There’s no such thing as bad publicity. That’s the theory. Whether it applies to Olivia Wilde’s sophomore feature, Don’t Worry Darling, remains to be seen. It’s a case of there being more drama off screen than on with this one.

Wilde’s directorial debut - Booksmart - was a delight, well received by critics and general audiences alike. So successful was the first that eighteen studios entered a bidding war over Wilde when, in 2019, she announced her intention to direct again.

A one time black listed script, re-written for Wilde by Isn’t it Romantic’s Katie Silberman, Don’t Worry Darling tells the story of Alice and Jack Chambers. They’re a young couple, happily married and settled in the idyllic 1950s town of Victory, California.

Victory is a company built town, sponsored by the mysterious organisation for whom Jack works and populated entirely by their employees. When curiosity begins to consume the erstwhile blissfully ignorant Alice, her will to learn more about Jack’s work sets fire not only to their relationship but the entire facade of life in Victory.

Florence Pugh was the first lead to be attached to Don’t Worry Darling but it was the casting of her co-star that proved to be the first misstep in the production’s chequered run.

Against Pugh’s Alice, Shia LaBeouf was to play Jack. Cast in April 2020, the Transformers star was sacked by September, owing to allegations of misbehaviour. LaBeouf refutes these.

Things took a turn for the worse still when Wilde and Pugh clashed over his replacement, Harry Styles. Or, rather, Pugh is said to have taken offence at the burgeoning on set relationship between Styles and the then still married Wilde. For her part, Wilde was caught stating that Pugh was in need of a ‘wake up call’ in a leaked video.

Pugh would go on to limit her involvement in publicising the film to a minimum, while Wilde would make further headlines when served custody papers by husband Jason Sudeikis at a Don’t Worry Darling publicity convention - in front of a live audience.

Perhaps the most galling development in the whole sorry saga - which again made headlines this month when a viral clip appeared to show Styles spitting on co-star Chris Pine at the Don’t Worry Darling premiere - is how drab the final film actually is.

It’s nobody’s finest hour.