WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Promising Young Woman, in theaters now. This piece also contains frank discussion of rape and gendered violence, including murder.
Emerald Fennell's Promising Young Woman takes a deep dive into toxic masculinity and the ripple effects of sexual assault years. The movie focuses on Cassie (Carey Mulligan) as she spends her nights pretending to be drunk at bars and on private dates, all to lure guys in order to teach them a lesson when they try to rape her.
Some encounters are violent, some aren't, but they all leave the perps stricken with fear and a harsh dose of reality. However, by the time the first act ends, while Cassie usually scribbles down the random victories in her notebook, she forms a sinister list after a former med school colleague, Ryan (Bo Burnham), comes back into her life.
Cassie takes a liking to the earnest Ryan, but she begins her new mission as he reveals info on former peers. First on the list is Madison (Alison Brie), who she discovers is now living a happy life. Cassie stalks her on Facebook and arranges a meeting, getting her drunk during lunch where it's revealed Cassie hates Madison for not backing up the real victim of the story, Nina. Nina was raped by guys during a dorm room party, and when she came to the girls in hopes they'd believe her, Madison led the charge in victim-blaming, slut-shaming and admitting there wasn't any proof.
This broke Nina, the top student, who would leave school and go on to commit suicide. To girls like Madison, this was a win because it opened the way for them to climb the academic ladder. Cassie never forgot about this, though, and would get revenge by hiring a guy to swoon Madison after their lunch. After they leave together, it appears as if he sexually assaulted Madison when she passed out, leaving her suffering her own breakdown.
Cassie then moves on to Dean Walker (Elizabeth Britton) in a fake interview to get back into school. She reveals Walker was the one who tossed Nina's report because she didn't think there was credibility to it. The fact that Walker's a woman and catalyst for Nina's suicide sickens her, causing Cassie to toss her a phone in revenge. It's actually Walker's daughter's phone, though, and Cassie admits she pretended to be a make-up artist and dropped the girl off at a university party in the same room Nina was raped. Walker demands to know the room so she can save her daughter, but Cassie tells her she needs to remember it from Nina's report. Not knowing Cassie actually dropped the girl off at a diner, Walker eventually breaks down, admitting she was wrong.
Next, Cassie goes after Jordan (Alfred Molina), the lawyer who threatened girls like Nina and made their cases go away. However, he's lost his license after suffering a psychotic breakdown. The guilt of it all has worn down on him, so Cassie forgives him, although she has plans to use him to take down the final pieces of the puzzle later on. Interestingly, when she gets back to her car, she calls off what seems to be a hitman, who's just happy he's getting paid, proving that out of everyone, she didn't have mercy in mind when it came to Jordan.
Finally, Cassie wants to go after the rapists, so she sets her sights on Al. She extracts details about him from Ryan and decides to pretend to be a sexy nurse at a bachelorette party he's attending, incensed he's getting to live a happy life with a fancy house and job. She knows the guys won't recognize her because she dropped out of school to look after Nina, and as Ryan soon figures out, this time, Cassie wants the kill all for herself.
Written directed and co-produced by Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman stars Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Connie Britton and Laverne Cox. The film arrives in theaters Dec. 25.