Promising Young Woman

A solid crime thriller starring the brilliant and good-looking Carey Mulligan, who at 36 looks great. The protagonist is traumatized by a tragic event from the past and seeks revenge on all men who abuse women under the influence of alcohol. The concept is great and it's a bit of a shame that the film avoids violence, as in a few scenes it clearly called for it, but it seems to be aimed at academic awards, so maybe that's why. The film flows at a good pace, can be funny in certain scenes, occasionally creates a decent psycho atmosphere, and the ending is definitely unexpected, although not entirely satisfying. A decent film that captivates more with its story, actors, and atmosphere, and if it didn't shy away from brutality, it would be even better. Story****, Action>No, Humor***, Violence>No, Entertainment****, Music***, Visual****, Atmosphere****, Tension***. 7.5/10. (01/09/2021)

One of the few #metoo films with a heroine who’s an interesting and complex character, whose actions can be viewed quite critically, but are still somehow understandable. Add to that Carey Mulligan’s impressive performance and you get something really fun to watch, even if some situations stink of screenwriting meddling. Another thing worth mentioning is the soundtrack and one of the most satisfactory endings in a long time. (01/05/2021)

A rough patch on a rough bag. If it weren't for the (complete) ending, I would probably be a little happier, but even so, Promising Young Woman surprised me a lot with how thoughtfully, stylishly and often mischievously amusingly Emerald Fennell managed to grasp a topic with which she could just as well have had struggles. Carey Mulligan is perfect (one wouldn't even know she's the same actress as in The Dig) and I was pleased with Alison Brie in her small role. (06/04/2021)

It would be tempting to say that it's an uncritical critical success primarily because of the subject matter and the gender behind the script and direction, but that would be unfair to the author. The qualities in this case are due to the way the current #MeToo issue is conceived "with balls" and free of obscene declamations. I don't share the objections to the author's black-and-white "men are pigs" vision when it's the women (Madison, the dean, the ambivalent anti-heroine Cassie herself) who contribute to the overall effect/impact of "rape culture" here, after all, that's what the two acts of the revenge plan are all about. What's more, even if it did, it rides such a surgically precise black-humor wave about an achingly serious subject with a clever, deliberately overblown 80s pop neon styling that it's impossible not to fall for. Carey, then, is as engrossing as she is disturbing with her complex "PTSD performance" in the whirlwind of a self-destructive spiral of vendetta, and so perhaps only the line with Ryan grates a little too much, because it's too obvious from the start why she's there and where she's going with it. The weakest link is of course the hotly debated ending. Not the ending itself – that one is perfect –, but rather the epilogue. On the face of it, it's delivered in a way that brings satisfaction, but the further away from the screening, the more obvious it becomes that it's redundant and takes the whole thing a bit too far. It could and should have ended already in a surgery or a non-literal postal package. (02/14/2021)

Razor-sharp one moment, borderline cringe the next, yet sufficiently provocative and compelling at the same time. The story is obviously mining the current social discourse, but I don't necessarily consider that anything bad. The reason is that it's terribly important whether the filmmakers are capable of working with the story in such a way as to make a good film. In this case, fortunately, they were. It is, of course, feminist all the way, and intellectually bare macho individuals will be disgusted by the overly one-sided female perspective that doesn't differentiate men into good and bad and only classifies their level of character reprehensibility. The personal scorecard in the form of an old-school written diary is one of the biggest cringe moments; on the other hand, it perfectly illustrates the stubbornness and the main character's own hangups. I'm far from suggesting that the cynical recording of all the results could have the slightest cathartic effect on the central character's psyche, yet I can't identify her motivation here in any greater detail. And I actually enjoy thinking about it that way, because Cassie is certainly not portrayed as a black and white character here. Thus, Promising Young Woman definitely has something to offer in the end, as she manages to use all the craziness surrounding the #metoo movement to build seemingly absurd yet compelling themes. [75%] (04/10/2021)