Promising Young Woman

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Promising Young Woman follows Cassie, a woman whose close friend was preyed upon in their college days and due to the outcome of that event has turned vigilante against men who prey on vulnerable women. Cassie spends her nights confronting men who would otherwise seek to take advantage of her in unconventional ways. But when those who wronged her friend come back into her life, Cassie stops at nothing to see justice done. I was blown away by just how unique of a concept it was to watch Cassie in this vigilante role and coming to understand how it worked. Initially you wonder if she's a killer but as the film peels back layers of the sort of person Cassie is, you begin to understand she has a few basic underlying values that always make her crusade against these predators just. She never crosses a line, instead looking for crime and intent before acting out her vengeance upon her chosen target. The film made me uncomfortable initially because of what I first thought was Cassie's very dark targetting process but I came to realise that wasn't it. The truth is this is a film that holds up a lot of the behaviours we might see in our day to day lives as normal and condemns them; it's a terrible time watching these men prey on Cassie over and over again. Worse is seeing the small talk or casual behaviours that then lead to the truly repugnant behaviours; as a male viewer I certainly got some education out of it and think it's a worthy message for any viewer. As the film progresses into the final act and we see Cassie's vigilante lifestyle intertwine with her personal vendetta the thriller element all pulls together perfectly. I could not imagine a better plot twist than what happens in those final fifteen minutes, nor could I describe anything more satisfying, yet bittersweet than the fallout from this twist. The camerawork is very thoroughly mapped out, each scene framed to perfection with a number of significant shots that highlight the protagonist as not just the focus but a true thematic symbol of the feature. The soundtrack for the film boasts a distinctly fierce group of tracks that highlight the fight and anger behind the narrative, this film feels so fresh because it blends covers and indie artists together to create a powerful collection of music.

 

Clancy Brown, who played Stanley, is an extremely likeable father figure in this feature; his constant ability to empathise with his on-screen daughter makes him a figure truly good in an otherwise tragic story. Laverne Cox, who played Gail, is a more minor figure in the film but a nice pillar of support to Mulligan's Cassie; Cox delivers lines in a fun,teasing manner while developing a very warm friendship with her co-star. Bo Burnham, who played Ryan, might well have found the best performance of his career thus far; Burnham's character is extremely funny and easy to like but he has an instance in the film that will really challenge your perception of him that I think is played brilliantly. Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who played Neil, is one of the creeps who takes intoxicated Cassie home and it is one of the standout scenes in the film; Mintz-Plasse has such a wild and awkward energy that it's really fun to see him act out a scenario with a role like Cassie in it. Alison Brie, who played Madison, has this haughty, unbalanced personality in her role that marks her as a young mother to be wary of; Brie's arrogant character coming apart at the seams due to over-drinking and being manipulated by Cassie is a nice descent to watch play out. Connie Britton, who played Dean Walker, is a very formal character who has a descent into desperation much like Brie's role; watching Britton have this almost false sense of remorse turn into serious personal despair made for an extremely thrilling scene to watch. Max Greenfield and Chris Lowell, who played Joe and Al Monroe respectively, are the perfect antagonists for the final act of this film; this pair portray very smug and entitled men who panic over their actions but are never willing to accept the consequences for them.

However, the best performance came from Carey Mulligan, who played Cassie. As a leading character I found myself infinitely intrigued by Mulligan's Cassie. When first we meet her you get to see how exceptionally she transitions from an 'intoxicated' state to this cold, ruthless exterior. In fact throughout the film Cassie comes across as hardened, she has walls up all the time and the only thing behind those walls is cement and broken glass in my opinion. Mulligan chooses to play the grief her role feels over the incidents that happened to her friend as this merciless rage, her pain can only ever really be satisfied by obtaining some type of justice for the past. I found it really interesting to watch her become this chameleon in different scenes; hiding behind different personas to punish others before resuming her own guise. The irony was seeing Cassie turn back to this stoic, blank slate after all the vigilante moments; she seemed hollow in her own life. Watching her gain happiness in the film, and even become content with said happiness is a wonderful sight to see and seeing that rage flare back when it is yanked out from under her is a tragic full circle. Carey Mulligan struggles to find a role she doesn't absolutely crush it in and Cassie is one of my favourites yet.

Promising Young Woman encounters most of its issues in the second act of the film, in which is tones down the vigilante aspect and tries to examine more of Cassie's personal life. Watching the film trying to stretch out scenes in which Cassie is going around seeking retribution all the while awkwardly exploring her rather wholesome boyfriend/dating storyline is an awkwardly set pace to say the least. Because we watch Cassie shrink back so much from the identity we have come to associate her with throughout the film, the thriller angle seriously loses its edge and it takes a very strong tilt into the final act to pick things back up again. I was also disappointed that the editing really showed up with a very clever display of timing in the first twenty minutes of the film but then moved back into more of a standard format style for the rest of the feature.

Adam Brody, who played Jerry, wasn't a strong start to the examples of predatory men in this film; Brody almost restrains himself before dialling things way over the top for the reveal of his character's true intentions. Sam Richardson, who played Paul, really dials up the fact his character is a jerk to the point you never really buy into his role being genuine; Richardson struggles not to leap to the comedy of the scene and doesn't seem to understand how to ground his character. Jennifer Coolidge, who played Susan, is very heavily miscast as the uptight mother figure; her constant deadpan worrying for her on-screen daughter is never very convincing nor compelling. Molly Shannon, who played Mrs Fisher, gives out very hollow sounding advice in her big scene of the film; it felt like the bridge between Shannon and Mulligan needed to be a lot closer in their scene and Shannon just didn't know how to navigate to that. Alfred Molina, who played Jordan, might be one of the most over the top performances in the film; watching Molina scrabble about in a weak effort to show a man recovering from a psychotic episode made for a strange performance.

More than just a satisfying thriller, this is a loud and proud discussion around rape culture and toxic masculinity that deserves to be heard. I would give Promising Young Woman an 8/10.