Monday evening at the Venice Film Festival was the global premiere of Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling. Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Gemma Chan, and Florence Pugh, who had flown in late from the Dune 2 set in Budapest, flanked Wilde as she witnessed her movie earn a rousing five-minute plus standing ovation.

Pugh received a warm greeting as she entered the room wearing her glittering gown.

Styles, Pine, and Chan joined Wilde earlier in the day to take questions from the media. Wilde also co-wrote the movie and co-stars in it. However, concerns about Florence Pugh’s absence from the press conference and the swirl of controversy surrounding Shia LaBeouf’s departure from the project were generally sidestepped.

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“Florence is a force; we are so grateful she is able to make it tonight [to the premiere] despite being in production,” Wilde said in response to Pugh’s absence. She resisted discussing theories that suggested there might be other causes. “As for all the endless tabloid gossip and noise out there, the internet feeds itself. I don’t feel I need to contribute to it. It’s sufficiently well-nourished.”

Don’t Worry Darling concentrates on Alice (Pugh) and Jack (Styles), who appear happy to be residing in Victory, a model company town that serves as home to the men who work on the top-secret Victory Project as well as their families. The tight-knit desert utopia’s CEO, Frank (Pine), who serves as both a business visionary and a motivational life coach, espouses the optimism of the 1950s. 

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The wives, including Frank’s stylish partner Shelley (Chan), get to spend their time taking advantage of the beauty, opulence, and decadence of their neighbourhood while the husbands spend each day working inside the Victory Project Headquarters on the “development of progressive materials.” Every resident’s demands are handled by the company, making life ideal. They only ask for confidentiality and unwavering dedication to the Victory cause in exchange.

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However, when gaps in their picture-perfect existence start to show, revealing glimpses of something much more evil hiding beneath the alluring exterior, Alice finds herself wondering exactly what they are doing in Victory and why.

On September 23, the film has its US domestic premiere.