Cassie is an unhinged barista at a coffee shop who, along with her best friend Nina, was headed for great things. After Nina is sexual assaulted, her allegations fall on deaf ears. Cassie and her drop out of college, and a traumatized Nina eventually chooses suicide. Cassie, unable to cope, winds up living with her parents. In her free time she frequents clubs and bars where, a master at acting completely shitfaced, she preys on any male unwise enough to take her home. Things change when Cassie discovers that Nina's assaulter is soon to be married and will be hosting a private bachelor party soon. This proves too much for Cassie, and she enacts an elaborate revenge scheme that encompasses everyone involved in Nina's assault.
Promising Young Woman is a fierce evisceration of date rape culture, "the nice guy", violence against women, and college ethics when it comes to sexual assault allegations. Carey Mulligan is great as our lead, Cassie. The film plays with just exactly what she is doing to her victims, but ultimately only hints at the truth, allowing audiences to come to their own conclusions.
Bo Burnham shines as what is essentially the second lead of the film. He plays Ryan, a fun-loving children surgeon who knew Cassie back in college and manages to break down her defenses. He's the first guy Cassie has had any feelings for since Nina's assault, He nails his role as a guy who genuinely seems like he might be the only real nice guy in the flick. He is in the film a lot, but ultimately isn't given a whole lot to do. That said, it's nice to see him here.
The rest of the supporting cast is strong as well: Clancy Brown plays Cassie's father, Jennifer Coolidge (aka Stifler's mom) plays Cassie's mom, Molly Shannon play's Nina's mother, Connie Britton plays the dean of Cassie's old college, Alison Brie plays an old schoolmate of Cassie's, Alfred Molina as an attorney for Nina's assaulter, Adam Brody and Christopher Mintz-Plasse play "nice guys" whom Cassie meets at bars, and Laverne Cox as Cassie's boss at the coffee shop.
When Promising Young Woman isn't ripping into it's subject material with zeal, the film is covered in bright, bubblegum pastels and it's soundtrack consists of poppy, catchy tunes. It's enough to make you forget you are watching something tragic and dark.
Promising Young Woman has quite a bit on it's mind, and it isn't shy about the messages it has to share. This is a film that doesn't pull any punches and doesn't care about your feelings. It's a splash of ice-cold water to the face and is guaranteed to make any guy think twice about picking up drunk women at bars. Thought-provoking, mean, darkly comic, and "fun", Promising Young Woman achieves what it sets out to do.
4 STARS
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