PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
2020 | Dir. Emerald Fennell | 113 Minutes
"I'm not the only one who does this. And some of the other girls, they really are crazy."
Forever scarred by the devastating sexual assault that destroyed her best friend Nina, med school drop-out Cassie spends her nights prowling bars, exposing and psychologically punishing men who prey on drunk women. When she learns Nina's rapist is thriving professionally and getting married, Cassie methodically plots revenge against him and his enablers.
Writer/director Emerald Fennell's feature debut is a superbly-executed revenge film featuring an inspired premise and a razor-sharp script with a grim sense of humor. Following a brisk opening act that entertainingly introduces the cunning anti-heroine protagonist and her MO, the picture is neatly divided into five sections, one for each step of Cassie's meticulous plan. As Cassie teaches unforgettable lessons to each of her targets, she does so at the expense of her own happiness, losing a bit of her soul each time, straining her relationship with her parents and her budding romance with a former classmate. The plot is thoroughly engaging with a wealth of unpredictable turns, from a tortured surprisingly repentant lawyer that casts doubt on Cassie's mission to a late film twist that irrevocably reinforces it.
Considering its difficult subject matter, Promising Young Woman is remarkably appealing in its overall presentation. The bright color palette of the film is striking and through thoughtful framing, most of the shots serve to highlight Cassie's isolation from others. To drive home the point that vengeance is a solitary path, unless she is on the hunt, Cassie seldom shares screen space with others. When she does there is noticeable distance separating her from the supporting characters who care about her with a few notable exceptions: her scenes with love interest Ryan, her boss at her coffee shop day job Gail, and Nina's mother. Thematically, Ryan represents Cassie's option to abandon her crusade and reconnect with the world, and to a certain extent her only friend Gail symbolizes this as well as she constantly encourages Cassie to build a career beyond the coffee shop, while her friendly but uncomfortable relationship with Nina's mother embodies her refusal to move on from her grief over Nina. The tense musical score by Anthony Willis sounds appropriate for a thriller, notably featuring a killer string rendition of Britney Spears' "Toxic" that opens the final act of the picture. Willis' score juxtaposes nicely against upbeat needle-drops such as Paris Hilton's "Stars Are Blind" and Juice Newton's "Angel of the Morning."
In the lead role, Carey Mulligan is a force to be reckoned with, delivering an emotionally complex performance that seamlessly switches between extremely cool and affectingly vulnerable. As love interest Ryan, the charismatic Bo Burnham is delightfully charming, dialing up a likably awkward persona which makes his part in the twist all the more upsetting. The all-around excellent supporting cast features Clancy Brown and Jennifer Coolidge amusingly playing Cassie's clueless parents, Laverne Cox impeccably cast as the supportive Gail, Max Greenfield going full douchebag bro, and Molly Shannon delivering brief but notable dramatic performance as Nina's mother. Playing Cassie's targets, Alison Brie is believably vapid as Cassie's schoolmate Madison, Connie Britton plays the insufferably impersonal dean at Cassie's medical school with perfect poise until it is shattered, the reliably great Alfred Molina stands out as a tormented lawyer, and Chris Lowell is at his most convincingly spineless portraying Nina's rapist. Brilliantly cast against type, nice guy actors Adam Brody, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Samuel Richardson appear as predators who fall prey to Cassie's nightly hunt.
With a spectacular script and stellar direction, Emerald Fennell's Promising Young Woman is intense, darkly funny, and aesthetically pleasing from start to finish. It is an ingenious revenge story, one that illustrates the self-destructive all-consuming nature of seeking vengeance but also one that demands society at large to be held accountable for intolerable casual misogyny on any level.
FRAGMENTS
- Emerald Fennell makes a cameo appearance as the host of an online "blow job lips" makeup tutorial video
- Alison Brie and Chris Lowell starred in the excellent Netflix Original Series GLOW
- The film never explicitly defines the meaning of the different colored markings in Cassie's notebook
MCU CONNECTIONS
- Alfred Molina (Otto Octavius in Spider-Man: No Way Home)
