By Lily Rizzoli ’24, A&E Editor

The never-ending drama surrounding director Olivia Wilde’s new film

Don’t Worry Darling

came to a head at the Venice Film Festival this Monday. The film has received much press since its announcement, presumably at first due to the casting of international icon Harry Styles as the lead, but more recently, due to controversy around the film, which started far before cameras rolled. The original controversies surrounding the film were that of your average rumor mill. Many wondered why Wilde had hired Styles to play the lead in her Oscar-bait film, an extremely risky decision considering that, while undeniably talented, he had had no professional acting experience except for 20 or so lines in Christopher Nolan’s

Dunkirk

. It was ultimately revealed that during filming, Wilde and Styles had kindled a romance. Speculation began to fly that the two’s whirlwind romance had in fact been the reason for the end of Wilde’s previous seven-year engagement to actor Jason Sudeikis, which fueled the drama even more.

These rumors, while entertaining and mildly unsettling, did not seem to have an effect on the film’s publicity. The real controversy began after Shia LeBouf sent a telling video of Wilde, multiple texts and some emails between himself and Wilde to

Variety

to dispute claims that he was fired, informing


them that he “quit due to a lack of rehearsal time.”

It had been previously suggested that the star was let go from the production due to a domestic abuse lawsuit that his former partner, singer-songwriter, FKA Twigs filed against him in 2020. Despite the allegations, he was still hired to play the role of Jack in the film. Shortly into the start of pre-production, however, it was announced that LeBouf was no longer involved with the project and it was suggested that he had been let go. In an interview with

Variety

, Wilde stated,“His process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions…Ultimately, my responsibility is to the production and to the cast to protect them,” effectively painting a picture that LeBouf had been terminated due to an unsafe environment on set in the wake of the lawsuit.

It was this interview that prompted LeBouf to send the video to

Variety

, which started a massive controversy about the film in the public eye. LeBouf even included an email that he sent to Olivia which denied the claims:

“Firing me never took place, Olivia. And while I fully understand the attractiveness of pushing that story because of the current social landscape, the social currency that brings. It is not the truth. So I am humbly asking…that you correct the narrative as best you can.”

The viral video that was attached to LeBouf’s email depicts Wilde driving her car while talking and looking into the camera. She says multiple concerning things, but most importantly states, “I feel like I’m not ready to give up on this yet”.

While the video is disturbing in and of itself, it becomes even more unsettling when examined through a lens of the experience of LeBouf’s would-be costar, Florence Pugh and the comments Wilde made about her in the video. In addition to the many inexcusable personal interactions Twigs cited in her lawsuit, she also asserted that LeBouf had committed acts of animal abuse during his method acting for his role of “Creeper” in David Ayer’s 2020 film

The Tax Collector

. This particular allegation gives weight to uncomfortable claims of LeBouf’s actions on set, particularly directed at Pugh. LeBouf apparently became dominant and controlling over Pugh off-camera due to his method acting, which Pugh reportedly brought to Wilde. Pugh was also extremely unsupportive of Wilde’s and Styles’s relationship, especially because Wilde is reported to have cheated on Sudeikis, Pugh’s close friend, with Styles. Pugh did stay signed onto the project and finished filming, but it seems that Pugh has almost disassociated completely from the film, doing very little promotion for the film.

The Venice Film festival was a culmination of all these rumors, but the drama that took place at the festival was much more entertaining than the problematic and upsetting controversies early in production. Pugh did attend the festival, but only for the screening of the film, which she left seconds after the lights came up. When asked why Pugh was not taking part in interviews, Wilde asserted that it was because she was stuck on set for her new film

Dune: Part Two

, but this sentiment was proven false as Pugh posted stunning pictures from Italy that same day. It has since been released that Pugh will not attend the New York City premiere of the film.

No one is quite sure what to make of Styles’s entrance to the screening. The viral video does look convincingly like the pop star spat on an unsuspecting Pine, but Pine’s publicist issued a statement denying the event or any bad blood between the two actors. Even with this comment, fans are still having a hard time deciding what to believe.

In regards to Styles’s interview abilities, all that one needs to know is that his most viral statement from interviews throughout the festival is, “My favorite thing about the movie is, like, it feels like a movie.”

Don’t Worry Darling

comes out Sept 23, 2022. It is definitely going to be a movie.