Promising Young Woman (2020)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing   Of all the nominees, this was the one I was looking forward to the most.  That's probably why I found it a little disappointing.  I try and moderate my expectations but sometimes, I just can't.  

Content warning:  sexual assault, discussion of rape

Cassie (Carey Mulligan) seems like a stunted flower.  She is 30-years-old, still living in her parents' house, dropped out of medical school, and works in a coffee shop.  To all appearances, she is a failure.  But when one of her med school friends, Ryan (Bo Burnham), drops by the coffeeshop, Cassie sees a chance to make some amends.  Well, to make the people who wronged her make amends anyway.

This is probably as far into the Rape Revenge category as the Academy is willing to look, and that it got nominated for Best Picture is seriously an achievement.  That being said, it's incredibly fucking tame for the category.  I could get into specifics but then it's pretty spoilery, so I will refrain this time.  Honestly, it feels a little like the nominee that Hustlers should have been last year.  None of which is to say it's a bad movie.  Far from it.  It's extremely entertaining and Mulligan and Burnham are both great in it.  It's just not as bloody as I would have liked.

It's currently available for rent on Amazon, Vudu, Google Play, and Apple+ for $6, which is much more reasonable and totally worth it.