Don’t Worry Darling – Ending Explained
“Don’t Worry Darling” is an American psychological thriller that premiered in 2022.
Directed by Olivia Wilde, who also stars alongside Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, and Gemma Chan, it marks Wilde’s second feature film and is available for viewing on HBO Max.
The storyline follows Alice (played by Florence Pugh) and Jack (played by Harry Styles) as they navigate what seems to be an idyllic life.
However, as the narrative unfolds, Alice and the audience realize that something is amiss in their seemingly perfect town.
The film garnered attention not only for its content but also for the behind-the-scenes rumors that circulated during its production.
Despite these elements, here are 13 lingering questions that may trouble viewers after watching “Don’t Worry Darling”.
Don’t Worry Darling – Ending Explained
“Don’t Worry Darling” – Synopsis
“Don’t Worry Darling” follows Alice (portrayed by Florence Pugh) as she experiences what appears to be the ideal life as a housewife alongside her husband Jack (played by Harry Styles).
They reside in a picturesque 1950s-style neighborhood situated in Victory, California, a meticulously planned community nestled in the heart of the desert.
Victory emerges as an affluent oasis of leisure, where residents lead seemingly flawless and carefree lives.
The neighborhoods boast exquisite homes, couples engage in routines that exude contentment, and social gatherings overflow with abundant food and shopping opportunities.
All the women in Victory assume the role of housewives, with Alice managing household chores, shopping, and social engagements with fellow Victory wives.
They are restricted from venturing beyond the city limits and exploring the desert near the Victory Project headquarters.
The Victory Project, spearheaded by Frank (portrayed by Chris Pine), serves as the epicenter of all male employment and the brainchild of the community.
Life appears flawless, with the company catering to every resident’s need in exchange for unwavering loyalty and discretion toward their suburban utopia.
However, Alice gradually senses an unsettling undercurrent within Victory.
Her growing suspicion gnaws at her until she embarks on a quest for truth, determined to uncover the unsettling reality lurking beneath the surface.
Ending Explained and 13 Unanswered Questions to Ponder After Watching “Don’t Worry, Darling”
(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!)
The bombshell revelation: everyone residing in Victory is securey settled within a simulation orchestrated by Frank, who, in our actual world (either current or imminent future), assumes the role of a cult leader.
He has indoctrinated men who willingly pay to inhabit this virtual reality construct.
Chris Pine’s antagonist leverages a podcast as a recruitment tool, luring fresh adherents into the artificial realm.
Though all participants maintain a tether to reality, only couples share physical proximity in the tangible world.
The male denizens of Victory have ensnared and confined the women featured in the simulation. In the climactic scene,
Alice is trapped in her bed, her eyes pried open, seemingly locked in a comatose state.
While husbands possess the freedom to traverse in and out of the virtual domain to engage in work and remit payments to Frank, their wives remain ensnared, eternally confined within this seemingly idealized existence.
1. What happened to Margaret?
Alice’s neighbor, Margaret, appears to have lost her sanity after venturing into the desert, beyond the confines of Victory.
There, she tragically loses her son, setting off a chain reaction that threatens the stability of the town.
Shortly thereafter, Alice witnesses Margaret take her own life by slitting her throat and falling from the roof.
Before Alice can react, security personnel in red jumpsuits swiftly remove the body, while others seize Alice and hastily escort her away from the scene.
Later inquiries about Margaret yield only vague responses, with authorities claiming she suffered a minor mishap, received stitches, and is recuperating well.
Despite her skepticism, Alice’s inquiries are met with resistance, prompting her to take matters into her own hands and investigate Margaret’s fate.
What truly became of Margaret? Did she perish when she severed her throat, severing her ties to the virtual realm? And what became of her husband, Ted?
Their fate remains shrouded in mystery following the rooftop incident.
2. What other actions did Margaret and Ted undertake that remain unseen?
Margaret’s outspoken concerns about Victory’s underlying issues lead to her ostracization and ridicule by fellow wives after she speaks of her desert encounter and ensuing nightmares.
