Promising Young Woman

2020 Directed by Emerald Fennell

Payback never looked so promising

A young woman haunted by a tragedy in her past takes revenge on the predatory men unlucky enough to cross her path.

Carey Mulligan Bo Burnham Alison Brie Clancy Brown Jennifer Coolidge Laverne Cox Chris Lowell Molly Shannon Connie Britton Adam Brody Max Greenfield Christopher Mintz-Plasse Steve Monroe Sam Richardson Ray Nicholson Timothy E. Goodwin Alli Hart Loren Paul Scott Aschenbrenner Gabriel Oliva Bryan Lillis Francisca Estevez Lorna Scott Casey Adams Vince Lozano Mike Horton Angela Zhou Austin Talynn Carpenter Emerald Fennell Show All… Alfred Molina

Alternative Titles

有前途的年轻女子, Uma Miúda com Potencial, Una joven prometedora

crime drama thriller

113 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by brat pitt ★★★★ 24

"I AM AWAKE IN THE PLACE WHERE WOMEN DIE." -- Jenny Holzer
been thinking about what to write about this one for the past couple of weeks. i can see why some hate it and why some love it, and after hours of reflection i've come to the earth-shattering conclusion that... i liked it!
the title "promising young woman" itself is a reference to how the media called rapist brock turner a "promising young man." many know brock turner, but fewer know chanel miller, the woman who spoke out about him (and even wrote a memoir aptly titled Know My Name). similarly, our vengeful protagonist cassie is determined to let the world remember her best friend nina's name. the relationship…
Review by demi adejuyigbe ★★★★★ 47

this shit got my heart pounding so fucking much for the entire second half i genuinely had to get up and go for a walk in the cold when it ended. good lord!!!!!!!
perfect soundtrack. beautiful framing and set design. carey mulligan’s incredible. honestly can’t think of anything i didn’t like! so much good to talk about. i want to read this script so bad. i wish i had seen this in a theater i can’t wait to watch it again in a theater please god i hope everybody gets to see this in MOVIE THEATERS
Review by Lucy ★★ 28

the outer layer is a bright candy coated shell, but peeling that back reveals the inside as hollow. i don’t have negative feelings about the ending (or the film as a whole) the way some do, actually i enjoyed it until it was almost over. but then the bad taste it left behind immediately started creeping in. as a complete picture it just feels like a bunch of gotcha moments that lack a certain kind of empathy for the subject matter. the ending solidified my problems with it, bringing such potential together for just another bigger gotcha moment. it’s bold, and i dig that, but surely justice can be doled out with a little hope still attached. without that hope…
Review by astrid rose ★ 52

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

a sentient reductress headline, a complete con job, a “rape-revenge” movie where two women are dead by the end but don’t worry the um - the cops will take care of this???? this is a perfect thriller for the #metoo era or whatever indiewire bullshit is out there rn - seeing as metoo was recuperated into an ineffectual marketing tool by a liberal establishment that will brook no threat to its power :)))))
i was physically agitated sitting thru this and that was BEFORE it takes on like a boondock saints tone for a couple scenes at the end ...... i would like to say here & now any random 70s rape-revenge movie is less disgusting. open, frictive misogyny > status quo girlboss…
Review by demi adejuyigbe 14

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

The first time I saw this I realized that no one was saying the word “rape” through the entire film and that it was definitely a conscious choice, but I wondered why. As you get closer to the climax with Al Monroe, it starts to feel like she does this so it hits like a brick when his admission is the first time the word is uttered, only to have that moment stolen from you with... you know. As much as it guts you, I liked that choice.
Feels like a little bit of the luster is gone on a second watch, but not so much that I don’t still think it’s one of the best films of the year.…
Review by Jay ★★★ 40

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

she sure had a lot of dependance in the cops considering its implied the cops didnt believe her friends r*pe case
Review by adrianbalboa ★★★½ 10

