Promising Young Woman
Directed by: Emerald Fennell
Written by: Emerald Fennell
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Christopher Lowell, Connie Britton, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Max Greenfield, Adam Brody, Laverne Cox, Molly Shannon
Comedy/Crime/Drama - 113 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 21 Dec 2020
Written by: Emerald Fennell
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Christopher Lowell, Connie Britton, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Max Greenfield, Adam Brody, Laverne Cox, Molly Shannon
Comedy/Crime/Drama - 113 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 21 Dec 2020
Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s controversial Education Secretary, overturned Obama-era rules regarding sexual assault accusations on campus - she does not think the accused, those charged with rape and various other sexual crimes, were being treated fairly. DeVos’s attitude is prevalent in Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman. Fennell, who wrote the screenplay and directed the film in her feature debut, accuses an insular, elite society caste of circling the wagons and protecting their promising young men from malicious finger-pointing. Even if some parts of the victim’s story check out, these are youthful indiscretions, no reason to ruin a boy’s life over some drunken shenanigans. Besides, I bet there are pictures of the girl out there with an alcoholic drink in her hand - and why would she put herself in that position anyway?
The gender politics bubbling beneath Fennell’s story are maddening. The boy accused of rape is considered the victim. The accuser is ostracized as a liar, a jealous malcontent, and an opportunist. This all too familiar situation is ripe for a revenge fantasy. Enter Cassie (Carey Mulligan, Shame). Cassie just turned 30, works for minimum wage at a coffee shop, and has no interest in boyfriends, better employment, or her future. This medical school dropout has a hobby. On the weekends, she presents herself at clubs as a vulnerable, borderline blackout drunk girl in need of saving. She’s a human morality test case. She knows the correct answer. The man who steps up to show concern, to make sure she is ok, to call her a cab, is supposed to get her home lest a more callous man take advantage of the situation. When a man turns out to be a wolf in gallant knight’s clothing, a man unconcerned with consent, Cassie reveals her sober self and takes immediate control of the room.
The gender politics bubbling beneath Fennell’s story are maddening. The boy accused of rape is considered the victim. The accuser is ostracized as a liar, a jealous malcontent, and an opportunist. This all too familiar situation is ripe for a revenge fantasy. Enter Cassie (Carey Mulligan, Shame). Cassie just turned 30, works for minimum wage at a coffee shop, and has no interest in boyfriends, better employment, or her future. This medical school dropout has a hobby. On the weekends, she presents herself at clubs as a vulnerable, borderline blackout drunk girl in need of saving. She’s a human morality test case. She knows the correct answer. The man who steps up to show concern, to make sure she is ok, to call her a cab, is supposed to get her home lest a more callous man take advantage of the situation. When a man turns out to be a wolf in gallant knight’s clothing, a man unconcerned with consent, Cassie reveals her sober self and takes immediate control of the room.
What does she do? Fennell holds her cards close. There are visual cues pushing the audience toward obvious conclusions, but Fennell keeps us off balance as to Cassie’s intentions. Are these teachable moments? Is it all for shame and fear? Or…is blood drawn? We are not in the dark regarding Cassie’s motivations though. Her lifelong best friend, Nina, committed suicide. She killed herself after a blackout date rape and her accusations went nowhere. Cassie, unable to cope, blaming herself as much as anyone for not being there when it counted, tries to make amends on the back end. She can’t save Nina - maybe she can do something to the men who would hurt the next girl.
Cassie’s nebulous world of personal stagnation in favor of vigilante anti-hero extracurriculars is pierced by a promising relationship with a friend from her past who threatens to push Cassie toward a more normal existence with life. Ryan (Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade) is a pediatric surgeon, very funny, and sports the right amount of quirk and empathy to save Cassie from completely losing herself to darkness. Fennell creates an atmosphere of hope, a path toward redemption, some of it even laced with a Paris Hilton music montage. Ryan, however, was in Cassie’s medical school class when all the Nina business went down. He is clueless as to Cassie’s habits, but may be a tempting siphon for information should Cassie want to inflict morality lessons on those who most contributed to her downward spiral.
Carey Mulligan is known quantity. It is no shock to discover she can pull off a character as complex as Cassie. Cassie is so intriguing, there may be an inevitable Oscar nomination attached to her. Fennell is the real discovery. She loves to place Cassie in symmetrical surroundings like dead-center on a couch or just so in front of a peculiar wall. Her screenplay is absorbing and shifts its tone from genteel to thriller in the amount of time it takes someone to spritz a drink with a date rape drug. Fennell’s creation is both dark and exciting. It’s a ferocious experience and will confront you with truths you thought you were comfortable with as the film continues to push and poke you with urgencies and questions your own role in its message. It’s not subtle. Fennell asks you if you get it. Can you see the consequences? Do you notice the problem with the system's culture of more concern and protections for the rights of the accused? Fennell’s Promising Young Woman is bold, bright, and creative - a great film.
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