REVIEW: Promising Young Woman Starts Off Promising, But Doesn’t End in the Same Fashion
Cassie (Carey Mulligan) was considered by everyone a promising young woman. Studying to be a doctor, Cassie has everything she needs to create an extremely bright future for herself, until one night her whole life changes. Now, the once promising young woman is about to turn 30, is still living with her parents, and has given up her career as a doctor. To her parents, she has no drive, but, unbeknownst to them, Cassie has one drive. That drive is to get revenge on those who have wronged her in the past.
Directed and written by Killing Eve showrunner, Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman has all the pieces to be a great revenge story but the ending is a let down. I don’t want to spoil anyone, but the film does such a nice job building Cassie’s story of revenge that by the time you reach the end of the film you are expecting a grand finale to her story. However, the finale just ends up being a punch in the gut for audience goers and Cassie.
Besides the ending, the story and the cast are fantastic. Mulligan’s performance in the film is one of the best of her career. The character of Cassie is extremely smart, as well as cunning, and Mulligan has no issues bringing both these qualities to the forefront in every scene she is in. This performance will definitely make her a contender this awards season.
Joined in the film by Bo Burnham as Cassie’s love interest, Dr. Ryan Cooper, Alison Brie as Cassie’s old medical school friend, Madison, Clancy Brown as Cassie’s Dad, Stanley Thomas, Jennifer Coolidge as Cassie’s mom, Susan Thomas, and Laverne Cox as Cassie’s friend/boss, Gail, it is hard to find a weak performance among them. My only negative when it came to the performances was we didn’t get more scenes with Cox’s Gail. She was great in the little screen time she had, so it would have been nice to have seen more from her.
My only wish for this film was the ending had been different. I feel like it went against everything Cassie had worked for. However, the film was directed by Fennell, and with the choices she has made on Killing Eve, it does make a little more sense. For those looking for a film that will keep them glued to the screen until the last 15 minutes, I recommend checking out Promising Young Woman when it comes out. Just maybe wait until after Christmas to check it out.
Grade: B
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