Promising Young Woman 2020 ★★★★½
Having dropped out of Forrest Medical School, 30-year-old Cassie Thomas (Carey Mulligan) lives with her parents (Clancy Brown and Jennifer Coolidge) and works at a coffee shop. Carrying the trauma and anger of a night at med school when her classmate raped her best friend but did not face any repercussions from the school nor the legal system, Cassie spends her nights trawling bars and clubs in a state of mock drunkenness to see if any men take advantage of her vulnerability, embarrassing and shaming them if they do.
In the wake of Chanel Miller’s
victim impact statement in the prosecution of Brock Turner, a testimony of digital rape and sexual assault which went viral, and the #METOO movement, this feels timely and relevant, perfectly capturing the zeitgeist about sexual politics and ‘date rape’ cases.
Unlike other rape-revenge films, this doesn’t involve the victim, nor the victim’s family, and Cassie is unusual as she doesn’t seem to derive any satisfaction from the revenge meted out to aspiring assailants.
Promising Young Woman is a compelling, audacious, and riveting revenge thriller, superbly written and directed by Emerald Fennell, and with a career-best performance from Carey Mulligan. Considering this is Fennell’s film debut, the quality of the writing and direction is even more notable.
I can't remember the last time I have been so engrossed in a film at home, where every distraction (phone, computer, food) failed to take my attention from the on-screen events. It's a terrific film – highly recommended.