Promising Young Woman Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out IGN serves a global audience, so with Promising Young Woman opening in theaters Dec. 25, we are publishing our review from Kristy Puchko who watched the movie via digital screener. Read more on IGN's policy on movie reviews in light of COVID-19 here. IGN strongly encourages anyone considering going to a movie theater during the COVID-19 pandemic to check their local public health and safety guidelines before buying a ticket. [poilib element="accentDivider"] There's a rage that burns in the hearts of women wounded in a man's world. Again and again, we witness a battle of the sexes that puts our rights, bodies, and sanity in the crossfire. The he said/she said of it all tends to give him "the benefit of the doubt" or excuses sexual misconduct or violence as "boys will be boys," while she is victim-blamed for what she wore, where she was, and basically having a body that attracts men by its very existence. In Promising Young Woman, this battle is staged as a rape-revenge thriller, where an anti-heroine lights the match of this feminist rage, turning her body into a time-bomb that will burn down the bad men and the so-called "nice guys." The result is a film that is furious, subversive, darkly funny, and haunting. Actress turned writer/helmer Emerald Fennell makes a blistering directorial debut with Promising Young Woman. Carey Mulligan stars as Cassandra Thomas, who spends her days working at a "shitty coffee shop" and her nights on the prowl for men. Like Amy Dunne of Gone Girl, she is both a dream girl and nightmare. Before heading out for an evening, Cassie takes on different looks, the harried businesswoman too drunk to stand on her own, the naïve jailbait with darling pigtails, and the party girl with sloppily smeared lipstick. Each time, some white knight sweeps in to be a hero (in his own mind). He scoops her up, back to his place for "one more drink," maybe some cocaine, maybe an unsolicited preview of his pretentious yet-to-be-written great American novel. Then, once she's passed out or too intoxicated to consent, he'll creep in with a probing tongue and wandering fingers. That is until Cassie drops the act, stares him down clear-eyed and smirking, and hisses, "What are you doing." It's not a question, because they both know the answer. The predator realizes he is prey, and he is absolutely terrified in this unfamiliar terrain. Fennell anticipates rightly that the audience will derive a dark pleasure from these turned tables and this redirected terror, a deranged delight common in rape-revenge thrillers. The first act of Promising Young Woman is exactly what you might expect from its zingy trailer. Cassie sees the red flags of the men who approach her and snatches them up as the cape of a wrathful vigilante. She is powerful, smart, and wickedly entertaining with a brand of justice that includes staring down cat-callers until they're uncomfortable and making creeps think twice before dragging home a drunk girl. However, it's where the film goes next that makes Promising Young Woman a stunner. Methodically, Fennell's script peels back the layers of Cassie, revealing a traumatic backstory, a menacing mission for poetic justice, and a pathetic present. She is a med school dropout, who lives with her parents (a perfectly paired Jennifer Coolidge and Clancy Brown). She has no love life, no friends (save a concerned co-worker in Laverne Cox), and no ambition beyond filling her little black book with men she's terrorized. So even in victory, she is alone. Fennell teases early on how this path can only lead Cassie to pain. Yet this sharp filmmaker understands our desire to watch this play out. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/3ox84b8]   The film offers a f****d power fantasy born from patriarchal oppression. What if you could be a bogeyman to every bro who thinks banging the passed out chick is okay? What if you could strike fear in the hearts of everyone who argued, "She was asking for it?" What if you could force those who profit from silencing a victim to take a hard look at their own wickedness? Fennell tightly winds suspense from each of these setups, making for spectacularly clever and twisted sequences. However, our dark joy becomes spiked with unease as Cassie begins to employ the very methods of violation that she opposes. She's surrendering herself to this journey, and we can't help but watch in a mix of exhilaration and revulsion. Then enters Ryan, a gawky yet charming love interest, played by Bo Burnham. With a self-deprecating sense of humor and an honest appreciation for Paris Hilton's brief stint as a pop singer, Ryan offers a radiant reminder of what Cassie's future might be. Fennell impressively shifts tone from snarling to swooning in a tumble of fumbling flirtations, sweet silliness, and a family dinner that is perfectly cringe-worthy in its authentic awkwardness. Then, a heart-wrenching reveal pitches the film into a final act that is chaotic, controversial, chilling and exhilarating. A masterfully chosen soundtrack full of bangers brilliantly utilized keeps the beat rolling even as the mood shifts wildly. There's a side-eyed glee in Charli XCX's "Boys" playing over khaki-pantsed men dancing clumsily in a club. "Stars Are Blind" is redeemed in romance. Juice Newton's "Angel of the Morning" celebrates a bittersweet victory, while a haunting remix of Britney Spear's "Toxic" plays as a moody anthem of righteous wrath. Then, there's Mulligan, whose performance is a force of nature, ferocious and awe-inspiring. Cassie is a chameleon, transforming into a bevy of beauties who'd be perceived as easy targets by Not All Men. Mulligan steps into each with aplomb, playing drunk so well you can almost smell the booze on her ragged breath. Before our very eyes, she shapeshifts into this fearless avenger, who has a dangerous twinkle in her eye and lives only to toy with her predatory prey. Then, she turns into something more familiar, the snarky barista who offers bad attitude for free, but will make you pay for intimacy. All of these sides click into place to showcase not only Mulligan's incredible range as an actress but also how Cassie is truly a promising young woman who could have any life she chose. Which makes what she chooses all the more striking. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=igns-best-reviewed-movies-of-2020&captions=true"]

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