Don't Worry Darling ending explained: Did Alice escape?
Olivia Wilde's new psychological thriller is now showing in UK cinemas.
Since well before its release, Olivia Wilde's new film Don't Worry Darling has been one of the most talked about films of the year – and now UK cinemagoers finally have the chance to see the
The film tells the story of Alice Chambers (Florence Pugh) and her husband Jack (Harry Styles) who lead a seemingly utopian life in a mid-century USA community called Victory, only for things to unravel when Alice discovers that everything isn't quite what it seems.
As she begins to investigate, things start to take increasingly dramatic turns until a big twist in the final act – if you've seen the film and are still a little puzzled, you can read on to have the Don't Worry Darling ending explained.
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Don't Worry Darling ending explained
Alice is first alerted to the fact that things in Victory might be more sinister than she thought when Margaret (KiKi Layne) starts desperately warning the other residents that something deeply menacing is going on.
Although she is initially dismissive, a few incidents occur that make her truly begin to question things – not helped by the total disregard for her concerns by seemingly everyone around her.
The first of these incidents is a suspicious plane crash she witnesses one day, which leads her to investigate the headquarters of the Victory Project, where her husband – and all the men in Victory – are employed.
Only as she investigates, she suddenly collapses – complete with some disturbing visions that feature a mysterious eye and some Busby Berkely-esque dance sequences – before waking up back home with no recollection of how she returned.
Later, in a truly horrifying scene, she witnesses Margaret slit her own throat. Although she is insistent that she very clearly saw this, she is repeatedly told by Jack and others that Margaret simply fell and is being looked after in hospital.
Eventually, Alice tries to convince her best friend Bunny (Wilde) that something is drastically wrong, but her pal isn't having any of it and shuts down her concerns very firmly.
Meanwhile things are made all the worse by the fact that Jack is getting closer than ever to Victory's founder Frank (Chris Pine), eventually leading to a promotion and a dinner party invitation.
At the dinner, things really come to a head. Frank speaks privately to Alice and seems to confirm her suspicions, only to then deny everything at the dinner table – which prompts Alice to launch into a tirade that leads to the other guests all leaving.
Later, alone with Jack, Alice seems to convince her husband to escape with her, but as they get to their car it is revealed she's been tricked – and some men in red suits arrive to take her away and perform some kind of surgery on her.
Some time later she returns home, seemingly having forgotten her various suspicions. But the return to 'normal' doesn't last for long.
When Jack puts on a record, Alice seems to be reminded of something from her past and we see a flashback – set in the modern day. It turns out that Alice had previously been an overworked surgeon, and unemployed Jack had decided to apply for entry to Victory, which would let them live an old-fashioned '50s inspired lifestyle.
In order to do so they'd had to hook themselves up to a machine – against Alice's will – where they had first seen the visions that keep coming back to Alice in flashes, with Alice forgetting her past existence and Jack adopting a new persona as a bread-winning Englishman (he had been American in his real life).
You see it turns out that Victory is a simulation, and Alice is actually still plugged into the same machine – while Jack unplugs himself and goes to work in the real world every day so they can afford it.
Alice confronts Jack about this – and he admits that she's correct, but insists that he only opted for Victory because she was miserable with her overworked life.
Alice says that that may have been the case but that she was at least free, and the two fight – with Alice eventually striking and killing her husband.
She leaves the house covered in blood and finds Bunny, who then reveals something shocking: she'd known the true nature of Victory all along, and had chosen to go along with it willingly, in part because she was overcome following the death of her children in the real world.
Bunny urges Alice to run to HQ and she does so – which prompts a major car chase as Victory employees aim to prevent her from getting away. Meanwhile, amongst the mess, Frank's wife Shelley (Gemma Chan) stabs him.
Alice is initially successful in avoiding the pursuing cars, even causing three of them to crash into each other, but as she tries to reach Victory Project HQ her car stops running and she is forced to flee on foot.
She gets to HQ with several men still chasing her and has a vision of Jack before we cut to black as she reaches for the door of the building.
Although it is not made explicit whether Alice was able to get away, the last thing we hear is her gasping for breath. The question is, is she waking up in the real world, or has she just been caught?
Don't Worry Darling is in UK cinemas from Friday 23rd September. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or visit our dedicated Movies hub for the latest news.
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