Promising Young Woman is a 2020 dark comedy thriller written, produced, and directed by Emerald Fennell in her feature directorial debut. Carey Mulligan stars as a woman who seeks to avenge her best friend, who was a victim of rape. Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, and Connie Britton co-star.

Promising Young Woman had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2020, and hit theaters on December 25th, 2020, from Focus Features. The film recently earned five nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards on April 25th, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Mulligan.

THE GOOD

I realize I’m late to the party, but Promising Young Woman has been on my list for quite some time. I was intrigued by the trailer when it first dropped, and the buzz after release was overwhelmingly positive. Needless to say, my expectations were very high.

Not only were my expectations met, they were exceeded. This is just a great film from start to finish, complete with a relevant and well told story, top-tier acting, and the perfect soundtrack. I was pulled in right away and always felt like the story kept me guessing which I really liked. I mean, I could piece certain things together in terms of the who, what, where, when, why etc, but you never knew exactly where it would all lead. My favorite part of the film was the fact that once the dominos began to fall towards the end, you started to envision potential outcomes and imagining which one you would be most satisfied with, but you never felt confident how things would end. And speaking of the ending, it was absolutely perfect.

The fact that this is the directorial debut for Emerald Fennell is crazy to me. Instead of making a run of the mill revenge thriller, which she absolutely had the tools at her disposal to make, she instead crafted something so seamlessly rooted in reality, it’s almost terrifying to accept. She envisioned a story about how an ordinary woman might get revenge in the real world, and she made it a reality. She wanted to force us as a society to confront the darker side of human behavior, and I’ll admit she hit the nail of the head. I do also think that it can go both ways, but spot on regardless. And she was 7-months pregnant during filming!

The cast is just a buffet of talent, from the uber-talented Carey Mulligan who steals the show and absolutely deserves all of the recognition in the world, to a great supporting role played by Bo Burnham helping to solidify the character complexities within the storyline. Alison Brie was great as well and played a pivotal role. The film also includes an extremely recognizable supporting roles from actors like Adam Brody, Max Greenfield, Christopher “McLovin” Mintz-Plasse, Sam Richardson, Molly Shannon, Connie Britton, and even a brief appearance by the queen bee herself, Emerald Fennell. Laverne Cox, who I was not at all familiar with prior to this movie, was great as the boss and good friend of Mulligan’s character.

THE BAD

I honestly don’t have any real issues with the film, I mean the pacing was great and I was never bored. As far as a directorial debut, you won’t do much better.

THE VERDICT

Perfectly written and exceptionally acted, Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman is a cautionary tale you won’t soon forget. This is a story that is as entertaining as it is relevant, and a film that I can very easily highly recommend because well, the hype is real.

Although it did receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, which is well-deserved, it will likely fall short in that category because of the competition. I do however, feel like Emerald Fennell or Carey Mulligan have a real chance at taking home Best Director or Best Actress. But either way, do yourself a favor and check this out sooner than later if you haven’t already. Oh, and next time you go out, you might rethink hitting on that super drunk girl (or guy).