Review of Promising Young Woman (2020) by Iceman21 — 24 Mar 2021

As a general rule, you can look forward to a film, but you should never go in with expectations that are too high. In the case of Emerald Fennell's black comedy revenge-thriller Promising Young Woman, however, any expectations are justified and it must be with the devil if you leave the cinema disappointed. The story about 30-year-old Med School dropout Cassie, who leads a kind of double life after a traumatic event long ago, is original, involving and deals with a very important social issue.

Carey Mulligan is known to most from her breakthrough film An Education as the kindly but rebellious Jenny or from her somewhat dimwitted role in The Great Gatsby. Here she takes an absolute quantum leap in terms of acting and Mulligan succeeds brilliantly. She plays a poor soul who actually longs for love and affection but, because of her mission, doesn't let any real emotions get to her. Casey Thomas is a fascinating character in that, despite her questionable and sometimes bitterly evil actions, she is always aware of the situation. In one scene she responds to the statement "You're insane" without batting an eyelid with "No, I honestly don't think I am". No line could describe Casey better. In a world full of sexist machos, she's out for revenge for much of the film, except when confronted with her sudden love interest Ryan. Played by Bo Burnham, the young doctor comes across as the perfect Good Guy, completely refraining from physical advances in order to gain Casey's affection. Mulligan and Burnham share electrifying chemistry in every scene together, highlighted with their witty and almost toxic dialogues. Rounding out the all-around stellar performances of the cast are characters like Casey's parents Susan (Jennifer Coolidge) and Stanley (Clancy Brown), who are distraught with their daughter's condition but love her dearly. Alfred Molina has only a handful of scenes as the depressed lawyer Jordan Green, but shines with much vulnerability. Chris Lowell, Max Greenfield and Alison Brie all play certain antagonists from Casey's mysterious past. Interestingly, they are all usually seen in straight comedic roles.

Not too much can actually be said about the plot of Promising Young Woman, because the film is one of the most unpredictable and shocking thrillers in recent years in the way it is made. It is very fast-paced and always colourful and flashy, which gives you a somewhat distorted picture of this genre. In general, it is not a pure thriller. It has many funny and even sweet, rom-com-like moments. Beneath its surface, however, it is bitterly nasty and Fennell manages to reflect the theme of sexual abuse in both subtle and obvious ways, which is very good for the balance of the film. The ending is probably one of the strangest of the year and will leave some confused and possibly even underwhelmed. However, Mulligan's best career performance, the multi-faceted and brilliantly written script and its uniqueness and imperfection make Promising Young Woman one of the most important films of the year that will be in discussion for a long time.