Promising Young Woman

Emerald Fennell has been acting for more than 15 years, but the first film she wrote and directed just 3 years ago was an unforgettable debut behind the camera. We had a few problems with Promising Young Woman's ending, but this rape-revenge movie succeeds remarkably well up to that point. Fennell has a sense of humour, she casts (smartly) against type and shows empathy for everyone, even the villains. Self-preservation is a strong instinct, after all, and putting yourself in the shoes of even someone who did something horrible can be necessary to understand the entire situation. Fennell's Oscar-winning script provides no easy answers. And the sensational Carey Mulligan isn't exactly a hero in this. She's this movie's Batman, channeling her rage and courting death as she exacts justice by essentially turning into a terrorist. This might be the finest performance she's even given. Oh, and she's 5'7", so she's not as short as we thought. Everyone just looks tiny standing next to Bo Burnham. Anyway, our lengthy 507th episode concludes Revenge Month by digging into the many layers of Promising Young Woman. Get a 20% discount off your next order of Sparkplug Coffee by plugging our "hyes" promo code into the right box. Go to "sparkplug.coffee/hyes" and get buying! This #metoo movie might cause you to want to shoot us some feedback. You can email us ([email protected]) or try us on Twitter (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis). Our full podcasts can also be found on YouTube. Occasionally we post 8 or 10 minutes of bonus content off the top. These shows are available at @hyesellis. And until June 7th, you can find new podcasts about sports films with Ryan and Chris Di Gregorio. They're under "Scoring At The Movies".