Florence Pugh speaks out against fans and critics who are focusing too much on her and Harry Styles' sex scenes in Don't Worry Darling. Olivia Wilde made her directorial debut with the coming-of-age comedy Booksmart in 2019 and now, for her sophomore feature, the actress and filmmaker has headed in a decidedly different direction with Don't Worry Darling, an enigmatic psychological thriller. The film reunites Wilde with Booksmart writer Katie Silberman, who wrote the script based on a story treatment by Dick Van Dyke's grandchildren, Carey and Shane.

Pugh and Styles, who both happen to be newcomers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, star together in Don't Worry Darling as Alice and Jack Chambers, young and happy newlyweds living in the seemingly idyllic company town of Victory. The film's stellar supporting cast includes Wilde, Chris Pine, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, and Nick Kroll. When a woman in the close-knit community goes missing, Pugh's housewife character begins to suspect the utopic company town may be harboring dark and disturbing secrets. The first Don't Worry Darling trailer debuted during CinemaCon 2022 and quickly made waves online for its steamy sex scenes.

Related: Don't Worry Darling: Olivia Wilde Has Achieved What Many Directors Crave

During a recent conversation with Harper’s Bazaar, Pugh spoke out against those who she feels are focusing too much on Don't Worry Darling's sex scenes. In fact, Pugh even refused to discuss the risqué scenes during the interview and instead slammed those critics and fans who are reducing the film to its intimate scenes. Read what she said below:

When it’s reduced to your sex scenes, or to watch the most famous man in the world go down on someone, it’s not why we do it. It’s not why I’m in this industry. Obviously, the nature of hiring the most famous pop star in the world, you’re going to have conversations like that. That’s just not what I’m going to be discussing because [this movie is] bigger and better than that. And the people who made it are bigger and better than that.

Florence Pugh in Don't Worry Darling

After the first Don't Worry Darling trailer was released this past May, it seemed that its sex scenes were all everyone on social media could talk about, especially one particularly provocative moment in which Styles' character performs oral sex on Pugh's character on a dining room table. Styles' rumored nudity in the film also became the subject of much attention, as well as a behind-the-scenes romance between Styles and Wilde. Speaking about Don't Worry Darling's sex scenes, the director promised they are all about "female pleasure," likening the scenes to Adrian Lyne’s erotic thrillers like Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal.

Pugh is absolutely justified in her criticism of the current discourse surrounding her new film. Rather than focusing on the plight of Pugh's distressed housewife, what the film is saying about suburban life in 1950s America, or the overall mystery involving the Victory Project, it seems many are instead highlighting the most sensationalist angle possible by fixating on the film's sex scenes. It's a shame Don't Worry Darling has been bogged down by this discussion since Pugh and Wilde are clearly aiming for something greater as a lead star and director combo.

Source: Harper’s Bazaar

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