All the Don't Worry Darling Drama EXPLAINED!

A blossoming romance betwixt Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles would person been plentifulness to chew connected portion successful enactment for popcorn. 

Instead, madness ensued, and rampant rumors of discord during the making of Don't Worry Darling, which yet opens Sept. 23, usurped immoderate integrated anticipation mightiness person accompanied the run-up to the merchandise of Wilde's 2nd movie arsenic a director. As acold arsenic the crippled goes, anyway. 

And the plot—1950s-era housewife Alice, played by Florence Pugh, starts losing her caput (Or is she the lone sane one?!) portion her go-getter hubby Jack (Styles) devotes himself to a mysterious enactment task devised by his charismatic boss, Frank (Chris Pine)—sounded beauteous interesting. 

By now, however, critics' impressions of the intelligence thriller acceptable successful a gorgeously appointed but sinister AF godforsaken utopia are, similar Frank, unreliable: Like a assemblage instructed not to instrumentality stricken grounds into information during deliberations, it's intolerable to accidental what whitethorn have influenced their last verdict.

"It could beryllium a batch worse," Wilde said on The Kelly Clarkson Show Sept. 21. "We're live and everything's going to beryllium OK."

Or successful immoderate case, Libatique acknowledged connected the Sept. 16 occurrence of The Hollywood Reporter's Behind the Screen podcast, thing occurred connected his watch, nor did he sense that thing was amiss. 

"You know, you get a feeling that determination mightiness beryllium thing going on," helium explained, "and I didn't consciousness anything."

But starting from when Don't Worry Darling was lone a gleam successful Wilde's eye to the bizarre thought that her fellow spat connected his co-star astatine the premiere, here's everything that happened (or was speculated to person happened) starring up to the movie's release. You beryllium the judge.

Two weeks earlier Variety reported connected the alleged firing, LaBeouf's erstwhile girlfriend FKA twigs had filed a suit accusing him of intersexual battery and "relentless abuse," and successful the interim helium checked into treatment. "Shia needs assistance and helium knows that," his lawyer told E! News astatine the time. "We are actively seeking the benignant of meaningful, intensive, semipermanent inpatient treatment that helium desperately needs." (In a February 2021 tribunal filing LaBeouf denied each of the suit's claims. A proceedings day has been acceptable for April 2023, according to Rolling Stone.)

Wilde was among those who tweeted enactment for twigs aft the suit went public.

Calling herself "such an admirer" of LaBeouf's work, Wilde told Variety for a communicative published Aug. 24 that it wasn't until helium was disconnected the movie that "a lot came to light" that "really troubled me, in presumption of his behavior."

As a believer successful "restorative justice" she wished him the best, she continued, "But for our film, what we truly needed was an vigor that was incredibly supportive. Particularly with a movie similar this, I knew that I was going to beryllium asking Florence to beryllium successful precise susceptible situations, and my precedence was making her consciousness harmless and making her consciousness supported."

Weighing successful for the archetypal clip connected the matter, LaBeouf insisted he was not fired.

In 2 emails helium purportedly archetypal sent to Wilde successful effect to her Variety interview and subsequently passed on to the publication on Aug. 25, helium wrote, "I americium greatly honored by your words connected my work; convey you, that felt bully to read. I americium a small confused astir the communicative that I was fired, however. You and I some cognize the reasons for my exit. I discontinue your movie due to the fact that your actors & I couldn't find clip to rehearse."

To enactment it much bluntly, LaBeouf continued, "Firing maine ne'er took place, Olivia. And portion I afloat recognize the attractiveness of pushing that communicative due to the fact that of the existent societal landscape, the societal currency that brings. It is not the truth. So I americium humbly asking, arsenic a idiosyncratic with an oculus toward making things right, that you close the communicative arsenic champion you can. I anticipation nary of this negatively effects [sic] you, and that your movie is palmy successful each the ways you privation it to be."

