By Phoebe Piserchio, Entertainment Editor
The movie “Don’t Worry Darling” has circled around the media for months now, and if you don’t recognize it, you may also know it as that one Florence Pugh and Harry Styles movie. It’s been quite a long time since a film has caused this big of a scandal, and from on-set romances to major casting issues, the rumors have far surpassed any talk of the film itself.
Directed by Olivia Wilde and starring Florence Pugh, the infamous movie has had its fair share of challenges and buzz; debuting with a mere 39% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film’s behind-the-scenes controversies have certainly been a more interesting topic of conversation than the actual movie. It’s been a real roller coaster– so buckle up.
Starting from the beginning in April 2020, it was announced that Olivia Wilde would be directing Don’t Worry Darling, starring Florence Pugh, Shia LaBeouf, and Chris Pine. Pugh expressed her excitement for the film in an Instagram post, as well as her love for Wilde as a director. However, a month before they started filming in October 2020, LaBeouf left the cast supposedly due to scheduling issues. To many people’s (pleasant) surprise, world-renowned singer Harry Styles replaced Labeouf’s role. Shortly thereafter, LaBeouf was accused of abuse by multiple women; Wilde was later asked about this situation and instead of following the narrative of scheduling conflicts, she stated that she ended up firing him, as her responsibility was to keep the work environment a safe space for everyone– especially Pugh. After this statement, LaBeouf called out Wilde implying she did not tell the truth, and the reason was in fact due to a scheduling complexity. A video that Wilde sent to LaBeouf during the film’s casting was leaked, and in the video, she is seen begging LaBeouf to come back and saying, “… I feel like I’m not ready to give up on this yet…this might be a bit of a wakeup call for ‘Miss Flo’.” This only led to more unanswered questions, and even more angry fans.
As production went on, the movie had a relatively clean reputation– from set pictures of a happy Pugh and Styles working together to photos of excited cast members teasing the film. In fact, up until recent controversy, Pugh and Wilde were seen to be very close on set. Nevertheless, it only went downhill as the movie’s premiere got closer, and another constant flood of rumors broke out.
One of the biggest pieces of news to break was Wilde and Styles’ blossoming relationship on-set while she was still engaged to her longtime boyfriend Jason Sudeikis. Some crew members even revealed stories about how Wilde’s job as a director was often neglected and put second after her immature relationship with Styles, forcing Pugh to direct instead. By November 2020, Wilde called off her engagement, and by the following January, she and Styles were an official couple. This sent many Styles fans into a frenzy due to the nature of their overall relationship.
The filming of the movie wrapped in April of 2021, and the journey was certainly a long one as a huge shift in Pugh’s attitude towards the film occurred. While notoriously known for her bubbly and exuberant energy towards all the films she’s involved in, she shied away from promoting and talking about the film when the trailers came out. A few speculations suggested this was because the immaturity of Styles and Wilde’s relationship caused issues on set, making it uncomfortable to work. Others believed Pugh and Wilde got into a “screaming match” on set, but these rumors were quickly debunked by crew members. It’s also clear through behind-the-scenes photos and videos that the two were quite close on set, and seemingly good friends; whatever happened between the two was post-production.
Although a clear explanation for this drama has been avoided, a reasonable one for the tension between Pugh and Wilde could have to do with both their ex-partners. At the time of Don’t Worry Darling’s production, Pugh was in a relationship with actor and director Zach Braff, who was working on Ted Lasso and very close with Wilde’s ex-partner Jason Sudeikis (who plays Ted Lasso); in fact, Pugh was supposed to have a cameo in Ted Lasso at one point. Many assume that the friendship with Sudeikis led Braff, and eventually Pugh, to side with Sudeikis– this would explain why Pugh and Wilde are no longer close friends.
All of these events led to the PR nightmare that was the movie’s premiere at the Venice Film festival. From Styles describing the movie as, “a movie that feels like a movie you would see at the movies” to him apparently spitting on Chris Pine, the premiere was a mess. Pugh was also notably absent from the press conference, but this was due to the fact that she was filming Dune 2 at the time, so she would not have arrived on time.
At the time of the red carpet, Pugh and Styles, the two leads of the movie, did not get a single picture together other than with the whole cast. Also, the strategic placement of where cast members were particularly stood out; Chris Pine and Gemma Chan often acted like buffers between Pugh, Styles, and Wilde.
Fast forward to after the premiere (the movie got a 5-minute standing ovation before Pugh quickly left, might I add), Pugh’s stylists shared behind-the-scenes photos of her red carpet look captioning their Instagram posts “Miss Flo,” alluding to the leaked video of Wilde calling Pugh that very name. Wilde’s stylist later posted on Instagram saying “There’s always more to the story.”
Much to fans’ disappointment, there was not, in fact, anymore to the story. Almost every question and rumor– unless debunked– has remained unofficially answered, and will likely forever be. Since its release, Pugh has been constantly praised for her phenomenal performance as Alice– many critics have described it as her best yet; her sheer talent, will, and charisma alone are the highlight of the movie. Unfortunately, the film will likely remain a rotten stain on her otherwise ever-impressing career, as its 39% on Rotten Tomatoes did not live up to the original expectations for the film. As for Styles, being his second big acting debut since Dunkirk, his acting is quite competent, but it’s clear Pugh is the true star of the film. Although the movie itself no longer has any Oscar buzz, the behind-the-scenes drama may be a more intriguing source of entertainment.