Despite hints at Alice and Margaret’s close relationship, such dynamics are absent from the narrative.
In a curious turn, actress KiKi Layne, who portrays Margaret, shared on Instagram that numerous scenes featuring her character and her husband, Ted (played by Ari’el Stachel), were excised from the final cut of the film.
This revelation adds another layer to the behind-the-scenes intrigue surrounding the production.
Be sure to read KiKi Layne’s opinion on this article in Vanity Fair.
3. What is Project Victoria and how did Jack and Alice become part of it?
“Don’t Worry, Darling” blends elements of “The Stepford Wives” and “The Matrix,” depicting both contemporary times and a near-future setting when portraying the real world.
Jack and Alice cohabit in a modest apartment.
Alice, known professionally as Dr. Warren (not Chambers), bears the weight of an overburdened resident doctor, her patience waning with Jack.
Jack, seemingly unemployed, spends his days at home engrossed in Frank’s podcasts extolling Victory, a virtual utopia where men reign supreme and women dutifully serve.
The Victory Program promises to transport participants to a 1950s-esque era where traditional gender roles prevail.
It becomes evident that Jack enrolls in Victory’s virtual realm without Alice’s consent, inducing her into a coma-like state through drugging.
Jack connects Alice to a VR device, sustaining her with nutrients through an IV while her eyes remain forcibly open.
In this simulation, Jack boasts a fuller mane and adopts a British persona.
Together, they embody the archetype of a flawless existence, where Alice forsakes her medical career to become the quintessential homemaker, tending to Jack’s needs as he enjoys newfound success.
4. Why didn’t Alice return to the real world upon her initial portal visit?
After encountering a plane crash in the desert, Alice ventures beyond the city’s boundaries to uncover Project Victoria’s headquarters.
Upon reaching the mountain summit and touching the glass portal—Victory’s exit—she should have returned to reality, mirroring the film’s conclusion.
However, she faints upon contact with the glass and awakens back in her bed, baffling her failure to reenter the real world.
It’s plausible that Jack intercepted Alice’s desert excursion, potentially alerted by the trolley driver, and promptly sent her back to Victory before she could awaken from her induced state.
5. How does Alice recall her true life?
Following the disastrous dinner confrontation with Frank, Alice implores Jack to flee Victory, receiving apparent consent.
However, upon entering the car, security intervenes, forcibly separating her for treatment.
Undergoing electroshock therapy, Alice is subsequently returned home, where normalcy seemingly resumes.
We are once again in an idyllic scene as Alice prepares a roast while Jack searches for a record while humming softly.
Her real memories of Jack singing the song in the real world activate her brain, she finally realizes what has happened, and the twist is revealed.
The revelation dawns upon her, unraveling the intricate twist: the denizens of Victory inhabit a simulated reality akin to “The Matrix.”
6. How come Bunny is aware of the Victory Project?
At first, it seems that Margaret is the only person aware of the harsh reality as she is immediately silenced and labeled as unstable.
Bunny, portrayed by Wilde, initially urges Alice to dismiss her doubts and embrace conformity, lest she suffer Margaret’s fate.
Although it may seem that she is programmed to think this way, in reality, Bunny also knows reality and knows what will happen to Alice if she continues to seek the truth.
Curiously, Bunny is the only woman (apart from Frank’s wife) who knows the truth and has voluntarily joined the program.
This would be the only way she could be with her children, who are deceased in the real world.
In this fabricated world, all children are artificial constructs, explaining the punitive removal of Margaret’s son for her transgression into the desert’s forbidden zone.
7. Why do the women undergo a transformation at the film’s climax?
Alice’s rebellion catalyzes a cascade of transformative events, causing the program to falter and women to exhibit disorientation.
Her bid for freedom galvanizes a collective awakening among fellow women, who realize that something is very wrong.
Surprisingly, Shelley (Gemma Chan), initially depicted as loyal to Frank, turns on him, and stabs him, calling him stupid and saying it’s now her turn.
