Alice and Jack are lucky to be living in the idealized community of Victory, the experimental company town housing the men who work for the top-secret Victory Project and their families. But when cracks in their idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something much more sinister lurking beneath the attractive façade, Alice can’t help questioning exactly what they’re doing in Victory, and why.
Florence Pugh
Alice
Harry Styles
Jack
Chris Pine
Frank
Olivia Wilde
Bunny
KiKi Layne
Margaret
Gemma Chan
Shelley
Nick Kroll
Dean
Sydney Chandler
Violet
Kate Berlant
Peg
Asif Ali
Peter
Douglas Smith
Bill
Timothy Simons
Dr. Collins
Ari'el Stachel
Ted
Steve Berg
Trolley Bus Driver
Daisy Sudeikis
Rosie
Marcello Julian Reyes
Fred
Monroe Cline
Smiling Tennis Model
Angel Mammoliti
Bathing Suit Model
Nataly Santiago
Ball Gown Model
Daniel Nishio
Frank & Shelley's Kid
Kurt Scholler
Attending Physician
Dita Von Teese
Dita Von Teese
Dimitri Dimitrov
Maitre'D
Victoria Acker
Dancer
Oritsetsolaye Akuya
Dancer
Jennifer Mariela Bermeo
Dancer
Taylor May Dean
Dancer
Auriana Ehsani
Dancer
Jessica Hiestand
Dancer
Alexandra Nicole Hulme
Dancer
Angel Inniss
Dancer
Natasha Kalimada
Dancer
Stephanie Kim
Dancer
Charissa Kroeger
Dancer
Toi'ya Leatherwood
Dancer
Sisley Loubet
Dancer
Jasmine Mason
Dancer
Bailey Swift
Dancer
Michelle Ells
Victory School Kid (uncredited)
Brooke deRosa
Ballet Pianist (uncredited)
Director
Olivia Wilde
Screenplay, Story
Katie Silberman
Story
Shane van Dyke
Story
Carey van Dyke
September 26, 2022
6
So imagine the scenario. A boozy lunch with with some screenwriters who had just seen "Vivarium" (2019) and began to recall "Stepford Wives" (2004) and the "Truman Show" (1998). We know, say the assembled talent - let's write a pointless hybrid of these stories, making sure to avoid the best bits of any of them then get two gorgeous people to take part. We'll end up minted! Well they may well have ended up making loads of cash, but what they have provided for us is an heavily stylised story that goes nowhere fast. To be fair, Florence Pugh tries quite hard as "Alice", the increasingly disturbed wife of "Jack" (Harry Styles). They live in an Utopian desert community where the men all head to work for "Frank" (Chris Pine) in the morning and the women do the standard middle class housework, shopping and networking things. All is idyllic until "Alice" notices that one of their neighbours "Margaret" (KiKi Layne) is convinced that something is amiss amidst their perfect lifestyle. When an inexplicable tragedy ensues, "Alice" starts to have nightmares and soon her marriage and his career prospects are in jeopardy. Pine isn't the least menacing as the duplicitous "Frank" and though the camera really does love Styles, he has little here to demonstrate whether he can actually act or can just fill a perfectly tailored suit as well as Daniel Craig. That's really the problem here. The film looks good, but the plot is completely undercooked. We are delivered of a partially formed plot that is derivative and, frankly, rather dull. The last few scenes with the guys in red reminded me of a television commercial for Vodaphone and at just over two hours long, I was just unengaged with it all. Styles' looks will take him far and working with the likes of Pugh and Pine will only help him, but unless his people work harder on the scripts and characterisations, then he will just end up Zac Efron-light. This is a film for television in due course, I'd say.