In 2017, actress Emerald Fennell started to work on a concept for what would become her directorial debut. After pitching the opening scene, she sold it to LuckyChap Entertainment, a production company owned by actress Margot Robbie. Two years later, actress Carey Mulligan was cast in the lead role, alongside Bo Burnham and Alison Brie amongst others. Focus Features acquired the film for distribution in February 2019, and filming started in March, wrapping after 23 days. Following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2020, the film was scheduled for wide release in April. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the film was pushed back before being released theatrically on Christmas 2020. The following month, the film premiered on video-on-demand, so people could enjoy it from the comfort of home. So, with the introductions out of the way, let’s talk about Promising Young Woman.
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Synopsis
Cassie Thomas (Carey Mulligan) is a med school dropout living with her parents Stanley (Clancy Brown) and Susan (Jennifer Coolidge). She works at a coffee shop with her boss Gail (Laverne Cox), but she leads a secret life at night. At night, she goes to local clubs, acts drunk, finds a “nice guy”, and teaches them a lesson. Her motivation for doing this is because of something that happened to a close friend of hers at medical school. While working at the coffee shop, Cassie runs into Ryan Cooper (Bo Burnham), a former classmate turned successful pediatrician. The two start dating and things seem to be looking up for Cassie, but her second life keeps interrupting her. Things escalate when Cassie starts targeting people who were responsible for what happened to her friend Nina at med school. How far will Cassie be willing to go to find closure?
Review
Promising Young Woman is a strong directorial debut from Emerald Fennell, showing plenty of potential for her as a filmmaker. She uses bright colors to accentuate the visuals, making the sets and characters pop without feeling too distracting or garish. Carey Mulligan does a phenomenal job in the lead role, perfectly balancing comedy with terror while also being sympathetic. Bo Burnham is very funny and likable, and he and Mulligan have fantastic chemistry with each other. Clancy Brown and Jennifer Coolidge do a good job as Mulligan’s parents, perfectly playing disappointed parents trying to hide it. There are also some solid appearances from Adam Brody, Alison Brie, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon, and Alfred Molina. Though they only have about one or two scenes in the film, they each give great performances, Molina especially. All in all, the cast does a terrific job bringing the script to life.
Admittedly, the film is somewhat tonally inconsistent, starting rough, then turning lighthearted, only to get rough again on a dime. Granted, that was probably what Fennell was going for, but it comes off as a little jarring and disorienting. That said, the story is very strong, gradually giving you more and more information without having to spell everything out. However, while the story is mostly strong, the last 10-15 minutes are somewhat lackluster given everything leading up to it. Given what’s happening and the music used, I understand what the director was going for, but it didn’t quite work. This is a case where the film is more about the journey than the destination without spoiling too much. Issues aside, I still say this is a film worth watching and worth supporting especially as someone’s directorial debut. Overall, Promising Young Woman doesn’t 100% deliver, but it shows plenty of promise.
Find out how to watch Promising Young Woman on FocusFeatures.com: https://bit.ly/2XJ9vYT
