 |
| Taken from Google Images |
Title- Promising Young Woman
Creator- Emerald Fennell (writer and director)
Cast- Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie plus ensemble cast
Genre- black comedy, comedy thriller, drama
Length- 2 hours
Platform- Now TV/Sky (in the UK)
Rating- 3.5/5
Trigger/Content Warnings- sexual assault/abuse, rape, murder/violence, sexist views
Plot
A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path.
Taken from IMDb
Opinions
Promising Young Woman was a film I had wanted to watch since January 2020. I had seen a trailer and thought it looked incredible. I was sad when it was delayed due to the pandemic and desperately waited for a UK release date. Finally, that date came in April 2021, when it was released on Now TV in the UK. I could finally watch this film.
 |
| Taken from Google Images |
Normally, I start my reviews with something positive before diving into what I didn't like. I can't do that with this one as I feel I should open and say I was ultimately disappointed by this film. I had waited for so long, had such strong expectations and it just fell flat for me. I will say I adored this film right up until the last 10-15 minutes. I am going to discuss the ending separately, but my thoughts are that when I watched it, this was not the ending I had wanted. I'm not sure what the ending I would have wanted would have looked like, but this felt wrong to me. I was so disappointed as up until this point, Promising Young Woman looked like it could be a favourite film of mine. Everything had been progressing in the right direction and then the ending happened.
 |
| Taken from Google Images |
While I was disappointed with the ending, I would like to take a moment to talk about the "aesthetic" of this film, for want of a better word. The sets, costume design and music (and so much more) were incredible. It really added to the atmosphere. I've seen a few comments from reviewers calling it bubblegum or neon noir and feel that describes it perfectly. Yes, this film is incredibly dark at its core. But the aesthetic made it feel welcoming. The music used, particularly the use of Toxic by Brittany Spears was great. The costumes Cassie wore were incredible. Huge props to the behind the scenes design team as they nailed it.
 |
| Taken from Google Images |
The cast for this film were also amazing. Carey Mulligan is a fantastic actress. She excels in this role, it would have been hard to see anyone but her taking on this role. Bo Burnham and Alison Brie's casting was such good choices as these are people that have "nice energy", yet their characters were not great. Bo Burnham in particular, you were tricked into this false sense of security that he was actually a nice guy and then it turned out what he had done. I think the casting for this film was one of the best I've seen in a while.
Now, let's talk about the ending. I found it very unsatisfying to watch this film about a woman getting revenge for her friend only for them both to die. It made me so angry. As soon as I had finished watching the film, I went online and looked at some articles and discussions online. This was not the original end for the film. It was supposed to end when Cassie died, but test audiences and the studios found that too bleak. One option was Cassie going on a murder spree, which I think would have been a bad choice. The option they went with was because Emerald Fennell only saw this film ending with both women dead. Victims of sexual assault and rape have called it out, saying it is particularly harmful. I've seen comments on how by having Cassie plan her death and get the police to save her, it creates this false sense that the police are in fact saviours. Most reports of sexual assault and rape don't get reported and very few get convictions. The title of this film was taken from a quote about the Standford rape case, in which the perpetrator was called a Promising Young Man. There were some comments about how it takes, in these cases, the victims to die for them to be taken seriously. I was planning on rewatching this film in prep for this review to decide on how I felt, however I'm going to stick with my initial thoughts and that is that I was sadly let down by the end of this film.
I would like to rewatch this film, now knowing all these things and see if I think this is still a good story. I did win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. I've also managed to find a copy of the script, which I would love to read as I have heard good things about the script. I think it goes without saying that I am very conflicted about how I feel. I don't think this was a bad film, but I do think the ending wasn't the right one.
What did you think about Promising Young Woman?
