Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
Promising Young Woman
(Focus Features)
By Lucas Allen
This year’s awards season is certainly a fascinating one, since the pandemic has limited the amount of choice titles between theatrical and streaming. One title already making a lot of waves is “Promising Young Woman,” which is a darkly comedic take on the female revenge fantasy sub-genre of the 1970s and certainly a timely one. This is the film debut of writer/producer/director Emerald Fennell, who’s primarily a television producer on such shows as “Killing Eve” and “The Crown.”
Cassie (Carey Mulligan) is 30 and had a bright future in the medical community until she drops out of college to care for her best friend Nina after a traumatic event. She’s living with her concerned parents (Clancy Brown and Jennifer Coolidge), and takes a job at a coffee shop run by her friendly boss Gail (Laverne Cox). But unbeknownst to her loved ones, she spends each night at local clubs acting drunk before being taken back to the homes of kindly gentlemen. Whenever those men start to take advantage of her, she comes out of character and gives them a psychological verbal confrontation on what they’re doing.
She also runs into her old classmate Ryan (Bo Burnham) who’s now a doctor, and they reconnect before developing a loving relationship. But when he brings up the upcoming marriage of their classmate Alexander (Chris Lowell), it triggers Cassie’s grief about her best friend and how Al was mainly responsible. This begins a trail of revenge as she confronts another classmate named Madison (Allison Brie), the college’s dean, Walker (Connie Britton), and ex-lawyer Mr. Green (Alfred Molina), over the cover-up.
From the start, the movie plays with tone between the heavy drama and the romantic comedy in a way that feels unique and accessible. It maintains a straightforward narrative without using flashbacks to explain the full backstory of the main character’s personal journey instead relying on character dialogue to piece together the full story. There’s a visual aesthetic that matches the changing tone between the bright pinks and the dark blues enhancing both the comedy and drama. Of course, the screenplay does a fine job making sure the smallest details are important no matter how convoluted it could’ve gotten. The shock value is only the bare minimum up until the last act. In fact, the last act is where your reaction to the film depends on how you feel about how it ended. It actually took a shocking sharp turn that comes off as unexpected and unpredictable, while the outcome afterwards is also unexpected.
Mulligan becomes the film’s natural force balancing her character’s dual personality. She’s more of an anti-hero, but at the same time she does come across as a Jekyll/Hyde-type trying to find control of her scheming ways. She’s supported by a nice array of good actors like Burnham, whom the two of them have good chemistry especially when they tend to act awkwardly through their dialogue. There are also appearances by Brown, Coolidge, Brie, Britton, and Molina; who each serve their limited roles with surprising conviction. Plus, cameos from Adam Brody, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Molly Shannon that don’t add to the overall plot, but are kindly welcomed.
Some viewers will be turned off by its conclusion, but “Promising Young Woman” is still an original and very unpredictable. It’s not afraid to go in any direction, while remaining both dark, funny, and timely. With little competition, it might have a chance to make it to the top of the awards season pile.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: R (for strong violence including sexual assault, language throughout, some sexual material and drug use)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.25 Stars (Out of Four)
