Not since Fatal Attraction has a movie so intimidated men into reconsidering the casual ‘pick up.’ Promising Young Woman opens with your typical ‘guys at the bar’ scene noticing a hot babe, Cassie (Carey Mulligan). She appears ripe, drunk, and ready for the taking. One guy makes his move, ostensibly as her rescuer. He offers to take her home since she’s obviously too hammered to even call for a Lyft.
On the ride home, he decides this is too good to pass up. So he invites her to his apartment for ’just a drink.’ He plops her on his bed and starts kissing her, thinking this will be an easy score. He starts undressing her when she suddenly sits up, stares at him like a principal would a naughty 3rd grader, and announces in a stern, fully sober voice, “What are you doing?” It’s a priceless moment that strikes fear, shame, and regret into the guy. Obscenities fly, doors slam and she leaves.
At home, Cassie opens her little book and adds another line to a very long list of guys she’s entrapped the same way. It really destroys our faith in good guys. Are there any left?
As the story unfolds, we get hints that Cassie isn’t just doing this as a hobby. It’s payback for a wrong she’s eager to correct. Working as a coffee shop barista, we learn that she was a ‘promising young woman’ who dropped out of med school some time ago. The reason? Her best friend Nina was a victim of sexual abuse by a system that favors criminals over accusers. Cassie plans to correct this injustice by turning a mirror on society’s blind eye, one predator at a time.
The fly in the ointment occurs when she reconnects with an old med-school classmate, Ryan (Bo Burnham). A real boy scout, he takes things slow and easy as they start dating and we hope her mission to upright the system finally ends. But things start to unravel when Ryan sees her dressed up like a hooker in the arms of her next ‘victim.’
Even while courting Ryan as a serious contender for her boyfriend, Cassie continues on her quest. An eye-opening confrontation with her med school dean reveals just how flawed and one-sided the system leans to protect sexual abusers. All of which underscores the film’s central message: Cassie is on a self-destructive journey, a catharsis that remains just out of reach. We get the feeling that things will not end well for her.
Mulligan plays Cassie with skill, not letting the character run away from her. Many scenes might have devolved into camp or blatant satire. Mulligan and director Emerald Fennell give us a nuanced performance that reveals Cassie’s complex character. Sometimes segueing into self-doubt and confusion, Cassie is not the in-control girl she thinks she is. And that’s what connects us to her.
The only problem I had with the film was that Cassie never runs into any of her long list of abusers when she’s dating Ryan. The ending also caught me by surprise. But while I yearned for something different, it worked well, tying up all the loose ends.
Promising Young Woman delivers what it promises: a woman severely traumatized to the point of chaotic behavior in a film that balances dark humor with a powerful social message.
Promising Young Woman will be available on Blu-ray, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. All photos courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