Shelley’s defiance signifies a shift in power dynamics, emblematic of women’s rising insurgency against their husbands within the project.
8. Does Alice survive?
Upon uncovering the harrowing truth and dispatching Jack, Bunny swiftly intervenes, urging Alice to flee to Project headquarters via car, her sole means of escaping the program before Frank’s operatives terminate her physical body in reality.
Surviving the perilous car pursuit, Alice reaches Victory headquarters, exiting the program as the screen fades to black.
The narrative strongly implies her survival, punctuated by a gasp akin to a drowning soul emerging from the depths to breathe anew.
9. What is the significance of the montage of dancing women and the bloodshot eye?
Similar to Jack’s use of music as a hypnotic mechanism to ensnare Alice in the simulation, the montage featuring images of bloodstains, a solitary eye, and synchronized dancing women in black and white serve as haunting memories haunting Alice.
These images torment Alice, projected onto the ceiling as she lies restrained, her eyes pried open.
Although lacking clear coherence, the selection of these visuals and their purpose as tools for Alice’s indoctrination significantly contributes to her psychological manipulation.
10. What triggers the simulation’s collapse?
“Don’t Worry, Darling” portrays Alice as subjected to a series of anomalies within her residence: shifting walls nearly crush her, empty eggshells litter the floor, and her reflection moves independently.
Alice even resorts to wrapping her head in plastic wrap.
Are these occurrences mere glitches within the simulation? What prompts the house’s malevolent intent?
Victory seemingly penalizes Alice’s inquisitiveness, raising questions about the simulation’s capacity to discern and respond to Alice’s emotional state, blurring the lines between reality and virtuality.
11. Is the plane crash in “Don’t Worry, Darling” real?
During a trolley ride in the city, Alice spots a red biplane emitting smoke, ultimately crashing on the horizon.
Disregarding the rules, she investigates the crash site, stumbling upon the mysterious Victory headquarters and triggering memories.
The film doesn’t explicitly confirm the reality of the plane crash Alice witnesses, strongly suggesting its illusory nature.
The conclusion of “Don’t Worry, Darling” affirms that Alice’s 1950s existence is an artificial construct within a controlled simulation.
The plane’s presence lacks a natural explanation, as it appears only when Alice experiences other hallucinations.
Moreover, Alice’s neighbor holds an identical toy plane before she notices the red biplane, reinforcing the notion that the crash is a fabrication.
While the movie doesn’t outright validate the crash’s authenticity, it remains a pivotal element, propelling Alice’s journey to uncover Victory’s headquarters and ultimately escape the simulated reality.
12. Why does Alice experience hallucinations?
Alice’s dreams and hallucinations stem from her skepticism about the authenticity of her perceived reality. While seemingly living a fulfilled life as a 1950s housewife, she is, in reality, confined to a bed with her eyes forcibly open.
The film illustrates Jack entering the system, donning ocular devices, lying on a bed, and engaging with a looped video while listening to Chris Pine’s character.
Frank’s followers seem to enter a trance, believing they inhabit a 1950s setting.
The headquarters, a circular structure atop a desert mountain, serves as the entry and exit point.
Those wishing to leave the Victory Project return to Headquarters and touch the mirrored windows.
Female residents are forbidden from departing the Victory Project city, while men venture into the desert daily to work.
Men, aware of the truth, must ensure their wives receive adequate nutrients in reality. Earning money sustains continued use of the virtual reality service.
13. What caused the earthquakes in “Don’t Worry, Darling” in Victory?
A recurring mystery in the film revolves around the earthquakes frequently shaking Victory.
Initially attributed to excavations by the Victory Project, the movie leaves the cause ambiguous.
The earthquakes persist throughout the narrative, consistently interpreted as non-threatening events related to the Project’s activities.
The film, however, refrains from providing a definitive explanation for these seismic disturbances, leaving room for speculation about potential program instabilities or even software updates.
Watch the official trailer:
