This Critically-Mauled Film Is Making Its Way Up Netflix’s Most-Watched Right Now List

Nestled among new originals like the romantic comedy The Life List and the true crime documentary Con Mum on Netflix’s list of most-watched movies right now is a rather unexpected film.

After debuting on the platform on Wednesday, the 2023 psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling is currently its third most-watched movie, at the time of writing.

Given the film features leading performances from Oscar nominee Florence Pugh and global superstar Harry Styles, it’s perhaps not a massive surprise that people might be curious to check out Don’t Worry Darling for themselves.

Before being cast in Don’t Worry Darling, Harry had only one major film credit to his name, after landing a supporting role in Christopher Nolan’s war epic Dunkirk, so intrigue was understandably high about whether the chart-topper’s musical success and on-stage charisma would transfer to the big screen.

Unfortunately for him, though, the general consensus was that it did not.

Don't Worry Darling didn't exactly get the best reviews of Harry Styles' career
Don’t Worry Darling didn’t exactly get the best reviews of Harry Styles’ career

Warner Bros/Moviestore/Shutterstock

Don’t Worry Darling holds an unenviable 38% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, with many reviews singling out the As It Was singer’s acting as one of the film’s biggest flaws (although it’s worth pointing out that it has a much healthier Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 74%, not to mention a satisfyingly precise score of 3.0 stars on Letterboxd).

Harry was met with a much similar reception not too long later, when his second of two films in 2023, the romantic drama My Policeman, hit cinemas.

If you’ll excuse the minor spoiler, what’s interesting is that Don’t Worry Darling winds up touching on the radicalisation of men online and the rise of incel culture, and its arrival on Netflix comes at a time when these themes are being widely discussed thanks to one of the platform’s original offerings, the four-part drama Adolescence.

Don’t Worry Darling also features supporting performances from Olivia Wilde (who is also its director, and was dating Harry around the time of was made), Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll and Chris Pine, who Harry definitely did not spit on, despite what you might have read elsewhere.

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Olivia Wilde Stops Short Of Addressing Florence Pugh Rift At Venice Film Festival

Olivia Wilde doesn’t want to feed into the ongoing Florence Pugh drama surrounding the director’s new movie, Don’t Worry Darling.

The director expertly skirted around a reporter’s question about why Florence skipped the press conference for the new movie on Monday at the Venice International Film Festival.

“Can you just clear the air and address whether there has been a falling out there and if so, why, because it’s something that people are discussing?” a reporter said, according to The Independent.

Olivia Wilde attends the photocall for Don't Worry Darling at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on Monday
Olivia Wilde attends the photocall for Don’t Worry Darling at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on Monday

Vittorio Zunino Celotto via Getty Images

“Florence is a force. And we are so grateful that she is able to make it tonight despite being in production on ‘Dune,’” Olivia said. “I know as a director how disruptive it is to lose an actor even for a day, so I’m very grateful to her and Denis Villeneuve for helping us. And we’re really thrilled we’ll get to celebrate her work tonight.”

“I can’t say enough how honoured I am to have her as our lead,” she added, calling Florence “amazing in the film.”

“And 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,” Olivia said. “I think it’s sufficiently well nourished.”

Much ado has been made about Florence’s continued lack of promotion for the film after her initial excitement over being cast in the movie. There’s also a marked difference in the way both she and Olivia have approached the attention over the movie’s sex scenes.

Florence did arrive at the film festival on Monday, but missed the entirety of the press conference, where fellow stars including Chris Pine, Gemma Chan and Wilde’s boyfriend, Harry Styles, took questions.

Also at the Venice Film Festival press conference, the moderator dismissed a reporter’s question about Shia LaBeouf, who was originally cast in Harry’s role, before his exit from the film (another much-disputed detail in the making of the film).

Olivia insisted in a recent interview that she fired Shia, telling Variety that “his process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions.”

In response to her claims, Shia told HuffPost that he “was never fired from Don’t Worry Darling. I quit the film due to lack of rehearsal time.”

He also provided HuffPost with an email he sent to the director, and text messages from the time he exited the film.

Gossip has plagued the movie, which is the second directorial feature from Olivia, who made her debut with the 2019 film Booksmart.

Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, Chris Pine and Olivia Wilde attend the photocall for Don't Worry Darling
Harry Styles, Gemma Chan, Chris Pine and Olivia Wilde attend the photocall for Don’t Worry Darling

Stephane Cardinale – Corbis via Getty Images

Regardless of the real story, the constant speculation is serving up real attention around the movie, which officially hits cinemas on 23 September.

Check out the official trailer for the psychological thriller below…

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