Promising Young Woman Review

Before I watched this movie, I knew I wanted to see it right from the get-go.  A trailer with a snazzy violin rendition of Britney Spears's song Toxic? Sign me up. Starring Carey Mulligan and Bo Burnham (yes, THAT Bo Burnham), the film follows Cassandra Thomas, a med school dropout living a double life: By day, she is a snide coffee shop worker with no regard for the customers, but by night, she is a cold-blooded siren who tricks men into believing she is too drunk to stand. Emerald Fennell's, the film's director, stated that the idea for the movie came from this singular idea; "While a seemingly drunk woman is being bothered by a man, she turns the tables by suddenly sitting up, stone-cold sober, and asking, “What are you doing?” (Deadline). For this being Fennell's debut film, she knocked it out of the park. Fennell created Cassandra as a flawlessly flawed character who believes her twisted motives against men are justified due to events that happened to her best friend Nina in the past. This movie revolves around the #MeToo movement, although never mentioned, and hits every note perfectly. Some scenes hit so perfectly that I find it imperative that people watch this film. However, most of these scenes are flawed. Not flawed on a writing or thematic sense (although it is unclear through the film if Cassandra kills the men she ensnares if the viewer is not paying close attention), but on the moral integrity of Cassandra. Here is a character who is so consumed by grief and the need for revenge, she has lost all connection to her past life, as well as her current one. She is so destroyed over the events that happened in her past that she decides that if people are to become aware of "Every woman's worst nightmare", they themselves need to be exposed to it, against the pleas of Nina's family who tell Cassandra to let go of the past. Carey Mulligan plays this character perfectly. That's it. That's the sentence. I could not think of a better actress to play this role. I have been a fan of hers since I watched her in Drive, and am glad she is finally getting the recognition she deserves. I would not be surprised if this film won an Oscar or two. Trust me when I say this: the movie deserves it. Rating: 9.5/10