Film Review: Promising Young Woman
EDITOR’S NOTE: Variety sincerely apologizes to Carey Mulligan and regrets the insensitive language and insinuation in our review of “Promising Young Woman” that minimized her daring performance.
Given that the entertainment industry is pretty much the center of the #MeToo universe in terms of generating its most public effects — and, needless to say, causes — probably no Sundance film this year will be as hot a conversation topic as “Promising Young Woman.” Emerald Fennell’s first directorial feature is a female revenge fantasy that hews to some of the tropes in that genre, but also takes considerable joy in upending viewer expectations. Starring Carey Mulligan as a woman on a singular mission, this unclassifiable, somewhat uneven but always compelling mix of thriller, black comedy and a whole lot of whatnot is going to stir a lot of debate in Park City and beyond.
The commercial prospects for this Focus Features release are harder to predict, as what’s actually onscreen is much trickier than the cheerily titillating exploitation-horror suggested by its early slogan (“Take her home and take your chances”) and blood-dripping poster design. “Species,” this is not — nor even an updated “Ms. 45.” A subtler viral campaign playing on themes of sexual predation and cultural blowback might more effectively put “Woman” on the radar of audiences who wouldn’t be lured in by a genre film, or ticked off by a movie that doesn’t really turn out to be one.
Cassie (Mulligan) is a medical school dropout on the brink of 30, still living with her parents (Jennifer Coolidge, Clancy Brown), who works at a coffee shop to her own unconcealed boredom and the perplexity of her manager (Laverne Cox). She has no professional ambitions, no boyfriend, nor any other standard interests. She does, however, have a vocation of sorts, albeit not the kind you’d tell anyone about.
Once a week or so, she dresses to the nines, goes out to a club, and is found passing-out-drunk there by some man who pretends to be “helping” her, but only wants to take advantage of a woman clearly not in full, consensual control. When he inevitably gets very frisky, she suddenly turns out to be the stone-sober deliverer of a message that will make him think hard before ever attempting such predatory hijinks again.
Though it takes some time for the full backstory to emerge, we suss quickly that the reason for Cassie’s bait-and-switch pursuit has to do with the fate of Nina, a childhood friend turned med school classmate. What happened to Nina pains all the more because nothing at all happened to those who did it to her, or who dismissed her accusations afterward. Cassie has reduced her own life to a kind of empty shell in order to devote full focus towards at least making sure a few clouds cross the horizon of those perps, as well as the kind of men who might do something similar to a “promising young woman” like Nina.
Complicating this plan is the resurfacing of Ryan (comedian Bo Burnham, whose dire
Given that the entertainment industry is pretty much the center of the #MeToo universe in terms of generating its most public effects — and, needless to say, causes — probably no Sundance film this year will be as hot a conversation topic as “Promising Young Woman.” Emerald Fennell’s first directorial feature is a female revenge fantasy that hews to some of the tropes in that genre, but also takes considerable joy in upending viewer expectations. Starring Carey Mulligan as a woman on a singular mission, this unclassifiable, somewhat uneven but always compelling mix of thriller, black comedy and a whole lot of whatnot is going to stir a lot of debate in Park City and beyond.
The commercial prospects for this Focus Features release are harder to predict, as what’s actually onscreen is much trickier than the cheerily titillating exploitation-horror suggested by its early slogan (“Take her home and take your chances”) and blood-dripping poster design. “Species,” this is not — nor even an updated “Ms. 45.” A subtler viral campaign playing on themes of sexual predation and cultural blowback might more effectively put “Woman” on the radar of audiences who wouldn’t be lured in by a genre film, or ticked off by a movie that doesn’t really turn out to be one.
Cassie (Mulligan) is a medical school dropout on the brink of 30, still living with her parents (Jennifer Coolidge, Clancy Brown), who works at a coffee shop to her own unconcealed boredom and the perplexity of her manager (Laverne Cox). She has no professional ambitions, no boyfriend, nor any other standard interests. She does, however, have a vocation of sorts, albeit not the kind you’d tell anyone about.
Once a week or so, she dresses to the nines, goes out to a club, and is found passing-out-drunk there by some man who pretends to be “helping” her, but only wants to take advantage of a woman clearly not in full, consensual control. When he inevitably gets very frisky, she suddenly turns out to be the stone-sober deliverer of a message that will make him think hard before ever attempting such predatory hijinks again.
Though it takes some time for the full backstory to emerge, we suss quickly that the reason for Cassie’s bait-and-switch pursuit has to do with the fate of Nina, a childhood friend turned med school classmate. What happened to Nina pains all the more because nothing at all happened to those who did it to her, or who dismissed her accusations afterward. Cassie has reduced her own life to a kind of empty shell in order to devote full focus towards at least making sure a few clouds cross the horizon of those perps, as well as the kind of men who might do something similar to a “promising young woman” like Nina.
Complicating this plan is the resurfacing of Ryan (comedian Bo Burnham, whose dire
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Short film