Promising Young Woman

Promising Young Woman is a 2020 black comedy psychological thriller film about a young woman haunted by a traumatic past as she navigates balancing forgiveness and vengeance.
 * Directed and written by Emerald Fennell.

Revenge never looked so promising. taglines

Cassandra "Cassie" Thomas

 * Look how easy that was. I guess you just had to think about it in the right way. I guess it feels different when it's someone you love.


 * Nina was extraordinary. So smart. Weirdly smart. She was so completely herself. Even when she was four years old. She was fully formed from day one. Same face, same walk. And funny. Like a grownup is funny, kind of shrewd. I was just in awe of her. I couldn't believe she wanted to be my friend. She didn't give a fuck what anyone thought apart from me, because she was just... Nina. And then she wasn't. Suddenly she was something else. She was yours. It wasn't her name she heard when she was walking around. It was yours. Your name all around her. All over her, all the the time. And it just... squeezed her out. So when I heard your name again, your filthy fucking name, I wondered, when was the last time anyone had said hers? Or thought it even, apart from me? And it made me so sad because, Al... [holds up a scalpel] YOU should be the one with her name all over you.


 * [Sarcastically] Who needs brains? They never did a girl any good.


 * Oh, don't cry.


 * [last lines - in a text to Ryan] You didn't think this was the end, did you? It is now. Enjoy the wedding! Love, Cassie & Nina.

Others

 * Stanley Thomas: We miss her, Cassie. But god, we've missed you too.


 * Gail: And if you two decide to have sex on the counter, the bleach is in the back room. I don't want to walk in here tomorrow morning and see ass prints in the coffee grains. Got it?


 * Al Monroe: [while smothering Cassandra] Fucking... stop moving! Stop fucking moving! Stop fucking moving! Fuck you!


 * Ryan Cooper: Do you want to go to dinner, you miserable asshole?


 * Madison McPhee: They all want a feminist in college, because it’s cool to have a girlfriend who cares about something. And statistically, feminists are more likely to do anal. That’s literal fact, by the way.

Dialogue

 * Ryan: Dating's horrible, everyone's horrible, okay? I went on a date last month with a woman who wanted to euthanize the homeless.
 * Cassandra: You went on date with my mom?


 * [infiltrating Al Monroe's bachelor party as the sexy nurse]
 * Cassandra: I take it you're the groom.
 * Al Monroe: Yeah.
 * [Cassie opens a chair and slams Al into it]
 * Cassandra: Then sit the fuck down.


 * Al Monroe: [about rape] It's every man's worst nightmare, getting accused of something like that.
 * Cassandra: Can you guess what every woman's worst nightmare is?


 * Jordan: You know, I got a bonus for every settlement out of court. I got another bonus for every charge dropped. We all did. There was a guy... his only job was to go through all their social media accounts for any compromising information. He contacted old friends, past sexual partners. Oh, you'd be amazed how much easier it is now with the internet to dig up dirt. In the old days we used to go through a girl's trash. Now? One drunk photo at a party. Oh, you wouldn't believe how hostile that makes a jury. [grabs Cassie's hands pleadingly] You gotta help me. I can't sleep. I can't SLEEP. I haven't slept since... I will never forgive myself. I want you to know that. I'll never forgive myself for any of this.
 * Cassandra: [crying] I forgive you.


 * Paul: [laughing] That was humiliating!
 * Cassandra: Why don't you just fuck off, now OK?
 * Paul: Wait, are you sober? Oh shit! You're that psycho that Jerry took home.
 * Cassandra: I don't know what you're talking about.
 * Paul: You know what, not interested, sweetheart. Why don't you just take crazy somewhere else? You're not even that hot.
 * Cassandra: You're hardly dropping panties yourself, Paul. When was the last time you scored in daylight?
 * Paul: [threateningly] Careful.
 * Cassandra: [advancing on him] No, you be careful. I'm not the only one who does this. And some of the other girls really are crazy.
 * Paul: I don't believe you.
 * Cassandra: There's a woman in this city who carries a pair of scissors.
 * Paul: You're lying.
 * Cassandra: Try it out next time you go out, and see what happens.
 * Paul: Why do you guys have to ruin everything?
 * [runs off crying]


 * Mrs. Fisher: I know you feel bad that you weren't there but you gotta let it go.
 * Cassandra: I'm just trying to fix it.
 * Mrs. Fisher: Oh, come on. You can't. Don't be a child, Cassie.

Taglines

 * Revenge never looked so promising.


 * Take her home and take your chances.


 * This Christmas. Plan to make them pay.

Quotes about

 * There aren’t many films at this year’s Sundance film festival that boast a premise quite as tantalising as that of Promising Young Woman, a candy-coloured yet darkly themed comic thriller. It goes like this: Cassie (Carey Mulligan) spends her weekends feigning close-to-blackout drunk behaviour in order to lure guys who see her as easy prey, to see how far they’re willing to go sexually with someone unable to provide consent... It’s a canny setup, from the devious mind of Killing Eve show-runner Emerald Fennell who acts here as writer-director, and while we’ve seen films where women violently fight back against rape culture before (from Ms 45 to Dirty Weekend), we haven’t seen one that feels quite as female and quite as well-rooted in the conversations we’re still somehow having to have. Cassie’s modus operandi is designed to root out the bad guys but quite often they’re not the guys who think that they’re bad in the first place.... Watching Cassie regain this power over these odious men is a deliciously giddy thrill.
 * Promising Young Woman review – Carey Mulligan ignites fiery #MeToo revenge tale, Benjamin Lee, The Guardian      26 Jan 2020

Cast

 * Carey Mulligan - Cassandra "Cassie" Thomas
 * Bo Burnham - Ryan Cooper
 * Alison Brie - Madison McPhee
 * Clancy Brown - Stanley Thomas
 * Jennifer Coolidge - Susan Thomas
 * Laverne Cox - Gail
 * Chris Lowell - Alexander "Al" Monroe
 * Connie Britton - Dean Elizabeth Walker
 * Adam Brody - Jerry
 * Max Greenfield - Joe Macklemore III
 * Christopher Mintz-Plasse - Neil
 * Sam Richardson - Paul
 * Alfred Molina - Jordan Green (uncredited)
 * Molly Shannon - Mrs. Fisher
 * Steve Monroe - Detective Lincoln Waller