“It’s every guy's worst nightmare, getting accused like this!”
“Can you imagine every woman’s worst nightmare?”
Carey Mulligan is razor sharp, witty and cunning in “Promising Young Woman,” a feminist revenge thriller that teaches a twisty lesson of consent and will leave men thinking twice before turning a blind eye to sexual assault. Directed by Emerald Fennell (Executive Producer of "Killing Eve"), in her first feature length film and Executive Produced by Margot Robbie, the film is full of twists, turns and dark consequences that has you grinning from ear to ear in the final sequences, despite its grim conclusion.
Promising Young Woman Trailer
It’s such a shame what happened to Cassie (Carey Mulligan). She was such a promising young woman…Nina and Cassie were childhood best friends attending medical school together, at the top of their class. In any other drama, this would probably be a happily ever after storyline of a woman seeking revenge after best friend’s untimely death due to “mysterious circumstances.” Luckily, “Promising Young Woman” cleverly avoids that trope. Instead of sweeping into a passive reflection about the somber situation, Cassie takes matters into her own hands when she feels that justice hasn’t been served.
The beginning of the film opens with a montage of Charlie XCX’s “Boys” blasting over the loudspeaker at the bar while the camera displays close-ups of men in button down’s and khakis grinding to the beat of the music, alone. This is where we first see Cassie pretending to be drunk on the couch while a group of “nice guys” discuss her behavior. “She really is putting themselves in danger, acting like that.” The three men discuss that someone should be the upstanding guy to take her home and take care of her. What they do is something completely different. Actions speak louder than words, gentlemen.
By day, Cassie works at a local coffee shop, after dropping out of medical school a few years earlier. Approaching the age of thirty and still living in her parent’s guest bedroom, Cassie spends her nights out at clubs and bars playing the part of the too drunk girl, unable to get home. Every week, Cassie goes out and acts too drunk to stand and every week a “nice guy” offers to take her home before making their move on the unconscious female. It isn’t until they have their hands all the way up her legs before she sits up and asks 'what the hell do they think they are doing?' Cassie’s wicked lesson in consent is one that should stay with audiences, and let’s be honest, men.
WARNING, SPOILERS BELOW:
After a chance encounter at the coffee shop with a former med school student, Ryan (Bo Burnham), Cassie realizes that she has been placed in the perfect position to exact revenge of her former classmate, responsible for the death of her friend Nina, a few years earlier. While it isn't clear exactly what happened to Nina after the rape in school, it is assumed that she committed suicide after the encounter a few years later.
After dismissing Ryan’s attempts to go on a date with her, Cassie begins planning. Thus, the plot emerges. Skipping past the pages marked with hundreds of encounters with drunk strangers taking advantage, Cassie plans her revenge into four consistent pieces.
1) Former Friend in Med-School, Madison (Alison Brie), who denied Nina’s story.
2) The Dean Walker (Connie Britton) who decided to give the assailant versus the rape victim, the benefit of the doubt.
3) The Lawyer in Court who changed the narrative of Nina from a girl who was taken advantage of to a drunk mess who put herself in danger.
4) The Med-School student, Al Monroe (Chris Lowell), who assaulted Nina and got away with it. Each of these storylines are marked with a Roman Numeral at the beginning of each scene, marking her progress.
Between her planning and plotting, she continues to be pursued by Ryan. After Ryan graduated from Med-School with Cassie’s other classmates, he became a pediatric surgeon. At first hesitant to move forward due to her previous experiences, Cassie finds herself letting her walls down and begins getting closer to Ryan, the very charming and funny classmate from her time in Med-School all those years ago.
The film makes a clever and tricky use out Bo Burnham, playing Ryan. At first, he seems like the perfect foil character to all the assholes that she encounters at the bars. Ryan acts like the perfect gentleman, quelling any of Cassie’s suspicions that the “nice guy” character that all the other guys who had taken her home had claimed to be, didn’t exist. But as Cassie immerses herself more into her plot to avenge her best-friends assailant, she realizes that Ryan’s has a direct connection with Nina. He was there the night her friend was gang-raped at a party and it is caught on tape.
The film comes off as a warning lesson for men or anyone who is looking to take advantage of a vulnerable human being, and it walks a fine line between sarcastically hostile and wittingly smart. Cassie’s bright and colorful clothing, nails and bows are a stark contrast to her wounded and vengeful attitude – this is what makes her character pop from the screen creating a hard-hitting heroine who believes that she is helping make the world a better place, confronting one would-be rapist at a time.
Featuring classic and well-suited tunes, Fennell’s film is bouncy and catchy. A perfect example of the soundtrack in use to push the narrative is when Cassie leaves a man’s apartment early in the morning. While walking down the street, you can hear “It’s Raining Men” in the background as Cassie is yelled, teased and belittled by the whistles from the construction workers on the side of the street. Or when Ryan and Cassie go to a pharmacy together and Paris Hilton’s “Stars are Blind” makes a feature in their relationship montage. These bubbly pop sounds compared to the wicked obsession of Cassie is what makes the film work.
It’s no secret that this film has been…controversial. The subject matter alone caught eyes when the first trailer dropped nearly a year ago. The praise it has received by men in the industry, kind of makes you roll your eyes though, doesn’t it? The whole premise of the movie is to hold a mirror up to society and force yourself to question how often these instances happen and how you fit within them, even if you didn’t take part, did you enable? Did you stay silent? At that point, same difference.
With twists and turns and a shockingly grim ending, you can't help but grin the minute before the credits roll when you see some justice served.
Featuring multiple stellar supporting role performances from Laverne Cox, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge and Alison Brie, I have my fingers crossed that this film plays a big part in the upcoming Award Season. Best Actress for Carey Mulligan? Yes. Director for Emerald Fennell? Please. Original Screenplay? A must.
Film Score: [A]
And that’s the sitch.
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