Movie; Promising Young Woman (2020) Caution; Spoiler Alert

 

Promising Young Woman

Came out; 2020

Time; 1 hour 42 minutes

Watched on; Demand

Rating; R for strong violence including sexual assault, language throughout, some sexual material and drug use

IMDB Rating; 7.5/10

Caution; Spoiler Alert

Staring;

Carey Mulligan as Cassandra

Timothy E Goodwin as Monty

Clancy Brown as Stanley

Jennifer Coolidge as Susan

Laverne Cox as Gail

Alli Hart as Ruby

Loren Paul as Jeff

Bo Burnham as Ryan

Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Neil

Alison Brie as Madison

Connie Britton as Dean Walker

Chris Lowell as Al Monroe

Max Greenfield as Joe

Storyline;

Pushing thirty, and defined by a hideous crime involving her bosom friend, Nina, emotionally scarred medical school dropout, Cassie, knows firsthand that some wounds never heal. Leading an uneventful existence, still living with her parents, waiting tables at a cheap coffee shop to earn a living, Cassie has found the perfect way to deal with the painful past. Dressed to kill, at night, Cassie frequents the local bars and nightclubs, pretending to be dead-drunk, utterly helpless and vulnerable. And, every week, lethally beautiful Cassie is on the prowl for all sorts of nocturnal predators and other wolves in sheep's clothing, who are unaware that, sometimes, the hunter can become the prey. Then, Ryan, a kindly and caring old classmate who is the bee's knees, enters the picture, and just like that, Cassie wants out. However, everybody knows that breaking bad habits is easier said than done

Thoughts;

This movie starts out strong. If you don't already know the story line from looking it up on IMBD or from something like this you truly have no idea what is exactly going on and it's even better.

I'm not familiar with Carey Mulligan but she plays this role perfectly until the bitter end.

There's a few very slow spots in the middle but the rest of the movie was amazing and really keeps you guessing what's coming next. I loved it.

Plot Summary; CAUTION; Major Spoiler Alert

Cassie Thomas is a 30-year-old woman who lives in Ohio with her parents. Years earlier, she was in medical school. However, after her best friend Nina Fisher was raped by their classmate Al Monroe, and the school and legal system failed her, Nina and Cassie dropped out. It is implied that Nina eventually committed suicide. By night, Cassie now goes to clubs and feigns drunkenness to get a man to take her home. She waits for them to attempt to take advantage of her and then reveals her sobriety.

At the coffee shop where she works, Cassie encounters a former classmate, Ryan Cooper. He asks her out and mentions during their first date that Al is getting married. Cassie begins a plan to exact revenge on those she holds responsible for Nina's rape and death. She first invites an old friend, Madison McPhee, who disbelieved Nina's accusation, to lunch and gets her drunk, then has a man she hired take Madison to her hotel room. After the incident, Cassie ignores all her calls.

Next, Cassie targets Elizabeth Walker, the medical school dean who dismissed Nina's case due to lack of evidence. Cassie pretends to be a makeup artist for a band that Walker's teenage daughter Amber loves and tricks Amber into getting into her car. Later, Cassie meets Walker under the pretense of resuming her education and questions her about the events that led to Nina's dropout and death. When Walker explains away her actions, Cassie tells her she dropped Amber off at a dorm room with drunk male students. After a frightened Walker apologizes for her inaction, Cassie reveals Amber is safe at a local diner. Meanwhile, Cassie enters a relationship with Ryan.

Cassie visits Jordan Green, Al's lawyer who harassed Nina into dropping her charges. When Green expresses remorse for his actions, having suffered a mental breakdown over his guilt, Cassie forgives him. After visiting Nina's mother, who urges her to move on, Cassie abandons the rest of her revenge plans.

One day, Cassie finds Madison waiting outside her house, desperate to know what happened after their lunch. Cassie reassures her that nothing happened. In response, Madison gives Cassie an old phone containing a video of Nina's rape before threatening her to never contact her again. As she watches the video, Cassie is shocked to see Ryan among the bystanders. She confronts him and threatens to release the video unless he tells her where Al's bachelor party is being held. Ryan tells her and begs for forgiveness, but Cassie refuses.

Cassie arrives at Al's bachelor party as a stripper, drugging Al's friends and taking Al upstairs. She handcuffs him to a bed and reveals herself. However, as she tries to carve Nina's name into Al's stomach, he breaks free and suffocates her. The next morning, Al's friend Joe consoles him and helps him burn Cassie's body. Cassie's parents file a missing person report, and the police begin to investigate. A detective questions Ryan, but Ryan does not reveal where Cassie was going and suggests she was mentally unwell and suicidal.

During Al's wedding reception, it is revealed that Cassie had sent Green the phone with the video of Nina's rape, along with information on where she was going and who would be responsible if she went missing. As a result, the police had found her burnt remains. At the reception, the police arrest Al, while Joe flees and Ryan receives several scheduled texts from Cassie, signed with her and Nina's names.