by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

POST UPDATE 4.12.21- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – LOS ANGELES, CA  APRIL 12, 2021

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN OFFERS FREE VIRTUAL SCREENINGS

TO COLLEGE STUDENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH RAINN,

THE NATION’S LARGEST ANTI-SEXUAL VIOLENCE ORGANIZATION

 The College Screenings will take place on April 15^th in coordination with Campus Circle 

Focus Features has co-partnered with RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, and Campus Circle to host free screenings for college students of the five time Academy Award®-nominated film PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN on April 15^th, 2021. Focus, RAINN and Campus Circle hope to continue the conversation against sexual assault and violence on college campuses with the film as statistically 13% of all students experience sexual assault or rape during their time at school. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.4673 or online.rainn.org) in partnership with more than 1,000 local sexual assault service providers across the country.

Said Heather Drevna, RAINN Vice President of communications: “Sexual violence can affect not only the survivor, but the people and communities around them. Promising Young Woman has sparked important conversations about the cultural response to sexual assault, healing, justice, and bystander accountability. We thank Focus Features for making Promising Young Woman available to college students, who are at increased risk of sexual violence, to continue this critical dialogue.”  

Campus Circle’s publisher, Joy Calisoff says of the film, “Promising Young Woman is a dynamic and unique feminist revenge tale, complete with great characters that will knock you out of your seat.”

Candy Coated and Cunning

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I watched this during the frenzy of seeing screener after screener preparing for the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle Voting, and it really stood out for me, as you can see from my Facebook post below:

I’ve just seen my favorite f’n movie of the year❣️ PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN writer/director Emerald Fennell (Killing Eve) a…

Posted by Tinsel & Tine on Tuesday, December 1, 2020

It’s written and directed (debut feature) by Emerald Fennell who many will know as Camilla Parker Bowles on The Crown. She also served as Head Writer on season 2 of the dark comedy-drama spy thriller Killing Eve, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. Fennell is currently writing a contemporary musical stage version of Cinderella alongside Andrew Lloyd Weber. And now she’s part of Golden Globes history as one of 3 women nominated in the Best Director category in the same year. Along side Regina King for One Night in Miami (click for #minimoviereview), which ultimately won my #1 best movie of 2020 and Chloé Zhao for Nomadland (click for #minimoviereview) who won PFCC Best Director category (click for post).

Cassandra (Mulligan) is a medical school dropout about to turn 30, still living with her parents (Jennifer Coolidge & Clancy Brown) who’s home décor of cherubs, dog portraits, figurines and all-around dated ostentation, should be incentive for her to get a decent enough job to move out. But instead, she half-heartedly works at a coffee shop, where the owner, Gail (Laverne Cox) has befriended her, so she tends to let Cassie get away with being a less than enthusiastic employee.  In fact, most see Cassie as someone who lost their ambition and has no plans beyond the moment. Little do they know she has taken on the secret identity of a feminist avenger! Nightly going to bars and clubs seemingly drunk and defenseless, testing men to see if they will protect a woman in an inebriated state or take full advantage. The next day her victims are accounted for in a notebook with a red or blue mark, of which the color coding is never clarified.

Promising Young Woman strikes a number of tones all at once – revenge thriller, black comedy, rom/com, feminist statement; I dig the messy soup of it all, but I can also understand its detractors.  What really sells the movie for me is Carey Mulligan, she understands this character who is seemingly indolent, yet under the surface, laser focused and filled with rage. Then again, I’m a fan of her work.  I looked at Mulligan’s IMDB and realized starting with An Education, I’ve seen every single one of her movies. It wasn’t even an intentional thing, she makes interesting movie choices, of movies that interest me, and interesting acting choices in each movie. 

You may have heard a Variety writer intimated in his review that Mulligan is not hot enough to play this character and wondered if the role was originally meant for Margo Robbie, a Producer on the film.  An apology from Variety has since been issued.  First off, I think Mulligan does own her sexuality. But also, the overt seductions are not intended to be traditionally hot, but rather meant to exhibit the tables being turned in terms of control.   What actually makes this character sexy is the way she  creates these tactical operations to carry out her revenge.

The Promising Young Woman soundtrack features a parade of deliberately vapid pop tunes by the likes of Paris Hilton and the Spice Girls. But also original tracks with Oscar nom buzz for Cyn’s “Drinks,” FLETCHER’s “Last Laugh” and DeathbyRomy’s “Come and Play with Me.”

Fennell wanted to locate the story inside a traditionally feminine world with vivid colors and an upbeat pop soundtrack. Juxtaposed against the darker themes of the narrative, all that brightness would create a kind of dissonance for the audience, subtly reinforcing the idea that things in Cassie’s life are deeply askew. “For me there are things in pop culture that I love that are sparkly and pink and inviting and poppy, I wanted to reappropriate that ‘chick stuff’ and make it more frightening—and also say, ‘Look, this stuff is valid in its own way,’” Fennell explains.

This same idea is present in the production, set design and costuming.

“The whole point of this movie is that it’s supposed to feel like a candy shop or going on a date with someone that you just hit it off with— then you get back to their apartment and you realize the door’s locked and it’s too late. It is a dark fairytale so it was important that it had that heightened feeling.”

I don’t want to go too deeply into the revenge aspect of the plot or it will give too much away. I don’t want to go into the rape and abuse themes of the film, because it’s just too hot button to discuss in something called a #MiniMovieReview.  I will say that ultimately the movie is about a bottomless feeling of grief that becomes explosive in a way that’s as much fun to watch, as it is heartrending.

T&T @LAMB rating: 4.5 outta 5