With the release of her new movie ‘Saltburn’, I thought it would be a good time to look back on Emerald Fennell’s directorial debut: ‘Promising Young Woman’. It is some time since I first watched it, and I must admit that I don’t have a particularly strong desire to watch it again. It was a film that sparked a lot of debate at time of release, with varying opinions and responses to its revenge plotline. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received positive reviews. It won Fennell, who also wrote and co-produced alongside directing, an Academy Award for best original screenplay, as well as being nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Actress (for Carey Mulligan). I’m not sure it will be a film people watch for decades to come, but it certainly achieved success and fame for its creators.

Spoiler alert: The cons section discusses various plot-points, including the ending.

Pros

• Carey Mulligan. I’ve always been a bit of a fan of Carey Mulligan. She has a great ability to disappear into a role, and this is no exception. In a rare instance of a female actor playing a role younger than herself (if not by very much), she convincingly portrays medical student drop-out Cassie, seemingly drifting through life in an unfulfilling job. However you can’t help but feel that Mulligan has more fun in Cassie’s alter-ego moments – where she plays the vengeful woman ‘preying’ on men by letting them take her home when she is seemingly drunk. The script doesn’t give her as much to play with as it might, but she pulls off what she is offered.
• World building. I can’t quite think of a better word for this, but essentially I mean that Fennell has created a convincing world for her story to take place in. Aesthetically and tonally, it feels real and lived-in, whilst maintaining a degree of visual interest. This is perhaps particularly to be praised given Fennell’s own background as an upper-class Brit – despite this, her America feels realistic. Perhaps I’m in a similarly bad position to judge this however, as I’ve never spent any time at all in the parts of America she aims to be present.

Cons

• Lack of conviction. In a way, this film feels strangely gutless. Modelled in part on the rape-revenge films of the past, it doesn’t have the visceral quality of its admittedly often problematic predecessors. Both the trailers and the film itself tease us with the idea that Cassie murders the men who try to assault her. But it pulls back from this – instead Cassie simply reveals her ruse and then walks away. Given the strength of the feelings that drive her to this behaviour, it seems an odd way to vent them. Her grief drives her in to dangerous situations, but the film doesn’t seem to want her or us to experience the catharsis they might bring. This feeds into an ongoing debate about ‘feminist’ cinema, and specifically female protagonists. One can’t help but feel that if this were about a man, he would be murdering his assailants. We recognise that protagonists can be complex, and don’t have to be faultless. Cinema is more interesting when the protagonists are complicated, and their actions fall into the grey areas of life. However, female protagonists are often denied this complexity, having to be seen as positive. So it is something of a feminist act to portray ‘bad women’, or women doing things that their male counterparts have been shown doing for decades. Fennell seems to want to claim a place in this reclamation, without having to actually follow-through. Perhaps she feared we would be less sympathetic towards Cassie’s ultimate demise if she had been a murderer. I can’t help but feel that the film would have been stronger if Cassie had been allowed a bit more anger.
• The ending. The film’s ending seemed to divide opinion more than any other part of the film. Having been murdered in the act of carrying out revenge against her friend’s rapists, Cassie posthumously sends texts detailing their wrong-doing to the police, and to the assailants themselves. This is presented as a bit of a high-five moment, a ‘Fuck yeah!’, as the rapists and murderers are carted away from their leader’s wedding. But again, this felt like a step back from the powerful moment the film had achieved. The stark brutality of the murder and its following scenes were when the film achieved its greatest impact. Ending on this would have been more representative of the criminal justice system that lets rapists get away with their crimes against women – which was of course the very reason for Cassie’s acts in the first place. Her friend’s rape was not investigated by the police or authorities, so to have the police rush in at the end believing and investigating everything was a bit jarring. Strangely they almost become the heroes, giving Cassie the closure she desired. To end the film earlier, perhaps with the disposal of Cassie’s body scene, would to me have felt more compelling. I can understand the urge to give Cassie some kind of vengeance, although one can’t help but feel this might have been just as effective in another form – perhaps even letting her live, if you wanted to counter the trend of women being punished for trying to take control of their lives. In the end, the film’s conclusion felt a little bit world-breaking, and placed it more in the territory of teen drama or soap opera than indie-darling.

Fennell’s new film looks radically different, and places her very much on home turf amongst the English aristocracy, so it will be interesting to see if there is any thematic link or progression from ‘Promising Young Woman’. I’m not sure ‘Promising Young Woman’ would have me rushing to watch her next offering, but we’ll see.

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What did you think of ‘Promising Young Woman’? Were you equally disappointed by its ending, or did it pay off for you? Are you looking forward to ‘Saltburn’? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment!