Olivia Wilde Says “38% Rotten Tomatoes Score” on ‘Don’t Worry Darling” “Felt Liberating”’

I finally watched Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite” on Wednesday, and you know what? It’s a good film. A mostly sharp but uneven chamber-piece dramedy, with strong performances (especially Penélope Cruz), and spearheaded by Wilde’s confident direction of actors and visual design.

The film is overly stylized, and Wilde uses sometimes distracting aesthetic choices, including a heavy-handed and ominous musical score, and familiar relationship clichés. However, the final act is great, and the cringe comedy sometimes hits the bulls-eye. Wilde was clearly inspired by Mike Nichols, particularly “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, to which this film owes a lot.

“The Invite” is set in a single San Francisco apartment, focusing solely on a failed married couple—played by Wilde and Seth Rogen—and their neighbors, portrayed by Cruz and Edward Norton, who get invited over for an evening that ignites unexpected twists and turns, revealing deeply repressed emotions and unexplored sexuality.

Wilde shot this third feature, after “Booksmart” and “Don’t Worry Darling,” in just 21 days, on film, scene by scene, in story order. The result? A Sundance bidding war, ultimately won by A24 for $12M, and strong reviews; an 80 on Metacritic hints at a possible Oscar contender, at the very least for Rashida Jones and Will McCormack’s talky screenplay.

Of course, there is a narrative here; Wilde had to live through the whole drama behind her 2022 flop “Don’t Worry Darling,” which took a beating from critics and the public. According to her, that film’s failure, and her decision to go back to basics with a $20M indie, felt liberating.

“I believe in early failure,” she tells Variety. “If you go through that, the way ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ did with a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, there’s liberation.”

She added: “I believe in early failure. The first pilot I did got canceled in three episodes. There were a lot of early bumps, and I think that taught me to have level-headed expectations for Hollywood. “Booksmart” was a blessing, but it also creates a certain expectation for yourself when it comes to connecting with the audience, and you forget how subjective it all is.”

Wilde’s had a comeback year so far. “The Invite” kicks off a 2026 that will see her in Gregg Araki’s upcoming “I Want Your Sex,” and she also has a small role in Tony Gilroy’s “Behemoth!”, set to premiere this fall. Her next directorial effort will be Universal’s “Naughty,” a Christmas sex comedy that is supposed to start rolling cameras very soon.

It’s a comeback not many saw coming, especially with Wilde laying low over the last three years after the controversy around “Don’t Worry Darling” turned her toxic in an industry that doesn’t always hand out second chances. She’s now back in auteur phase, with an acclaimed indie that will serve as the lifeline she desperately needed.