Don’t Worry Darling: praise and controversy following the premiere

There has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling, but the audience at its Venice Film Festival world premiere kept it at bay, lauding praise following the screening.

Ahead of its Venice Film Festival premiere, Don’t Worry Darling had been the subject of numerous on-set and post-production scandals. Perhaps the most headline-grabbing found director Olivia Wilde defending why she fired once-star Shia LaBeouf–which LaBeouf has vehemently denied. It was noted, too, that Wilde and star Florence Pugh were distant on the red carpet and didn’t make eye contact during the premiere. This may stem from the rumor that Pugh was upset with her director allegedly having an affair with Styles. One of the more ludicrous stories coming from the premiere is that Harry Styles spit on co-star Chris Pine, based on the video below:

#HarryStyles appears to spit on Chris Pine i won't sleep until i know the truth pic.twitter.com/wLXjIHTYgU

— JZMaclin (@Mac70J) September 6, 2022

Don’t Worry Darling’s housewife Pugh was notably absent from the Venice Film Festival press conference, during which Wilde shut down any controversy-related questions. “As for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, I mean, the Internet feeds itself…I don’t feel the need to contribute. I think it’s sufficiently well nourished.” Perhaps Wilde’s approach played a role in how the movie was received following the screening.

But let’s not let tabloid fodder get the best of Don’t Worry Darling, which had a wholly successful premiere. Reviews may be far from hot right now, but the movie did receive an approximately seven minute standing ovation. That’s longer than Brendan Fraser’s! According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pugh and co-star Harry Styles (who replaced LaBeouf) received much of the praise.

Don’t Worry Darling plot synopsis: “A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company may be hiding disturbing secrets.”

Don’t Worry Darling comes to theaters on September 23.

What do you think about everything surrounding Don’t Worry Darling? Will its controversy hurt or help its box office performance?