Worth: $18.50
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Cast:
Carey Mulligan, Adam Brody, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Bo Burnham
Intro:
"...an armchair-clutcher of the highest calibre...a potent mixture of the instinct and the intellect, applying the screws to the watcher and the society that they inhabit while having all the receipts at hand to back it up."
Rape and revenge films. Depending on who you ask, it’s one of the most loathsome genres in the entire art form, or it’s one of the main reasons why exploitation cinema is so vital to the culture’s DNA. In either case, its importance can easily be understated, and like a lot of exploitation sub-genres, its influence lingers into the present-day.
The directorial debut of author and screenwriter Emerald Fennell falls neatly into that category, but in the process of adapting the formula, she expands it into one of the most exciting films of the year.
Carey Mulligan owns every single second that she’s on-screen, and even in the rare moments without her, the actress’s presence maintains a stranglehold on everything within the frame.
Introduced as something of a black widow seductress, her poise, charisma, and sheer command of the conversation make for a central performance that strengthens what is already a galvanising look at the power dynamics between the sexes.
Outside of his affable presence (and a quite unexpected use of his singing ability), the casting of Bo Burnham feels like a kindred spirit moment for the production as, much like his most famous works (Eighth Grade, Country Song), this film takes a sharpened scalpel to the idea of pandering to an audience. It examines the many societal systems (social, academic, legal) that comprise the larger umbrella of ‘rape culture’ and makes the characters confront the reality they contribute to. It takes aim at the ‘nice guys’ and ‘good girls’ whose complicity make this such a prevailing issue, and what’s more, it doesn’t dumb down any of it for popular consumption. The film doesn’t want to flaunt wokeness for its own sake; it wants to confront the audience with the same truths that the characters must face.
Where Promising Young Woman truly earns its stripes, though, is in how it handles the material as part of the overall tone. It isn’t an entirely doom-and-gloom affair, and it side-steps a common pitfall in revenge cinema by not letting that thirst be the entirety of the lead’s personality. Along with the juicier moments of simmering righteousness, there are scenes of contemplation and even starry-eyed love, both of which would feel jarring next to the whole if they weren’t pulled off with uncanny efficacy. A natural sweetener to make the bitter reality easier to swallow.
Anchored by a killer lead performance, some ingenious soundtrack choices, and an approach to feminism that doesn’t succumb to ‘good for the gander’ hypocrisy (a shocking rarity nowadays), Promising Young Woman is an armchair-clutcher of the highest calibre. It’s a potent mixture of the instinct and the intellect, applying the screws to the watcher and the society that they inhabit while having all the receipts at hand to back it up. This is what happens when the fedora meets the furnace.
Absolutely stunning film!