The Victory Project is everything to loved-up 1950s couple, Jack (Harry Styles) and Alice (Florence Pugh, “Black Widow”). They live a victorious lifestyle in a resort-like community in the desert, with white houses situated on palm tree-lined streets, complete with pristine pool, shopping center and trolley.
The men leave for work every morning in their classic cars, to go work for the man, Frank (Chris Pine, “Wonder Woman” series, “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” “Unstoppable”), a cult-like leader who founded the project and community. The vibrantly dressed women stay home to cook elaborate meals, clean and maintain their spotless houses, shop till they drop, relax by the pool, and take up ballet lessons from Frank’s wife, Shelley (Gemma Chan, “Eternals,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Captain Marvel”). The residents often have glamorous soirees.
The wives do not know what the husbands do, except that they work on developing some kind of progressive materials. Dutifully supporting and taking care of their husbands, they feel privileged to be selected for the project and believe in the mission of changing the world. They are forbidden to go into the middle of the desert, where the company headquarters is.
Alice is friends and neighbors with Bunny (Olivia Wilde, “Tron: Legacy”), Peg (Kate Berlant) and Margaret, (KiKi Layne). When Margaret ventures outside of their community into the desert, sees something she’s not supposed to and starts acting strange. This leads to an unspeakable incident . Then Alice begins to have fragments of vivid visions or hallucinations, and is losing a sense of time and space. Hollow eggs, plane crash without wreckage, mirror image, glass wall closing in, dancing sequence. They are entrancing but become overlong due to repeats.
Alice starts questioning the reality she’s in, only to be gaslit by everyone. While feeling trapped and paranoia sets in, curiosity gets the better of her and she starts digging. She and Frank exchange words in a dramatic dinner that leaves everyone stunned.
Pine is effectively chilling in a few scenes, although it feels like his role should have been expanded. Styles’ role requires an actor with a stronger presence over style, especially paired with Pugh, who shares more chemistry with Pine in their limited, shared scenes. Pugh vivaciously and vulnerably carries the film on her stylish back, brimming with fear and frenzy, defying her dreamy lifestyle, breaking down yet mustering determination to break through.
The majority of the movie is captivating, with sleek visuals and camera angles, threads of dread sewn in, underscored by strikingly terrifying score that continues the momentum until the last act. It deals with control and perceived happiness. The hasty exit is worrisome and leaves unanswered questions of the whys and hows.
While the film may not be a victory and the storytelling could have been improved with a tighter script and an extra mile on the final act, don’t worry about the real-life drama; the film is still worth watching.