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

big shoutouts to girlboss carey and her male wife bo burnham! but i must say, it is bizarre to release a revenge film where the police ultimately take care of everything! like........very bizarre!
this is what my brain sounded like while I was watching!
cool fits tho!
Review by Maria Luísa ½ 52

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

*takes a deep breath*
If the intention was to subvert rape-revenge thrillers, whose best quality is to allow women to externalize their aggression against the injustice of gendered violence, simply by taking the trope and removing the very thing that makes it relevant, what was the point? If this had been made by some white guy who thinks women dying is revolutionary, I’d have my answer right there. But this was written and directed by a woman, so I must ask myself, did she mean for it to reflect positively in the conversation about rape culture? If so, how? What is the reflection we must extract from the graphic murder of Cassie? I am truly drawing a blank because of…
Review by Stephanie ★★ 9

girlbossing sexual assault in this way is my joker moment and I'm not even kidding.
had a very in depth conversation with friends after this so I don't feel like putting it into words here but this was very frustrating.
Review by holli 42

(i'm sorry this review is so long i had a lot of thoughts)
hmm. don't really know how to rate this. i enjoyed parts of it for sure, but this film is very flawed. very, very flawed - both on a thematic and filmmaking level.
it's a complex film for sure, and i'm glad films about rape culture in this manner are finally being made. portrayals of "nice guys" as some of the most evil, manipulative predators have finally been brought to light in different media this year (see also: eliza hittman's never rarely sometimes always and michaela coel's hbo series i may destroy you). this is a truth known to all women: that most of the self proclaimed "nice…
Review by Patrick Willems ★★★½ 4

The casting of every man in this movie is just staggeringly brilliant
Review by fran hoepfner ★★★★½

god, I love betting it all on Carey Mulligan

Recent reviews

Review by Bruno Veras ★★★★★

Entrei achando que ia rir, saí DEVASTADO. Já tava chorando no meio, no final perdi tudo. Fui sem expectativa e me surpreendeu demais! Adoro essa atriz desde Wildlife.
roteiro, soundtrack e direção de arte perfeitos
ps: toda a soundtrack é composta por mulheres
Review by America Elizalde ★★★★

the COLORS of REVENGE
Review by 66Buffalos ★★★½

britney spears violin hngggg
Review by Disneybat21 ★★★★★

No real review... just happiness.
Review by allie ★★★

fell apart at the end
Review by eritz ★★★½

I really loved this movie until the third act, then I don't know what happened
Review by hamburger splash 🍔🌊

Ultimately quite disappointing. Platitudes undermining its cleverness and importance at every turn.
Review by tae catalina ★★★

pretty decent. tho i still think the best recent rape revenge film is jennifers body :’)
Review by Keith Garrett ★★★★★ 2

The smile that creeps across my face when the Toxic instrumental starts.
Carey deserves that trophy. The levels of nuance in her performance are really incredible, and she never makes it feel inauthentic. I’m so so happy this is a serious Oscar contender.
Review by plautdaniel ★★★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Woah, the really go hard in the last half of this. Carey Mulligan is incredible. Favorite bits include the scene with the lawyer repenting (which was almost as much of a twist as the death scene for me). The death scene was just brutal and dark and perfectly shocking and made the very stark point that while
this is an over stylized black comedy, the daily danger women are put through is very real.
Part of me wishes they just went all in on the irony at the end without the final revenge, but it was great either way.
Review by calliemeadow ★★★★½

OMG i didn’t except that to happen AT ALL i’m still sHOOK what a great film
Review by Mariana Madeo ★★★★

Um negócio que me pegou nesse filme é que, em paralelo com outros "do mesmo gênero" onde as cenas de violência sexual são explícitas, quase glorificadas, aqui não vemos nenhuma cena explícita. Nenhuma glorificação. A palavra estu*** mal é pronunciada, e nem precisa.
Não sei o quanto fiquei confortável com o final ter tiro um tom tão cômico, mas no geral a impressão que fica é boa.