Promising Young Woman shows how the ‘nice guy’ façade is often more dangerous than the obvious creep
The promising young woman in question, Cassie (played by Carey Mulligan) shows said promise from the start. Despite dropping out of med school following her best friend Nina’s sexual assault, Cassie puts her intelligence to good use in avenging her.
The dark comedy thriller, written, produced, and directed by Emerald Fennell, navigates the systemic nature of rape culture, most notably in academic institutions. The title itself stems from the Stanford rape case involving Brock Turner, who was described by the media as a ‘promising young man.’ Both Cassie and Nina were on the path to becoming doctors, with promise of their own callously ripped away from them by Nina’s brutal sexual assault. Cassie recognises the culpability of institutions in this, and leaves no stone unturned in her path to retribution. She makes sure to include the dean of the college where they studied, in addition to the tortured lawyer that defended Nina’s rapist, Al, on her hitlist.
Like many, she is subjected to the male gaze, but she uses it to her advantage. In the opening scene, Cassie, is presented as completely intoxicated, and is stalked by a group of suited men resembling a hoard of vultures. When one of them takes her home and begins to take advantage of her, the worst is suspected – until she soberly returns his gaze and breaks the facade, reversing the balance of power. Following this scene, she once more returns the male gaze as she is catcalled by a group of construction workers. Her lack of response and blank stare disturbs them – they are now subjected to her gaze, their power is lost.
In a word, it’s infuriating. But maybe
that’s the point
The influence from former films of the rape-revenge genre is present at the beginning, but is watered down as the film progresses. The use of Psycho-esque music and suggestion of violence, reminiscent of retro slasher films, initially sets the viewer up to believe that she is taking down these predatory men one by one. This can be seen in the morning after her first encounter, with the camera panning up her body revealing a blood-like trail of what turns out to be jam from a donut. Mulligan’s performance is faultless, and elevates the film to its Oscar-winning status. The cinematography is captivating, with a candy-coloured world of femininity employed to mask the ugly theme that permeates throughout.
The use of dark humour to illuminate the “nice guy” trope is inspired. The eye-roll-inducing phrase “I’m a nice guy” is toted throughout the film, to an almost comical degree from one man who dares to utter it after sexually assaulting Cassie. It highlights that even those that seem to be or consider themselves to be nice guys, are no better than the others. The casting decisions made for the men involved aid this, Bo Burnham in particular has that dorky charm that lulls you into a false sense of security. This is what makes his eventual reveal all the more sickening.
However, her quest for retribution meets an unsatisfying and blunt conclusion when she is choked to death by Al before she can execute her own violence. This is made worse by the conversation that follows between Al and his even more callous friend Joe where he tells him that it’s not his fault, and cradles him like a child who has accidentally overfed his pet fish. This interaction adds a layer of absurdity that provides a satirical insight into how men consistently are able to excuse their behaviour and uphold rape culture. This reaches a point of complete surrealism when they burn her body, casually nudging her ashy hand further into the bonfire.
Cassie’s murder is foreshadowed throughout the film, as she is visually portrayed as a martyr from the start. Religious imagery is employed as a motif throughout, often in her most pensive moments. As she sits on her bed and scrolls through Facebook searching for the people that wronged Nina, she is placed perfectly central in front of her headboard, forming angelic wings behind her. While she contemplates at the café where she works how this trauma has consumed her life and sabotaged her current relationship, she is framed by a blue circular wall decal, echoing a Renaissance-esque halo. At potentially her worst point where she is presented with a phone with video evidence of Nina’s sexual assault, she kneels before the table it is on, as if before an altar.
This imagery is not lost on the audience, and makes her inevitable demise all the more painful. The combination of strong acting, subversive casting and stunning visuals is brilliant. It places the viewer in the world of a woman who has fully committed her life to her cause, yet the only tangible sense of justice she can produce is in death. In a word, it’s infuriating. But maybe that’s the point.
Promising Young Women was released on April 16 2021