Squeezed in between Summer Blockbusters and anticipation for Halloween Horror is the Venice Film Festival. Considered as one of the ‘Big Three’ alongside Cannes and Berlin, it is the world’s oldest Film Festival (though I am sure they would like to downplay the founders) and this prestige usually spells Oscar nominations on the horizon. However, just like the Academy Awards, the event can create a lot of drama off-screen as well. Alongside articles simultaneously welcoming back Brendan Fraser and slamming alleged fatphobia in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, my social media feeds have been filled with Don’t Worry Darling gossip. Hostile work environments, behind the scenes relationships, and out-of-context questionable-accent clips are just the tip of a Titanic-sized iceberg akin to the Golden Age of Cinema. Rather than focusing on all of this toxicity though, it presents the perfect opportunity to look at the filmography of new fan favourite Florence Pugh.
Born in Oxford on January 3rd 1996, Pugh began her acting career during sixth form in 2014’s The Falling, accompanied by Game Of Thrones’ Maisie Williams. Her performance earned a nomination for best newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival, setting the tone of more success to come. Moving onto roles in Shakespeare adaptations and a BAFTA Rising Star nomination, it was 2019 where she became most prominent. Fighting with my Family, Midsommar and Little Women offered significant coverage internationally and Pugh received wide critical acclaim for each. Nowadays, you know you’ve made it once you star in a Marvel film, which she already achieved last year playing Yelena Belova in Black Widow and Hawkeye. Bearing all of this in mind, Pugh’s trajectory in Hollywood is sky-rocketing, with future roles in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to Dune coming soon. Therefore, the question is where will Don’t Worry Darling rank amongst these?