FILM

In “Don’t Worry Darling” Florence Pugh and Harry Styles are a “perfect” couple in what turns out to be a nightmare. (Photo: Provided)

Model Citizens

By Bryan VanCampen

This week, I was con icted, wanting to review Olivia Wilde’s controversial new lm “Don’t Worry Darling” (Warner Bros. Pictures—New Line Cinema—Vertigo Entertainment, 2022, 123 min.) while also wanting this month’s four columns to be themed around Halloween and spooky cinema.

It so happens that “Don’t Worry Darling” feels like a great unmade “Twilight Zone” nightmare. It also has a lot on its mind about those who would make America great again, and what that means by moving us backward instead of forward. I think it’s one of the best and most provocative satirical lms out now, and it is terrifying.

Florence Pugh (“Black Widow”) and Harry Styles (“Dunkirk”) live with several other couples in what might be the rst ever gated community. Everything is provided, provided everyone stays put. e men zip o to work every morning in their cool retro cars while the women stay at home, cook and clean and make their men happy. e neighborhood is as 50’s stylized as the suburbs in Tim Burton’s “Edward Scissorhands” (1990) and it seems like a classic Ricky Nelson song is always about to play on the piped-in music. e men work for this guy named Frank (Chris Pine), who built the whole thing, but what the men are doing is not to be discussed. Rule #1 seems to be: Be loyal to Frank and don’t ask questions. Pugh disobeys that rule.

at’s all you’ll get from me regarding plot, but I was really taken by Wilde’s challenging and stimulating lm. Is it horror, science ction or social comment? When “Don’t Worry Darling” gets going, it feels like all three.

Growing up, you were a “Munsters” kid or you were an “Addams Family” kid. I was a “Munsters” kid, drawn to its simple, elemental sitcom formula, much as “ e Flintstones” was “inspired” by “ e Honeymooners.” Plus, we didn’t get a color TV until the early 70’s, and I was heartbroken when I realized that “ e Munsters” was in black and white, and I’d never see a “Munsters” episode in color.

Rob Zombie’s “ e Munsters” (Netflix—Universal Pictures Home Entertainment—Universal 1440 Entertainment— Spookshow International Films, 2022, 110 min.) is a prequel that lls in the details that got the Munsters from Transylvania to living in the USA at 1313 Mockingbird Lane.

Trouble is, Rob Zombie has no talent for comedy. None. He’s trying to make a Tim Burton movie and manages a bad Tim Burton rip-o ; he’s going for “Beetlejuice” (1988) and ends up with “Mom and Dad Save the World” (1992). e musical score by Zeuss is the worst mickey-mousing oompah underscore I’ve had to endure since John Avildsen’s “Neighbors” (1981). e music is constant and irritating, the worst instincts in “cartoon” scoring.

You can see glimmers of actual comedy in Je Daniel Phillips’ Herman Munster; Phillips does nail Fred Gwynne’s goofy

ithaca.com/newsletters

U-pick: McIntosh, Empire, gala, and Fuji apples are ready now!

In the store: peppers, our own cider, fall mums, and perennials, fresh picked apples, pumpkins.

Hours: Monday-Friday 8-6, Saturday 8-5, Sunday 10-5

Goose Street, Locke 315-497-1347

Take Rt. 34 . 12 miles look for our sign M-Fri 8-6 • Sat 8-5 • Sun 10-5

Ages 8 Weeks – 5th Grade

Child-Centered Curriculum

Experienced, Professional Staff Large Indoor & Outdoor Play Spaces Nutritious Lunch & Snacks Included

Low Teacher Turnover

Scholarships Available

Quality Care Since 1976

New Half day program Call For a Tour!

Ithaca Community Childcare Center

579 Warren Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 (607) 257-0200 www.icthree.org