Based on the 1950’s fantasy lifestyle, Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles) live isolated in the California desert in the experimental community Victory. The women stay home, clean, cook, shop, and await their husbands arrival back home. The men go off to work, where no one knows what they do except them. 

From its announcement in July of 2019, to its release date, a plethora of drama circulated this movie and its cast, posing the question: is all press really good press? In September of 2020 it was confirmed that Shia LaBeouf, the original Jack, had left the film. Though it was later discovered that he was actually fired by the director, Olivia Wilde, due to a lawsuit against him by his girl friend for sexual and physical assault. 

With the film now on a slippery slope, with this only being Olivia Wilde’s second film, her replacement leading man became an even bigger problem for her “The world’s most wanted man”, Harry Styles. The two had been spotted holding hands, which sparked major controversy with the director and her film for Style’s fans.

This didn’t stop his die hard army from selling out theaters on opening day however. For some, the drama didn’t mean anything to them, and they were really intrigued by the cast. Here’s some of those fans’ thoughts on the movie. I received input on the movie from two people, one being an OG directioners, and the other her best friend. They were both asked the same four questions. Would you have watched the movie if Harry was not the leading man? Effective was the end for you? several reporters wrote it was “too predictable”. How did the drama effect the movie for you? Lastly, what was your overall rating? 

“I probably wouldn’t have been quite as excited, but I probably still would’ve gone to see it because I love Florence. I was more involved in the process leading up to the release because of Harry. “ The ending was unexpecting for me because the movie didn’t follow a normal story line to have that predictable ending. The drama behind the movie didn’t ruin it for me and it didn’t really affect the movie for me, because I love Harry and Florence so much. Overall I would give it a 4.5/5.” 

That was the 1D. Here’s her best friends take, “ The only reason I went is because my friends wanted me to go, and they love Harry. There were gaps in the story, and if they were more explicitly explained, the movie would have been more enjoyable. I also liked the ending, it was very suspenseful. The drama did not effect the movie for me, because I wasn’t really paying attention to it, I didn’t really care. My overall rating is a 7/10. I enjoyed the movie.”