The trailer for Promising Young Woman is a scorcher -- it promises a timely #MeToo themed dark comedy thriller about a woman out for revenge against toxic men with a penchant for attempted date rape. In reality, however, the movie itself if a mixed bag. It wants to shock you -- but many of its jolts are either spoiled in the trailer or come only at the end of the film and its tone is so inconsistent it's hard to fully embrace it.
What's best about it is a scene stealing lead performance from Carey Mulligan. Her smokey-voice femme fetale antihero is the heart and soul of the film, and she wisely doesn't allow herself to become a caricature. The same can't be said for her sniveling male prey -- who while played by a bevy of amusing, mostly comedic actors, all come across as too cartoonishy sleazy (with a couple of notable exceptions).
Additionally a subplot involving a burgeoning romance with a seemingly nice guy doctor (played by actor-director Bo Burnham) just didn't work for me and killed the momentum of the film.
There's a self satisfied air in this movie and a bit of a repetitive streak. The film takes a wild left turn in its climax that feels a lot more like the film I was hoping to see, but that plot twist also feels like it comes from a much more heightened satire, which the proceeding film really wasn't.
Some of this complication comes from the film's somewhat ambiguous narrative. You're not entirely sure if Mulligan is seeking to commit violent acts or simply engaging in a high stakes game of blackmail.
Meanwhile, Laverne Cox pops up in a largely thankless role. Ditto for SNL veteran Molly Shannon. There are some more tertiary characters -- like a woman complicit in past abuse (played ably by Alison Brie) but this really is Mulligan's show.
She's had an interesting career and has had a curiously hard to pin down movie persona -- certainly this is most dynamic star turn yet and if the movie is worth seeing, it is for her.
I appreciate that this film is trying to start a conversation -- and as crazy as the news cycle can be and is, this topic will never get old. I do wish that there was a little more nuance and real suspense in the film -- Mulligan always seems to have the upper hand in every exchange and her foils are such obvious fools that the set pieces don't land the gut punches they're hoping to.
Hopefully, it will shame some men who have convinced themselves that they are nice guys who didn't "mean anything" when they either directly or indirectly participated in abuse. And one could argue the film is a cautionary tale about a woman scorned.
It has a few belly laughs and some pretty devastating moments in it, so I wouldn't definitely not say it's a bad film, but I didn't necessarily love it either. Still, I presume Mulligan will make the final five Best Actress contenders when those nominees roll out.
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