Promising Young Woman Review: A Dark and Irreverent Tale of Society and Revenge

Release date: December 25, 2020
Running time: 113 minutes
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Laverne Cox
Directed by: ​Emerald Fennell

From ground-breaking director Emerald Fennell comes a delicious new take on revenge. Everyone said Cassie (Carey Mulligan) was a promising young woman . . . until a mysterious event abruptly derailed her future. But nothing in Cassie's life is what it appears to be: she's wickedly smart, tantalizingly cunning, and she's living a secret double life by night. Now, an unexpected encounter is about to give Cassie a chance to right the wrongs of the past in this thrilling and wildly entertaining story.

As you could quickly tell from the trailer, Promising Young Woman has a ton of style.  The film has this bright, unapologetic feeling throughout, from the ostentatious colors on the outfits, to bright splashes of colors on scenes, to the fantastic music; everything about this movie screams irreverence  The film highlights everything rebellious, from the main character who forges her own path in a world dominated by indifference and excuse, to the soundtrack featuring plenty of emo and punk songs and classical riffs on pop songs.  And the film has some really amazing, blunt writing.  It seems like almost everyone says what they feel in this movie and some of it is not sugar coated.

And delivering these amazing lines, and the main draw of the film, is Carey Mulligan and her transformative performance.  She fully embraces the character of Cassie and has to go to some dark and awkward places to really make this character come alive.  And she is joined by some amazing, underutilized actors.  Adam Brody, Clancy Brown, Sam Richardson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Max Greenfield, all make wonderful cameos and their sometimes abrasive characters make this film come to life.

And Promising Young Woman pulls no punches in this revenge film.  It explores the culture of excuse and rationalization for a situation that should never happen.  And it also explores our own changing society, by highlighting events that took place "in a different time" and analyzing them through the lens of today.  And overall, the film has some dark, but important lessons for people.  It shows that sometimes the sins of the past and past indiscretions are never truly forgotten, just ignored.  And sometimes it takes a painful process to bring those to light.  

Promising Young Woman tells a dark tale with an amazingly bright style, sharp unapologetic writing, and painful lessons that will stay with you well after the credits roll.  

Watch it.

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Promising Young Woman is in theaters on Friday, December 25.

For showtimes, click here.

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