PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (2020): FILM REVIEW

Promising Young Woman (MA15+)

Written and directed by Emerald Fennell

Starring Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham and Alison Brie

Duration: 113 minutes

Promising Young Woman is the feature debut from writer directer Emerald Fennell, and stars Carey Mulligan as a young woman who goes out partying pretending to be viciously drunk to tempt young men into taking her home. Once things begin to go too far, she looses the facade and gives the young men the shock of their lifetime. When she meets Ryan, someone from her past at medical school played by Bo Burnham, she is forced to reconsider her life as a borderline vigilante and confront the trauma that follows her around. 

I had heard a lot of buzz surrounding this film before I saw it in theatres back in January, but I had managed to avoid any plot spoilers beyond what's in my introduction. This is honestly the best way to see this film - without any expectations - because I was really knocked out by it. In fact, I was a little speechless about it on the car ride home, which is something that almost never happens for me. And so I won't be going into any further plot details in this review, because I want to preserve that experience for anyone that might not have seen it yet.

The film is very well put together, though. One thing in particular that I really noticed was the fantastic editing. This thing really moves, even as it indulges in some of the more traditional genre elements of romantic comedies. The performances are solid across the board, but Carey Mulligan stands head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. She gives such a fearless performance that went to places that I could never expected from her, and was constantly surprised by her ability to shift between vulnerability, uncomfortable artifice, and genuine rage. Bo Burnham and Alison Brie also give great performances, but through no fault of their own they just get left behind by Mulligan's outstanding work. 

There is no denying that Promising Young Woman is a really powerful piece of work. Like I said before, it really left an impression on me, but the more I thought about it and the more I tried to figure out exactly why it had left such an impression on me, the more I'm convinced that the film doesn't actually have much to say. It certainly has a great final scene that manages to twist the conventional revenge narrative right after shocking the audience with a major final act subversion, but in terms of exactly what its message is when entering the conversation surrounding sexual abuse, gender politics, masculinity and the #metoo movement other than presenting ideas and themes that we are at this point well acquainted with in a particularly unflinching, honest and unapologetic way. To be clear, this isn't necessarily a bad thing; not every film has to have the most nuanced and inquisitive eye for its subject matter, it is enough sometimes to simply depict without dissecting. But I really felt while I was watching Promising Young Woman that it was going to go somewhere really bold and exciting, and while I was watching it I got glimpses of that and felt like it was going there, but the more I think about it afterwards and the more I consider the film itself in a vacuum, separated from the expectations and assumptions I perhaps made once I realised where it was going, the more I think that it leans more towards depiction over dissection. Again, this isn't necessarily a criticism as much as simply a critique, and I could well have missed something that would change my mind about this. 

Promising Young Woman is a really powerful film that depicts some pretty horrific real-world material in an incredibly brutal, honest and unapologetic fashion, but manages to do so while maintaining a real sense of entertainment and fun (a sentence that seems almost ridiculous as I'm writing it). The romantic comedy elements of the film work well, but it is when the film clashes its romantic comedy side into its satirical crime thriller-esque side that the film really starts to become something worth making note of. Carey Mulligan steals the show, and you should definitely go and see this film with your partner - if they're cool, they will want to talk about the film afterwards. 

What did you think of Promising Young Woman? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the film, so feel free to either drop a comment below or find me on Instagram - @bluerose.filmreview - to chat about this film and many others. 

See you next time, legends!