If Hollywood’s a High School, Who’s in the Drama Club? The Chess Club? The Hellfire Club?

Drama Club

The Don’t Worry Darling gang

Much like the film itself, a psychological thriller set in a Mad Men-era utopia, the PR campaign for Don’t Worry Darling saw a web of cracks undermine a picture-perfect facade. The internet obsession of late summer consisted of a series of mysteries: Was original co-star Shia LaBeouf fired because of director Olivia Wilde’s “no assholes policy,” as Wilde said, or did the actor quit for “lack of rehearsal time,” as he claimed and for which he supplied evidence? At what point did Wilde become romantically involved with LaBeouf’s replacement, Harry Styles? Was star Florence Pugh, seen sashaying around the Venice fest (Aperol spritz in hand) as her castmates suffered through press for the premiere, playing hooky because of a fracas with Wilde, or did she indeed have a conflict? And, most perplexingly, did Styles hock a loogie on co-star Chris Pine’s lap at the screening, as social media sleuths contended, or was Spitgate merely a collective hallucination driven by insatiable appetite for idiotic contro­versy? We may never know. (But at least that one seems to be solved; Pine called the allegations “ridiculous.”)

Chess Club

The grandmasters who pulled off the year’s bold and savvy gambits

Activist investor Dan Loeb sensed Disney’s weakness and pounced, leveraging only 0.4 percent of the company’s stock to finagle a board seat for ally Carolyn Everson. Warner Bros. Discovery CFOGunnar Wiedenfels proved he might be a nice guy, but he’ll take a bat to anything — even Batgirl — to enact boss David Zaslav’s cost-cutting. After months of an exhaustive search for an exec with the credentials and chutzpah to lead recently acquired MGM, Amazon Studios head Jen Salke finally found her:Jen Salke. For power agents like CAA’s Kevin Huvane, BryanLourdandRichardLovett,what’s more satisfying than poaching a client? Poaching a rival agency. R.I.P. ICM.

The Hellfire Club

The stylistic rebels who caught our attention by being defiantly themselves 

Like the members of the namesake club in Stranger Things, these Hollywood stars spent 2022 embracing their eccentricities to forge their own rebellious paths. The aptly named Mia Goth has become horror’s new “It” girl, appearing in Ti West’s back-to-back slashers X and Pearl. Her Emma co-star Anya Taylor-Joy has reached the A-list without shedding her otherworldliness. It turns out Jenna Ortega basically is Wednesday Addams in real life. SNL alum Julio Torres found a new twist on macabre comedy with the tragically un-renewed Los Espookys. Julia Fox rocks the Goth-glam look like none other, and developed a speech cadence all her own. (Uncaa Jaaahms.)

In Detention

They were accused of bad deeds, but we know it’s just a matter of time before they’re back

Up until his palm connected with Chris Rock’s face on Oscar night, Will Smith was a straight-A student. Bill Murray was Teflon for decades before reports emerged of his inappropriate behavior on Aziz Ansari’s Being Mortal — causing production to stop and triggering complaints against Murray for past transgressions. Then there were the workplace affairs: GMA3 co-hosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes remain off the air as ABC investigates. Perhaps they should’ve called it quits after revelations of CNN chief Jeff Zucker’s tryst with Allison Gollust — discovered during an inquest into the firing of ex-CNN anchor Chris Cuomo — led to their resignations.

This story first appeared in the Dec. 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.