10 Exact Moments Recent Movies Lost Us
7. It's All A Simulation - Don't Worry Darling
Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling had so much potential, and while the marketing framed the sci-fi movie as a Stepford Wives-esque tale in which men use technology to subjugate women, the big reveal is ultimately decidedly sillier than that.
Deep into the third act, Alice (Florence Pugh) finally learns that the idyllic 1960s town of Victory, California is actually a digitally simulated town in the present day that was created by the town's apparent founder, Frank (Chris Pine).
The town's men, such as Alice's husband Jack (Harry Styles), get to live our their "perfect" lives in the town, with their wives unknowingly forced into the simulation alongside them.
On paper the idea of The Matrix filtered through the lens of toxic masculinity isn't bad at all, but it's all about the execution, and that's where Don't Worry Darling falls down hard.
The reveal comes far too late in the film, the details feel rushed and glossed-over, and overall the twist is just too silly to take it as seriously as Wilde clearly wants us to.