Promising Young Woman

2020 ( UK | USA ) ( Crime, Drama, Mystery )
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie
Director: Emerald Fennell
A Promising Young Woman is a dark, boldly provocative, timely thriller. Carey Mulligan plays a med-school dropout and emotionally wounded sociopath who lives at home with her parents and spends her evenings in clubs, pretending to be falling-down drunk in order to entice predatory men to take her back to their place, each murmuring tender reassurances to the effect that he is a “nice guy”. She is the dark avenger unconcerned with fairness, who may in fact induce her victim to attempt nice-guy sexual assault for the first time in his life. The story proceeds in twist and turns and switchbacks…

This exquisite yet troubling film is a psychological drama inside a revenge fantasy inside a romcom. It is an auspicious feature debut for writer-director Emerald Fennell — and a career highlight for Carey Mulligan.

(1hr 39min)