In the feature directorial debut of Emerald Fennell (a major cinematic threat with acting, producing, screenwriting, and now directing credits on projects like KILLING EVE, THE CROWN, and THE DANISH GIRL) we follow Cassie Thomas (Carey Mulligan, DRIVE, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS), a woman pushing thirty, working in a coffee shop, and living with her parents after leaving medical school. Cassie's only pastime seems to be pretending to be drunk, letting men, all "nice guys!", take her home, then verbally nailing them when they try and take advantage of her, leaving them crumpled up in shame and embarrassment.
Cassie is enacting retribution for the rape of her now deceased best friend Nina, who was blacked out drunk, by a frat boy. Now she spends her time listing out all the CIS male asshole losers she emasculates. Then, she runs into an old schoolmate, Ryan Cooper (EIGHTH GRADE, THE BIG SICK), a self effacing, funny guy with a clear streak of good in him. Cassie juggles her vengeful hobby, and a burgeoning romance with Ryan, until the two wind up colliding in more ways than one. The film becomes even more heartbreaking, and terrifying, in the moments where Cassie reconnects with the women who knew what had happened, and blew it off, with the usual bullshit "We were kids" and "You were drunk too". When Cassie finds out that her rapist from college, a douche named Al (Chris Lowell, GLOW, VERONICA MARS) is getting married, and that Ryan knows where the bachelor party is, things start getting even more complicated and intense.
With great supporting turns from Allison Brie (GLOW, THE RENTAL), Clancy Brown (BAD BOYS, BLUE STEEL, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and so many others), Jennifer Coolidge (BEST IN SHOW, A MIGHTY WIND), Laverne Cox (ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, CHARLIE'S ANGELS) and Connie Britton (BEATRIZ AT DINNER, BOMBSHELL), PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN is not lacking in the performance department at all. Nor is it lacking in the writing department, with a cracking script, also written by Fennell, that turns the thumbscrews just enough, and deflty walks the line of satire and horror that so many trip and fall from. Her time working on KILLING EVE shows through tonally here, clearly.
I've probably already said too much about PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, so I'll end with "Just hurry up and see this movie, it's really really good". I'll be doing the pee pee dance until Fennell's next film, now. I also need to pick up her novel (yup she is also a novelist), a horror joint from 2015 titled MONSTERS, pronto. Also, time to hunt down her short film CAREFUL HOW YOU GO.
- 8.5/10
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