Promising Young Woman is an excellent directorial debut for Emerald Fennell with an outstanding lead performance, despite a final turn that works in terms of shock value, but severely derails the message of the film, almost the the point of cheapening everything that was so wonderful before it.
The film follows Cassie (Carey Mulligan), a 30-something-year-old medical school dropout living with her parents, who is seeking to avenge her best friend, who was the victim of rape many years ago.
First and foremost, Mulligan is absolutely stellar as the lead in this film. She manages to find a balance between rage and remorse, along with a surprisingly amount of comedy that could come off very poorly done if left in the hands of a less-skilled actress. Rightfully, Mulligan received both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for her performance, both of which are well-deserved, perhaps even being the most deserving actress in the category. This is by far the best performance of her entire career.
The film is also beautifully shot and directed, thanks to Fennell. Watching it, you would be miffed to think this film, with all of its gruesome subject matter and wonderful performances, was anyone’s directorial debut. It’s also worth noting that Fennell both produced and wrote the film as well. Despite problems that occur with the writing, particularly in the third act, which will be touched on below, it was a bold move and she really came out of the gate swinging. If nothing else, Promising Young Woman makes audiences excited to see what Fennell may tackle as her next project.
One of the most captivating aspects of the film is its use of color. Despite the heavy and dark subject matter, the film almost entirely features bright pastels. Because of this, when the darker matter rears its head, it does sometime catch the viewer off-guard, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It uses these warm colors to subvert the viewer’s expectations as to what kind of film this is.
The same could be said for the casting. When viewing the list of well-known, mostly comedic, actors who appear in this film, it almost feels like you’re about to sit down for a fun-filled slapstick comedy, as opposed to a revenge fantasy story. With the likes of Bo Burnham, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Max Greenfield and Alison Brie filling out the cast, it almost feels like it hat’s being used to subvert our expectations even further once you see what is actually going on.
While the plot is an interesting one, and for the most part well-executed, the film completely loses audiences in the third act. It feels like Fennell took things a step too far with trying to make a statement, but ultimately doesn’t make a statement at all. This is absolutely detrimental to what could have otherwise been the best film of the year. Everything prior to the closing 20 minutes or so is phenomenal, which just makes it more of a shame to see it all stifled away in a lackluster and disappointing finale.
Because of this, it doesn’t seem likely that Promising Young Woman will have much a shelf-life in terms of multiple viewings. I, for one, cannot imagine that I will ever watch this movie again in my life and it almost entirely has to do with how the film chooses to end. Rather than being a natural progression of the plot, it goes for the subversion when one isn’t needed.
Still, Promising Young Woman is a beautifully directed and acted piece and well-deserving of all the nominations its receiving in awards circuits. Its worth watching at least once just for the experience, but ultimately it could have done significantly better had the third act not completely derailed an otherwise amazing story.
Grade: 3 / 5 Woo’s
Directed: Emerald Fennell
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox & Connie Britton
Release Date: December 25, 2020
Check the Rotten Tomatoes Score
Woosley's Movies 