Don't Worry Darling's mind-bending first trailer sees a 1950s utopia turn sinister

Last week, director Olivia Wilde took to the stage during the Warner Bros. presentation at CinemaCon to present the first trailer for her upcoming thriller, Don't Worry Darling, which stars Florence Pugh (Midsommar, Black Widow), Harry Styles (Dunkirk), Gemma Chan (Eternals), KiKi Layne (The Old Guard) and Chris Pine (Star Trek, Wonder Woman).

Unfortunately, the presentation was overshadowed for reasons not related to the film itself. Putting aside any of the tabloid nonsense that surrounds Don't Worry Darling, Warner Bros. has now released the film's trailer to everyone – though we imagine it'll have tongues wagging for entirely different reasons.

Looking equal parts steamy and nightmarish, Don't Worry Darling is a psychological thriller that appears drastically different from Wilde's first film, the excellent teen comedy Booksmart. You can check out the first trailer for Don't Worry Darling below.

Don't Look Darling: what's it about?

Don't Worry Darling takes place within the community of Victory, which the film's synopsis describes as an "experimental company town housing the men who work for the top-secret Victory Project and their families." 

The community is led by the company's CEO, Frank (Pine), who has created an environment inspired by "1950s societal optimism". Acting as both a "corporate visionary and motivational life coach", Frank's influence hangs over every member of this utopian society.

While the town's husbands are off working at the Victory Project Headquarters, their wives get to enjoy a seemingly perfect life of luxury within the community – all of which is provided entirely by the company, provided the wives adhere to its rules of "discretion and unquestioning commitment to the Victory cause."

Of course, we've read enough Huxley, Bradbury and Orwell to know that any society built upon utopian ideals is usually hiding something dark and sinister beyond its shiny veneer, and the trailer for Don't Worry Darling certainly suggests that.

Before long, Alice (Pugh) starts to notice cracks within the idyllic town's façade, leading her to question the company's motives and operations, worrying her husband, Jack (Styles), and angering Frank in the process.

Our take: Wilde is onto another winner

During her CinemaCon presentation, Wilde (who also stars in the film) compared Don't Worry Darling to such classic films as The Matrix, Inception and The Truman Show. Given that it deals with a false reality of sorts, we certainly see some of that inspiration, along with shades of The Stepford Wives and even Get Out.

Needless to say, we can't wait to see more of Don't Worry Darling, which looks like a beautifully photographed, mind-bending thriller with possible science fiction elements. 

Thankfully, we won't have to wait long – Don't Worry Darling is set for release on September 3, 2022, and will arrive exclusively in theaters.

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