episode of Black Mirror.
Of course, the question we all want to be answered is how is Harry Styles' acting in the film? As it turns out, it's a more complicated answer than just good or bad.
Florence Pugh and Chris Pine are phenomenal in this film, truly some of the best work either of them has done and they're both already incredible actors. So naturally, anyone put next to those two is going to have to be really stellar to keep up.
As much as I love Harry Styles as a singer and all-around icon, he's set up to fail in this film. He is woefully miscast, the script has several lines clearly shoehorned in to explain why the main male character in our ode to Americana is British.
He's trying his hardest but it seems everything is working against him, including the people in the cinema giggling when he has a more explosive scene. The singer's role in Dunkirk was great, and I think he would perhaps be better off sticking to more understated roles - as he has a knack for nuance over extreme bursts of emotion.
Don't Worry Darling is far from a perfect film, but given the choice between it and Amsterdam, I'm happy with the choice of the film I'm talking about.
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