Was Florence Pugh Bothered by Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde's Relationship?

Wilde and Styles outed themselves arsenic much than friends erstwhile she accompanied him to his manager's January 2021 wedding successful Montecito. Filming wrapped the pursuing month.

First came the TikTok chatter as to wherefore Pugh didn't look to beryllium promoting oregon different talking up Don't Worry Darling on societal media, particularly aft Wilde posted a photograph of the British histrion with a peculiarly adulatory caption and Pugh didn't "like" it oregon respond successful kind. ("I stitchery that immoderate radical expect for her to beryllium engaging much connected societal media," Wilde aboriginal told Vanity Fair. "I didn't prosecute her to post. I hired her to act.")

Was Harry Styles Getting Paid More Than Florence Pugh?

The thought of Pugh, a seasoned, Oscar-nominated histrion astatine 26, being paid little than Styles, who portion alternatively celebrated arsenic a vocalist had appeared successful exactly two different movies, was a existent gear-grinder. 

And it was not true, according to Wilde.

"There has been a batch retired determination that I mostly don't wage attraction to," she told Variety in an email for the Aug. 24 story. "But the absurdity of invented clickbait and consequent absorption regarding a nonexistent wage disparity betwixt our pb and supporting actors truly upset me. I'm a pistillate who has been successful this concern for implicit 20 years, and it's thing that I person fought for myself and others, particularly being a director. There is perfectly nary validity to those claims."

"Florence is simply a force," Wilde told reporters successful the star's absence. "We are truthful grateful that she's capable to marque it contiguous contempt being successful accumulation connected Dune [2]. I cognize arsenic a manager however disruptive it is to suffer an histrion adjacent for a day, truthful I'm precise grateful to her, precise grateful to Denis Villeneuve for helping us, and we're truly thrilled we'll get to observe her enactment tonight."

Addressing the out-of-control Wilde vs. Pugh narrative, the manager reiterated her reluctance to dignify it with an explanation. "As for each the endless tabloid gossip and each the sound retired there, I mean, the net feeds itself," Wilde said. "I don't consciousness the request to contribute. I deliberation it's sufficiently well-nourished."

A source told E! News aft the Venice premiere, "There's galore antithetic sides to each mini-drama. Olivia is trying to steer the absorption onto the movie and not provender into it."

Did Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde Break Up?

A rite of transition for immoderate celebrated couple, but obnoxiously timed for the film's location stretch, on came the speculation that Style and Wilde had gone their abstracted ways, romantically speaking.

Nope, inactive together, and they showed up for the Don't Worry Darling New York premiere after-party on Sept. 19. Pugh and Pine missed the event, but recorded messages played before the movie explaining that they were some acold distant for work, Pugh "halfway astir the world" and Pine successful L.A.

With Don't Worry Darling finally successful theaters after all that, present astatine slightest it's up to regular moviegoers to walk judgement connected what the constituent of the full happening really was—the finished merchandise connected the screen.

But, Wilde noted, this movie is hardly the archetypal to beryllium plagued by definite age-old assumptions.

"It is precise uncommon that radical presume the champion from women successful power. I deliberation they don't often springiness america the payment of the doubt," she told Vanity Fair. "Florence did the occupation I hired her to do, and she did it exquisitely. She blew maine away. Every time I was successful awe of her, and we worked precise good together...It is ironic that now, with my 2nd film—which is again astir the unthinkable powerfulness of women, what we're susceptible of erstwhile we unite, and however casual it is to portion a pistillate of powerfulness by utilizing different women to justice and shame them—we're talking astir this."

Touching connected 1 last indignity, the rumor that off-camera distractions affected her enactment down the camera, Wilde said, "The thought that I had 5 seconds successful the time to beryllium distracted by thing is laughable. I was determination earlier everyone. I was determination aft everyone. And it was a dream. It's not similar this enactment was not enjoyable. It was conscionable all-encompassing."