January 1, 2021 – highspot

Promising Young Woman (2020) – A Movie A Day 2021 #1

Like many movies that were supposed to be released theatrically in the first half of 2020, I’d seen the trailer for Promising Young Woman many, many times due to repeated delays and uncertainty of just when it would finally be released once theaters gradually started to re-open. I tend to go to the theater a lot, and I’ll often start to tune out when I see the same trailers over and over, but Promising Young Woman always held my interest every time I saw its trailer. The clips made the movie look like a fun revenge thriller, and I’m a big fan of revenge movies. Trashy or classy, good or not-so-good… I’m pretty much always in the mood to watch some revenge. Promising Young Woman didn’t look trashy from the trailer, but it did feel like it might be a stylish yet simple film with its bright colors, violent and angry tone, and what looked like a setup for a huge revenge set-piece with multiple victims. Now that I’ve seen the movie, I can say Promising Young Woman is far more than a simple rape/revenge thriller. It’s a topical dive into the psyche of a traumatized woman that manages to twist out some thrills, very dark humor, and even a few touching moments out of a heavy and inevitably heartbreaking story.

Carey Mulligan stars as Cassandra (Cassie to her friends if she were to have any), a woman who has had her life derailed by a past trauma. The movie begins with a scene very familiar to anyone who has seen the trailer multiple times like I have. Cassandra appears to be drunk and helpless at a bar, so a “nice guy” offers to help her get home safely. When the kind gesture turns into a predatory situation involving the guy’s apartment, alcohol, and his bed, Cassandra reveals she was never drunk to begin with. Cassandra’s tone becomes sober, serious, and threatening. We cut away from the shocked look on the guy’s face, and we next see Cassandra walking home, hot dog in hand, with ketchup running down her arm and onto her shirt. Well, it’s probably all ketchup. Maybe.

And that’s one of the many things I really enjoyed about Promising Young Woman. Many things are held back from us, the viewer, but not in a frustrating way. If you’re like me, then you might want to see Cassandra get a bit of revenge in that opening scene. A little violence that leads to a little catharsis. But that’s not what Promising Young Woman is about. It’s not about the violence. Violence, as we later find out, is what contributed to Cassandra’s current state of mind, though not in as direct of a way as you might assume. To see her be violent right away would take away from her journey and it would change the focus of the film. The focus of Promising Young Woman isn’t on setting up multiple violent acts of revenge, the focus is on getting to know Cassandra and watching as she is forced to deal with her past trauma catching up to her.

So what is the trauma I’m dancing around but not talking about? I don’t want to say. One of the things that first-time feature director and screenwriter Emerald Fennell does so very well in this movie is knowing exactly how and when to peel back the layers of Cassandra’s life and mind. We quickly learn that Cassandra has been catching predators (so to speak) for a very long time. We’re not sure exactly how long, but her living situation and diary are strong indicators that she’s been living like this for many years. She’s been living a double life so long that the few people she’s close to begin to take notice and worry. Just when it feels like Cassandra might be forced into decisions she doesn’t want to make, someone from her past enters her life and everything changes.

And that’s really all I want to say about the plot. The movie isn’t a mystery or anything, but again, it’s constructed in a way that gives you just enough information at just the right time. I would be doing a disservice to the viewer if I were to give away any more plot than I already have (and I haven’t given away anything you can’t glean from the trailer).

So, I went into the theater expecting fun revenge, but what I got was heavy, character-driven revenge. And I thought it was great. Not only are the writing and direction superb, but the movie is constantly visually engaging. I could take a deep dive into the visual metaphors and motifs throughout the film, but that’s a bit more than is relevant in a review like this. Plus, diving too deep would give away too much, and if you’re interested in seeing Promising Young Woman, I’d suggest going into it knowing as little about the plot as I’ve shared here. I’ll just say that the visuals of the film (color choices, lighting, camera angles, framing, blocking, etc.) all enhance the tone of the film immensely.

Something else that also struck me while watching the movie was how great the cast is. Carey Mulligan is fantastic as a woman who seems to be emotionally teetering on the edge of something much, much darker throughout most of the film. Beyond Carey Mulligan though, the rest of the cast is made up of incredibly strong performers including Allison Brie, Alfred Molina, Laverne Cox, Clancy Brown, and Bo Burnham as the agonizingly charming character of Ryan. Some roles are smaller than others, but the performances make each of them feel vitally important.

I’m sure it’s clear by now that I highly recommend Promising Young Woman. It’s probably not going to be to everyone’s liking (it’s definitely not a feel-good movie), but I thought it was great. I wouldn’t even begin to claim to be an expert on the specific subject matter explored, as far as revenge movies go, I think that aspect was handled in a surprising and and satisfying way. “Satisfying” rarely means “happy” in revenge movies though, so expect to be tense for pretty much the entire time you’re watching the film. Even the happy moments feel tense because you know something else is going to happen, and it’s probably not going to be good for anyone involved. That said, there were moments of levity throughout the movie. Some, especially late in the story, felt a little off to me, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment. I wouldn’t go so far as to call Promising Young Woman a black comedy as I’ve seen it categorized, but I did find a few moments genuinely funny.

So, 2021 is off to a good start for me theatrically. One (good) movie watched, and only 364 more to go in my restart of my abysmally failed attempt at watching a movie a day for an entire year. If you’re not familiar with my self-imposed movie-watching challenge (and why would you be?), then my rules for A Movie A Day can be found here: http://highspot.cnjradio.com/2020/01/04/a-movie-a-day/

I’m going to make another attempt at the challenge, because why not? I’ll complete it one of these years, surely.

Official Site: https://www.focusfeatures.com/promising-young-woman