Revenge is a dish best served by Carey Mulligan when she emerges from a tragedy with an eye on an entire gender. In Promising Young Woman, Mulligan is Cassandra, and the med school dropout is introduced as she plays wasted at a club. Before the night is through, she will teach those “nice guys” out there a thing or two—who still have unreasonable sex-pectations even after #MeToo has dominated the public consciousness.
The key to Promising Young Woman is not actually something that occurred recently. But it is something that produced a phrase that was awfully all-too-familiar in the last several decades. “What would you have me do, ruin a young man’s life?” Who said it, when, and in what context does not matter per se for this write-up. But what is needed to know is it provided the spark that is a kerosine kettle that is Cassandra.
Mulligan is a force of nature. The actress has always delivered performances that are as compelling as humanly possible, but there is something about what she does with Cassandra that is seismic. There is no question the Academy will call her name among Best Actress nominees, but accolades are merely the tip of the awesome iceberg that is Mulligan’s turn in this film.
She gives a face to the countless souls who suffer or who have suffered from sexual assaults, inappropriate behavior, and rape. In Promising Young Woman, what occurred was years prior, but its effects not only linger but dominate her existence. Mulligan defines fierceness in writer-director Emerald Fennell’s film in such a way that to call his film a revenge flick may be accurate, but through the miracle of Mulligan, it is so much more than that.
When she meets Bo Burnham (the writer-director who gave us Eighth Grade), accomplishing some amazing acting duties here, there is the ever-so-slight chance her view on men may soften. He’s a former med school acquaintance who has taken a liking to her, and she, him. Currently, he’s a pediatric surgeon. Between encouraging her, through revealing he thought the world of Cassandra from their days at medical school and taking it ever-so-slow with their budding relationship, Burnham’s Ryan appears to be just the guy to help the Promising Young Woman.
It is possible that she could start to think about the future without being chained to the past and the horrors of losing a friend who committed suicide over sexual assault? With Ryan’s help, affection, there appears to be a light behind Cassandra’s eyes that had previously only been filled with darkness.
Enter Allison Brie’s Madison. She too is a med school veteran and Madison has put her professional life on hold to be a stay-at-home mom. When she and Cassandra reconnect, the latter uses it as an opportunity to continue her revenge-laden life and even—seemingly for the first time—becomes proactive in her vengeance. It feels good to her and in the hands of Mulligan, the dynamic that is being happy in a relationship while still trying to avenge her best friend gets complicated, to say the least. It’s layered and wanders into some seriously deep-seated psychological complexity. All of this is handled by Mulligan with a palpable sense that clearly considered how real-life survivors would react to such a situation—all while steadfastly keeping it within the framework that this story exists.
As such, it is a wild cinematic experience that is insanely entertaining, overtly riveting and a triumph on every single element it tackles. Whether it is Fennell’s choice of music and where to use it (there is a priceless scene in a pharmacy where Ryan and Cassandra enjoy a Paris Hilton song a little too much), or how he handles and rolls out his titanic twists and turns that are about as shocking and unexpected as those narrative choices can be, the storyteller has crafted a slice of cinema that audiences will have a visceral reaction to for decades.
This is resolutely Mulligan’s movie from beginning to end (especially the masterful conclusion). But this also could be seen as an ensemble piece. Promising Young Woman embodies that age-old saying about small parts and small actors. Everyone shows up and delivers performances that knock us out.
Outside of Mulligan, Burnham has the most challenging of roles in that Ryan straddles the line between the present and the past. It is that history that has ruled Cassandra’s life and on one hand, he could be the perfect person to help her move beyond it. At the same time, his mere connection to her life in medical school could result in a slew of unforeseen emotional and psychological responses from volatile stimuli. The multifaceted artist handles his part with a sensitivity that is powerful and profound.
Brie is every bit a woman who could throw her gender under the bus under the guise of “boys will be boys.” The way the actress handles the reconnection with Cassandra and the exponential fallout that occurs from it is truly mesmerizing.
Jennifer Coolidge and Clancy Brown are every bit the parents of a child who fits the movie’s moniker. They’re supportive, but at the same time, both are immensely concerned that their daughter may never be able to move past this trauma and find even the slightest bit of happiness. Laverne Cox is outstanding as her coffee house boss/confidant, Gail.
Fennell tapped a handful of well-known actors to exemplify the male “good guys” who still manage to try to “innocently” take advantage of Cassandra while she is on her educate the masses tour of local bars and clubs. Leading the pack is Adam Brody of The OC fame as Jerry, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin’ in Superbad) as Neil, and Sam Richardson (Veep, We’re the Millers) as Paul. They each know their parts and play them to a “T.” By “know their parts,” it is not necessarily meaning the guys that they portray, more so their spokes in this wicked wheel.
To witness each, teased in the Promising Young Woman trailer, react when this utterly fried female suddenly sobers up and firmly states things like, “I said I want to go home!” is a thespian lesson in reactionary scene sharing. That is why one gets actors of a certain standing for roles that some may perceive as tiny. As important as it is for Mulligan’s character to go on this mission, the satisfaction as an audience member to her reveal—for lack of a better descriptor—in front of these men is one of many corner of the mouth heading north moments that permeate this film.
There is one man, Al Monroe (Chris Lowell), who couldn’t be more in the crosshairs of Cassandra’s retribution if he tried. In typical fashion, whereas this is something that has defined our protagonist’s life, Lowell embodies an individual who has probably given it little thought beyond the night it happened. In a testament to Fennell’s storytelling gift, whether Cass will ever get close to him or how that meeting will go is always in question. One has to love a story that keeps you guessing the way that Promising Young Woman does throughout. It is refreshing to have the direction of the narrative not only be continually a mystery, but what does occur to be so shocking, intense, and surprisingly emotive and cathartic.
Whether in Shame, Drive, or The Great Gatsby, every single time Mulligan appears in a film, she hits a reset button. Many an actor and actress get by on playing versions of themselves or the character that put them on the map. Not naming names, but you know who they are, and Mulligan is not necessarily a chameleon in the vein of Daniel day Lewis, but she does truly get lost in every part she tackles. That has never been truer than what she gifts the world with Cassandra.
It may seem strange to use a word like “gift” with a film such as Promising Young Woman. But that is exactly what Fennell has delivered to the world.
Fitting then, that it opens on Christmas Day.
Grade: A+