Our society’s treatment of women has been one of the topics of conversation for a few years now. Addressing rape culture, the pervasiveness and normalization of sexual assault due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality, has been subject to analysis and debate as society wrestles with making life safer for women. Multiple films have attempted to do their part in adding to this conversation to varying degrees of success. The latest film from Focus Features may be the best entry yet in the cinematic dialogue.
Promising Young Woman introduces us to Cassandra, or Cassie for short, who is smart and bitingly funny, but at a station in life that seems curiously beneath her potential; working at a coffee shop alongside her boss Gail (Laverne Cox) and living with her parents. We soon find that Cassandra was a former med student who dropped out due to the traumatic experience of watching her best friend Nina crumble as the result of being sexually assaulted. Cassie now goes out to bars in town, feigning blackout drunkeness to lure predatory men into taking her home so that she may exact revenge and turn the tables on them and their intentions for assault. She soon encounters former classmate Ryan (Bo Burnham) while working and is left to decide if the unexpected opportunity to right the wrongs from the past and the chance at moving away from her trauma and toward happiness can coexist.
Promising Young Woman is a topical revenge tale that is juicy and thrilling to watch unfold. The revenge plot itself is somewhat reminiscent of the masterful work at the turn of the century we saw from Korean director Park Chan-wook with added American humor that is witty and smoothly fits within the flow of the dialogue and scenes without feeling forced. The comedy in the film also feels refreshing juxtaposed to how most movie humor is presented today in a more forced and pithy one-liner style. The manner in which the mystery behind what is fueling Cassandra’s crusade against abusive men is unveiled very skillfully and is almost Hitchcockian, a gradual process that builds intrigue and keeps the viewer guessing and by extension, invested in the story. The result adds to a thrilling story that is extremely well-paced.
Thematically, Promising Young Woman explores the widespread, lasting effects of being victimized through the prism of holding onto grief and trauma. Through Cassandra, we see both that victimization can extend not just to those directly harmed, but all those who care for and love them. Nina’s ordeal and subsequent reaction to it has also claimed Cassandra as a victim after the unfairness of her treatment and the lack of punishment for the perpetrators came to consume her. The process of healing after experiencing traumatic events can be a long one and for many, the need for constant maintenance and care may never end. Victims may have trouble functioning professionally or establishing long-lasting personal relationships, as we saw with Cassandra, and resulting isolation. Cassandra’s characterization while having its entertaining moments, also provides an unflinching look at untreated trauma and its pitfalls. This complete picture of victims and the fallout surrounding their victimhood serves to make the film that much stronger.
What is sure to be the most impactful for many coming out of Promising Young Woman is the way the film touches on the widespread complicity of society and all its members in perpetuating the cycle of abuse women are forced to face, more commonly referred to as rape culture, and on who among us gets the benefit of the doubt in tough situations. In addition to systems ranging from the law to campus administration, even individuals whom most would commonly think of as “nice” people have made choices in the past that condoned or even qualified as tacit participation in harmful acts toward women. The casting in the film works in tandem with the script to emphasize this point as unassuming, popular actors such as Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Adam Brody are cast as men with questionable morals and potential predation who believe themselves to be morally upright. The film makes the point that it isn’t the person who appears monstrous and whom we all feel comfortable pointing the finger at who powers systems and cultures that make women unsafe, but those who think of themselves as good people making the wrong decisions or internalizing sexist aspects of our culture without realizing it. All of this touches on a hot topic of conversation within society at the moment regarding “cancel culture”, forgiveness, and whether we are all simply the worst thing we’ve ever done or have the capacity to change. As we watch this play out onscreen and characters become forced to face their complicity, the question both they and the audience face becomes even when we’re confronted with our misdeeds, will anyone do the right thing in order to make amends?
Writer/director Emerald Fennell makes her extremely impressive debut behind the camera and displays a knack for visuals and visual storytelling with the brilliantly colorful palette she employs. Promising Young Woman features great cinematography including some very creative scene transitions. Fennell’s commitment to accentuating the storytelling through her staging of the actors must also be commended, most notable in how Cassandra is so often placed in the very center of the shot with her arms outstretched or with angel wings nearby as a nod to her becoming almost a martyr on behalf of Nina. The most skilled directors utilize all avenues within a film to advance their themes and plot and Fennell immediately displays her aptitude and skill in this regard. The set design in the film is alo eye-catching, full of extremely vivid colors and modern style.
Carey Mulligan is the star of this show and she knocks it out of the park as the sharp tongued, focused but grieving Cassandra. The role is a layered, multifaceted one that requires the actress playing it to display their humor, ability to emote rage, hurt, and underlying pain at a high level. Mulligan nails it and brings Cassandra to life making her easy to both root for and sympathize with; awards worthy is an understatement. Laverne Cox is also hilarious as Gail, the sagely but wisecracking boss at the coffee shop. Her rapport with Cassie adds to the film’s engaging humor and Cox’s comedic timing is impressive. The male cast must also be recognized for being able to properly portray the nuance that Fennell has written them with, not caricatures of evil predators lurking about, but men we encounter everyday who appear normal on the surface, but have the capacity to make harmful choices. Bo Burnham, Sam Richardson, Mintz-Plasse, and Brody do well in putting faces to the phenomenon the film explores.
Promising Young Woman is fresh, funny, well-written, well-acted, and a smart take on an issue that is relevant for the audience it targets. Not enough can be said about just how impressive a full-length debut this film is for Emerald Fennell as a writer and director. Carey Mulligan is mesmerizing as Cassandra, a young woman you’re both rooting for and deeply concerned for seeking peace of mind and resolution for her past through a process that while not the best coping mechanism, is deliciously tantalizing to watch unfold. The film is not only perhaps the best of 2020, but seems destined to be classic among not only women, but audiences as a whole in the years to come.
Image: Focus Features
