My roommates and I recently watched Oscar nominee, Promising Young Woman: a narrative about a young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, who seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path. The film is dark, sometimes grizzly, and a mesmerizing look into the aftermath of sexual assault.
Writer/director Emerald Fennell and star Carey Mulligan both do an incredible job making audiences deeply uncomfortable and yet unable to turn away during this nearly 2-hour film. We are drawn into Cassie’s story of revenge and anger in a world that is true to life, where we shame & victim-blame people who are sexually assaulted, we hashtag “#notallmen” to pass off accountability, and we expect victims (inclusive of the loved ones of those assaulted) to instantly heal and move on with their lives. It’s a difficult topic to make a film about, but this team does an excellent job keeping viewers hooked into the thought-provoking premise while commenting on the darkness of a world that perpetuates violence against women.
In terms of entertainment, PYW is full of twists and turns from the very first scene that is entertaining to watch and keeps you guessing. My overwhelming feeling watching this film was dread: a deep-seated mistrust of the male characters, and yet hoping that they would do better than my expectations. The twist at the end was a genuine surprise, and the film resolves itself in a bittersweet and satisfying way. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a tough subject matter, but it’s entertaining to see and the plot stays with you long after it’s over. Plus, Laverne Cox is in it. That alone is enough reason for you to see it.
This is an important story to tell and one we needed to see in this world. It’s not yet another film about a helpless victim after someone assaulted her and her peaceful healing journey society for some reason expects of all women. It has particularly poignant commentary on “#notallmen,” which is something that I haven’t seen addressed as strongly in other films. It’s also important to see that victimhood doesn’t lie only with the person assaulted, but it spreads like a disease to their loved ones like Cassie in this story.
The New Yorker pointed out an interesting note: the word “rape” is not mentioned once in this film. It doesn’t have to be. Instead, it uses words we hear revolving around these cases constantly: “putting themselves in danger,” “asking for it,” “what happened,” “taken advantage.” We don’t need to hear the word to know what happens. Vox has a really interesting article about the language of sexual violence, and even here writing this post I’ve caught myself using passive language like “what happened to her” that has an effect on the perception of sexual violence (i.e. there is no perpetrator).
My one critique of this film is that I wish that they more fully fleshed out the character of Nina, Cassie’s best friend. Women who are assaulted by someone are often reduced to a single facet of their character – being a victim – and that’s all that’s told. In reality, this incident may become a part of you, but isn’t all that you are. Society seems to forget that women are still full humans after someone rapes them, and that their lives cannot be boiled down to one (or more) specific incidents. Cassie says a few lines about Nina and her personality, but I would have liked to learn more about her rather than just what someone did to her.
Here are the stats:
- According to Deadline, Promising Young Woman received the ReFrame stamp, “which is as a mark of distinction for projects that have achieved gender-balanced hiring.”
- PYW was nominated for 167 awards and won 107 according to IMDB, including an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
- Rotten Tomatoes scores it 90% fresh with an audience score of 88%
- Box Office is $6.4m in the US and $13.3m worldwide as of 4/26/21.
This is Emerald Fennell’s first feature film as a writer and director, and she nailed it. I can’t wait to see what she does next. Have you seen Promising Young Woman yet? If you have, what did you think? If you haven’t, what are you waiting for!?
