Warning: contains spoilers for Don’t Worry Darling.
Don’t Worry Darling has a couple of twists in its third act, including one about Alice’s (Florence Pugh) best friend Bunny (Olivia Wilde), but this one was hinted at minutes before its reveal. Directed by Olivia Wilde, Don’t Worry Darling became one of the most anticipated movies of 2022 thanks to its premise, tone, and its lead actors (Pugh and Harry Styles), but the behind-the-scenes controversies cast a shadow over it, mostly during its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. Don’t Worry Darling has been received with mixed reviews so far, with critics praising Pugh’s performance and the movie’s cinematography and production design, but pointing out its direction, writing, and Styles’ performance as its biggest weaknesses.
Don’t Worry Darling tells the story of Alice (Pugh) and Jack Chambers (Styles), a young couple in the 1950s living a seemingly perfect life in the company town of Victory, California, created and paid for by the mysterious company Jack works for, led by Frank (Chris Pine). After one of the other wives, Margaret (KiKi Layne), begins to act strange and claim that everything is a lie, Alice’s curiosity takes her to Victory Headquarters, where she experiences weird hallucinations that start consuming her. While cracks begin to form in Alice and Jack’s “perfect” life, her investigation of the Victory project creates tension within the community, especially between Alice and Frank.
Alice eventually learns that Margaret was right and Victory was nothing more than a simulation, and even worse, it was controlled by Frank and the rest of the husbands, who forced their wives into it and most of them were unconscious in the real world, just like Alice. However, Bunny revealed that she was the only one of the wives who was fully conscious of what was happening, and she actually gave this away in one seemingly unimportant line, minutes before the big twist.
Don’t Worry Darling: Why Was Bunny In The Simulation?
Before having a full breakdown in front of Jack, Frank, his wife Shelley (Gemma Chan), and the other wives and their husbands, Alice broke down during a Victory event while celebrating Jack’s promotion. Bunny arrived to comfort Alice in the bathroom, and the latter opened up to her friend about her hallucinations, what she saw at Victory Headquarters, and how everything was a lie. Bunny reacted angrily, accusing Alice of being selfish and trying to ruin everything for everyone, fracturing their friendship for a while. When Alice returned after being subjected to electroshock therapy, Bunny welcomed her home and they chatted about what had happened in Alice’s absence in the neighborhood. Alice had trouble remembering all the wives, and when Bunny mentioned Peg, she said she was “the one who’s always pregnant”. Minutes later, Alice killed Jack in self-defense and Bunny revealed that she had always known about the simulation because she chose to be in it, as it’s the only way she can be with her children, who are dead in the real world.
Bunny’s line about Peg being “always pregnant” subtly gives away that she knew a lot more than she made Alice believe in the bathroom scene – if she was unaware like the rest, she wouldn’t be conscious of how Peg is always pregnant. As the other wives, including Bunny, are never shown outside Victory, it’s unknown what their condition is – as in, it’s unclear if they are being held down like Alice, or if they are in worse or better conditions. It’s also unknown if Peg is pregnant in real life or if she even has children in the real world, but given how the husbands created and control their lives in Don't Worry Darling, it’s possible that her permanent pregnancy is one of his desires, not hers. Even though Bunny is aware of what Victory is, her story is as tragic as the rest, as her reality is so painful, she chose to get away from it and live in a simulation instead.