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CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 6 

Film Review: Don’t Worry Darling by Olivia Wilde 
Christina Mary Ramirez 

Department of Sociology 
California State University, Los Angeles 

 
INTRODUCTION 

The film Don’t Worry Darling (2022) depicts unhappiness 
with married life, toxic masculinity, and the fight for gender 
equality. Seemingly set in the 1950s, several couples live in a 
pretentious, thriving community that shelters successful couples 
under an experiment. Everyone in the town of Victory lives in a 
simulation initiated by a character named Frank. In the actual 
present day, throughout the film, Frank is portrayed as a cult 
leader. In this experimentation he is leading, Frank has motivated 
and swayed men to give him their money to exist in a virtual-
reality stimulation similar to life during the 1950s. This 
voluntarily paid experiment transfers them mentally into another 
dimension, leaving their failed lives behind for the make-believe 
lifestyle they choose. The new life entails a successful career for 
the husband, a luxurious lifestyle, and joy, while the wives stay 
home cleaning, cooking, exercising, and living up to what the 
perfect woman entails. The film represents a vision of femininity 
that relies on essentialist assumptions about what it means to be a 
woman; it also underscores the risks of ignoring those who don’t 
perfectly align with this image.  

 
SOCIAL STRUCTURES EXAMINED 

The movie describes our society’s obsession with a 
perfect world. It demonstrates the pressure on individuals to live 
a ‘perfect life,’ to the point of violence against women. In its most 
straightforward explanation, Don’t Worry Darling challenges its 
spectators to test our typical and traditional social structure by the 
story narrative of characters falsifying and creating a new world 
shaped to their liking by disassembling the social structures forced 
onto them. 

In the present day, it is revealed that Alice and Jack, the 
main characters, are both working-class individuals. Alice 
maintains her occupation while her partner Jack has growing 
feelings of hopelessness in his search for a job. For Jack to become 



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CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 6 

a man in his own eyes, he chooses an independent route that 
affects Alice’s entire life. While he may have had the option of 
ending their relationship and pursuing his new life goal, he 
chooses to bring her along without her knowing. Jack had an 
unrealistic view of what society he wants to be a part of, which is 
one where he has more of an impact as a man than any of the 
women. Although Jack ultimately wanted a better life for himself 
and Alice, he took a path that affects others without their consent.  

On the other hand, Alice opposes this lifestyle once she 
learns she’s been living in a technologically controlled community 
called Victory. The experiment manipulates the participants into 
believing that having the men assume the role of breadwinner 
allows them to be in charge of everything while their wives will 
be left at ease not by having to worry about working or any 
personal obligations or own ambitions other than to be a regular 
housewife. Despite the life of luxury and comfort Victory 
provides, Alice wants more in life. She wanted no part of this; she 
prefers a society which encourages gender equality. The film 
illustrates a battle for change. By refusing to be a part of this 
community, Alice is violently putting her life at risk, possibly even 
death. Even in her inferior position within the simulation, she 
keeps fighting to end the experiment and make the world better 
through gender equality.  
 
CONCLUSION 

This film meets the audience with curiosity, confusion, 
mystery, thrilling, and even controversial observations. Director 
Olivia Wilde brings the viewers on an appealing adventure full of 
deceit. Wilde’s ability to represent the inequalities and 
predetermined gender roles put into society is magnificent. The 
story speaks on women’s rights issues, especially the shared role 
in strengthening equality as opposed to patriarchy. In the 
development of the movie Don’t Worry Darling, Wilde focuses on 
preventing a biased portrayal, trying to steer clear of defining men 
as characteristically bad and women as characteristically good. 
Additionally, she investigates to which level individuals 
acknowledge their contribution in a system that belittles them. 
 However, the story fails to account for the experiences of lower-
class women, women of color, and people living non-



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CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY FORUM VOL. 6 

heteronormative lifestyles. There’s an economic privilege that the 
film doesn’t acknowledge. It assumes that all members of the two 
depicted genders have shared experiences and that the struggles 
or successes middle-class white women go through are the same 
for all other women. Nevertheless, this film is for anyone who 
wants to experience a challenging and different view of society 
and gender roles. 

 
REFERENCES 

Wilde, Olivia. 2022. Don’t Worry Darling. Los Angeles, CA: New Line Cinema; Vertigo 
Entertainment. 

 
 
Christina Mary Ramirez (She/Her) is a sociology M.A. student at Cal State 
University, Los Angeles and will be graduating in the spring of 2024. Her 
interest is in intergenerational solidarity, children’s psychological well-
being, and family dynamics. She believes exploring these topics is vital for 
society because the family may be the first to serve as a foundational source 
of love, companionship, and understanding. She is in the process of 
completing her thesis, studying the effects parent-child conflict has on 
children’s depression, especially while enduring a traumatic experience like 
divorce. Christina is grateful for the opportunity she has been given to 
explore her writing in sociological areas and to be able to work alongside 
brilliant, goal-orientated students and faculty.


	Film Review: Don’t Worry Darling by Olivia Wilde - Christina Mary Ramirez



