Movie Review - Promising Young Woman

Films like Bombshell (2019) and The Assistant (2020) are the recent prima facie stories about the Me Too movement in this country. These films have been meant to explore and expose the institutional and often corporate culture that allows men to sexually harass or even sexually assault women with impunity. These films have been done more as prestige dramas for the most part, but it was inevitable that someone would come along and want to use genre to explore or expose this kind of harassment or assault against women. Fortunately, there is already a genre in and of itself that has been doing this kind of exploring and exposing for decades now. It's called the "Rape and Revenge" genre. There are already hundreds of films that fit in this genre, films that go all the way back to the 1960's. This one could be another to add to that list.

What's disconcerting is that the rape-revenge aspect doesn't become clear until later. Yet, a lot of films in this genre do that. Some are obvious and clear like I Spit on Your Grave (1978) and The Nightingale (2019), and the reason those films are obvious and clear is because the rape itself is depicted in those films. We witness the rapes occur on screen and often in real time. Some films choose not to depict the rape, which is what this film, written and directed by Emerald Fennell, in her feature debut, also decides. Like The Good Liar (2019), the motivation of the main character is hidden and isn't really revealed until the end. In that 2019 film, the rape-revenge aspect is a spoiler because it's a turn at the very end. The rape-revenge aspect isn't a spoiler here, but there is some remove from it.

Carey Mulligan (The Great Gatsby and An Education) stars as Cassandra Thomas aka Cassie, a former medical student at Forrest University. She dropped out of college and after some years is now working at a coffee shop. She's 30 and doesn't have her own place. She instead lives with her parents. Her parents are clearly accommodating because they know that she suffered a trauma some years ago with which she hasn't really dealt. However, much like Batman or Dexter Morgan, she has become a vigilante as a result of her trauma.

She doesn't go out at night and beat people up like Batman or rather Harley Quinn. She doesn't kill people like Dexter (at least I don't think), but she does go after men who have done bad things, specifically bad things to her. However, it could be argued that those bad things are the result of entrapment where Cassie is herself the honey trap. Her targets are men in bars and nightclubs who would commit date rape or simply have sex with intoxicated women when those women cannot consent. One would probably assume that the reason she's doing this is because she was violated in this way herself. However, that's not the case, which is why there is some remove in this story. She's acting on behalf of someone else, which differentiates this from those other rape-revenge films that are more first-person in the vigilantism. Yet, Death Wish (1974) with Charles Bronson and Eye for an Eye (1996) with Sally Field were films that had the vigilantism on behalf of someone else. Except, in those examples, it was a family member, specifically a parent becoming the vigilante. This film is even more removed than that.

Bo Burnham (Rough Night and The Big Sick) co-stars as Ryan Cooper, a pediatric surgeon who attended the same college as Cassie. He inexplicably pursues a relationship with her even after she does something rather disgusting during his initial encounter with her. She does other things that are obvious red flags for him. Yet, he still continues to pursue a relationship with her. The film really wants to invest in this relationship. Ryan is supposed to be such a contrast to the men that Cassie secretly entraps at night. Ryan is supposed to be a good guy, a true nice guy, smart and charming, sweet and funny. If that's the case, it's not clear why he's still single and why he would almost be desperate to date Cassie.

The film has as its central conflict the decision of Cassie having to choose to pursue this vigilante mission or try to pursue a normal life where she studies to be a doctor and tries to fall in love with a good guy. The decision seems obvious as her vigilantism goes beyond the bounds, especially for someone removed from the crime. It's one thing to go after the perpetrators of the crime, but she expands the circle and assigns blame to anyone at the school at the time that either didn't believe the crime occurred or didn't believe the victim.

Unfortunately, this is the problem with sexual assault and rape cases. It's usually he said-she said where sometimes it's a flip of the coin of who people believe. Of course, men are usually given the benefit of the doubt and women are labeled as whores. For Cassie to seek revenge against people who just happen to fall on the opposing side doesn't make sense. She might be vindicated by the end or what she did might seem righteous during one pivotal moment, involving a character played by Alison Brie (GLOW and Community), where a key piece of evidence comes to light. Yet, prior to that, her vengeance seems way over-the-top and unfair. She even blames the opposing lawyer, played by Alfred Molina (Love Is Strange and An Education). Cassie's encounter with him felt ridiculous, especially since we don't get further context about the rape case, what evidence was or wasn't there or how extensive it was.

The ending to this film felt wholly unsatisfactory. We're supposed to be impressed by Cassie's plan to enact revenge on the actual perpetrator of the crime. She plans to get revenge on the actual rapist, a man named Al Monroe, played by Chris Lowell (GLOW and Veronica Mars). Her revenge comes with a shocking event, which we're meant to believe she planned. Yet, her plan doesn't feel clever. It feels contrived and contingent on a lot of variables. It also suggests that in order for her to get revenge it has to come with her own demise, which doesn't jive with a lot of rape-revenge films, especially those focusing on the rape survivors. Even a film about someone removed like Hard Candy (2006) doesn't end with that message.

I suppose the fact that Fennell ended with that message says something. That something might be about how people feel regarding men who commit these kinds of crimes and don't get punished for it. Even in the wake of the Me Too movement, we've seen certain men skate by. For example, Justice Brett Kavanaugh was able to become a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court despite a sexual assault survivor testifying that he was the guilty party. I'm sure there are still tons of men accused of sexual assault who get away with their alleged crimes and then go on to prosper as a result. This film could be a clarion call to do something about that injustice.

Rated R for strong violence, including sexual assault, language, sexual material and drug use.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 53 mins.

In theaters.