The intriguing trailers and posters for Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling has given us an enticing, yet unsettling, taste of what to anticipate from the actress and director’s sophomore feature picture. With a classic look and enticing ensemble, including Oscar candidate Florence Pugh, pop star-turned-actor Harry Styles, and Chris Pine, the film has been captivating audiences ever since its first eerie teaser trailer debuted. Charm and sophistication seem to be dwindling rapidly with each new promotional addition, yet they all have the same crooning lullaby.
Wilde said in an interview with Variety that the film has an original song written by singer and songwriter Styles and sung by Pugh. Wilde’s next film is a mind-bending psychological thriller with a star-studded ensemble, after her directing debut with the coming-of-age comedy Booksmart (also released in 2019). After seeing Pugh in Ari Aster’s sunny horror Midsommar, Wilde knew she had to cast her as her manic protagonist Alice. When Harry Styles’ tour was cancelled, Wilde jumped at the chance to cast him opposite Pugh as Jack.
Having already proven his acting chops in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, the musician was given the opportunity to showcase his musical talents when he read that “the trigger song” was mentioned several times in the narrative. Wilde claims that she actively seeks out the creative input of her actors, explaining that she feels “Any great actor is also a scriptwriter in the process” and that “They are responsible for developing the life of the character, therefore they offer so many ideas.”
With the director being so receptive to input from cast and crew members, Styles felt emboldened to ask for creative control over this unrealized area of the picture. According to Wilde, the actor approached her and asked whether she knew the song’s tune. She let him experiment, and he supposedly phoned back five minutes later with some piano music he’d composed. Styles emailed Variety to discuss the inspiration for the film’s original song:
“I yearned for a word that, depending on the circumstances, could be both cute and frightening. It had a homemade nursery rhyme feel when I originally played it on the piano. I imagine it takes on several guises when applied to the various plot points in the film.”
All throughout the movie, Jack’s wife Alice can be heard humming the song’s tune. Although it isn’t explicitly stated in the interview, it’s safe to assume that the sad song Pugh sings in all of the promos is from the film. Fans became intrigued by the song after realising that it was the actress singing the affectionate lines, “Darling, I’m with you all the time…” to the tune of an eerie humming by Styles. The script’s description of the piano music as a “trigger tune” suggests it’s not exactly a soothing lullaby. Having No Fear Victory, the experimental development where Darling takes place is a 1950s paradise of pastels and swimming pools. Jack (Styles) and Alice (Pugh), a young new couple, move to the area and Jack quickly establishes himself professionally and socially. Comfort, routine, and predictability appear to be the order of the day.
While Jack is at work each day, Alice begins to slide into a paranoid abyss, gradually losing faith in those around her. The flawless exterior is starting to peel, but no one will listen to Alice until it’s too late. Kate Berlant (A League of Their Own), Gemma Chan (Eternals), Nick Kroll, Timothy Simons (Candy), Kiki Lane, and Dita Von Teese round out the cast alongside Wilde, Pugh, Styles, and Pine. On September 23, you can see Don’t Worry, Darling in cinemas.