Dark comedy and thriller “Promising Young Woman” is out in the USA

After fighting for a decent theatrical release, Promising Young Woman (2020) is finally seeing the light. This weekend, the movie is enjoying a theatrical release in the USA and Canada, and more countries are to follow. And, yes, it’s competing against one of the biggest theatrical releases of the year, Wonder Woman 1984 (2020). But although both movies are starred by powerful and promising young women –please, allow me the joke–, Promising Young Woman (2020) has managed to gross around $2 million in its opening weekend. Not bad numbers at all in a crazy year still in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Surfing between the seas of a thriller and a dark comedy, the movie tells the story of a young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, who seeks out vengeance against men who cross her path. In it, Cassie has been constantly called a promising young woman, until a mysterious event abruptly derailed her future. But nothing in Cassie’s life is what it appears to be: she’s wickedly smart, tantalizingly cunning, and she’s living a secret double life by night. Now, an unexpected encounter is about to give Cassie a chance to right the wrongs of the past.

The movie has been produced, written, and directed by the debutant in a feature film Emerald Fennell, better known for her TV jobs and her Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for action and adventure TV series Killing Eve (2018– ), of which she was executive producer and writer. She is also known as an actress in popular TV drama The Crown (2016– ) where she plays Camilla Parker Bowles.

Promising Young Woman (2020) is starred by Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Laverne Cox, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Molly Shannon, Angela Zhou, Sam Richardson, and Steve Monroe, with supporting roles played by Alison Brie, Adam Brody, Connie Britton, Max Greenfield, and Alfred Molina.

As it happened with the director Emerald Fennell’s debut short film Careful How You Go (2018), Promising Young Woman (2020) had its world debut at Sundance Film Festival. After that, it’s been part of other audience-oriented international film festivals like Luxembourg City Film Festival, Glasgow Film Festival, and Wisconsin Film Festival, and has had some nominations and awards at Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, Florida Film Critics Circle Awards, Greater Western New York Film Critics Association Awards, Indiana Film Journalists Association, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, Music City Film Critics’ Association Awards, and Sunset Film Circle Awards. The movie has also had a very positive audience reception, with an approval rating of 92% in Rotten Tomatoes, and an average score of 71 out of 100 in Metacritic.

Promising Young Woman (2020) is Rated R for strong violence including sexual assault, language throughout, some sexual material, and drug use. Here you can find its final trailer.