Cassandra "Cassie" Thomas (Carey Mulligan) is smart and determined and was working her way through medical school when tragedy rocked her world. Her best friend Nina was raped by their classmate Al Monroe. The school and the legal system failed her. Nina took her own life and Cassie never recovered. Now, pushing 30, she lives at home with her parents in Ohio and works at a coffee shop to make ends meet.
Promising Young Woman is Cassie's revenge story. Her parents and friends (well, the coffee shop owner) are worried about her. She's out late a night, she has no friends or boyfriend. They're afraid to even think what she's doing. What she's doing is trying to stop what happened to Nina from happening to anyone else, one sleazy man at a time.
The film starts in a club. Three business men are at the bar, cursing up a storm, being misogynistic, complaining about a female co-worker when they notice Cassie completely drunk sitting by herself on a nearby couch. One of the men (the one who actually seems like a decent guy) offers to take her home. Like every other guy, he tries to take advantage of her inebriated state. She lets him get just far enough before revealing her sobriety. I thought from the preview that Cassie killed the men to teach them a lesson. Spoiler alert: she doesn't. She just hopes to scare them to the point they never do this again.
One day, while she is working in the coffee shop, a former classmate Ryan (Bo Burnham) enters. He is sweet and goofy and endearing. After tripping over his own words, he tells her she can spit in his coffee if she likes. He'd deserve it. Without hesitating, she does. He responds by asking her out. He also tells her that Al Monroe is getting married. Thus begins the conflict: she really likes Ryan, but she is on a mission.
The preview for the movie began with Cassie speaking with Dean Elizabeth Walker (Connie Britton). Cassie is there under the pretense of being interested in resuming her medical schooling. When asked about her previous departure, Cassie reminds her of what Al Monroe did at that school. Dean Walker dismisses Cassie by saying they get accusations like this all the time. The revenge she gets on Dean Walker, well, let's just say it's personal, and it's gets her point across.
Promising Young Woman was Written, Produced and Directed by Emerald Fennell. Other than a short film in 2018, this would be Fennell's directorial debut. She is nominated for 3 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. Carey Mulligan is nominated for Best Leading Actress. This is Mulligan's second Oscar nomination. She was previously nominated for her role in An Education in 2009.
I originally predicted 4 Stars for this revenge flick. I thought it might be akin to a Quentin Tarantino film, namely the Kill Bill Volumes. I thought it was going to be clever, but bloody, yet funny and dark, all at the same time. It was a lot of those things, but it wasn't bloody as I anticipated. Carey was fantastic in the leading role with her dry sense of humor and often subtle delivery mixed with a deep and intense need for revenge. There were several unexpected and unwanted twists and turns in the movie. It was often uncomfortable, painful, infuriating, but also smart, sweet, and fun at times. I am going to stick with my original prediction for Promising Young Woman and give it a solid 4 Stars. It would have been worth the money in a theatre, it's something I'd want to watch again, and it may have a chance of finding a home in my permanent collection. So, what movie will be on my mind next? We shall see.
