It’s about apartments that we have all ended up in, by hook or by crook. But I do feel strongly that what she does was the only thing she felt she could do.”. Were you ever worried about the audience response, given that people expect catharsis?Yeah, of course. One is just skipping through daisies and delicious, beautiful candy land. It’s so interesting talking to people about it afterwards, because so many people feel that she doesn’t make the right decision, and actually there was still hope there [with Ryan]. Through these scenes, Promising Young Woman illustrates the power that even cis white women — like Nina, and by extension Cassie — lose when sexual violence casts them out of their “promising” position in society. We chatted about how she arrived at such a complicated finale, the greater visual landscape of her new film, and the fairy tales and fables that inspire her storytelling. Ryan, seemingly the only person who understood where Cassie was going that night, lies to … That’s true. But also the stuff, the very specific thing, I think, that Promising Young Woman is talking about is people who don’t know they’re bad. Clover calls it “pure Pollyannaism.” But “Promising Young Woman” is not quite so simple, premising its neat twist on the hard fact of Cassie’s murder. So it was important for Cassie to seem innocuous and sweet and feminine and tactile and inviting, in the same way that the movie should seem inviting. That’s when it’s difficult. But by ending Promising Young Woman with Cassie’s post-death “victory,” Fennell has instead set a clear price for vengeance. It’s a journey where she’s offering redemption or punishment. © 2021 Vox Media, LLC. Where did this idea start, and how did it develop?I don’t really work conceptually, or even in a kind of genre-type way. It’s only after she’s gone home with supposed “good guys” that she reveals she is quite the opposite. But what could I do? Promising Young Woman subverts expectations throughout, but nowhere more so than in its electric and harrowing ending, which sees Cassie finally going into … It could have been a completely different movie from that opening; you’re totally right. I suppose, from there, I knew who Cassie was and maybe what the film was going to be. That’s the fear: The trouble with men’s anger is that it can, as you say, come from nowhere. Disneyland Will Reopen on April 30, Demi Lovato’s New Album Will Include an Ariana Grande Collab, Michelle Obama Roasts Kimmel Over His Obsession With Her and Barack’s Sex Life. I love all that stuff as well. You love your fiancé! “Enjoy the wedding!” he reads, as the police arrest Al. It's now seven years later, Nina has died by suicide and Cassie enacts her revenge by pretending to be too drunk to stand at bars every week. It’s like, Oh, but did she? Margot Robbie serves as a producer through her LuckyChap Entertainment production company. Who chooses the hard road? Was it her character delving into trauma? It’s a kind of empty catharsis. Directed by Emerald Fennell. We also know that Nina is dead. I think that’s a reason women don’t resort to violence, and it very rarely ends well when they do. “You’re going to fight for your life and it’s going to be horrific for both of you.”, “Somebody as meticulous as Cassie does not go to a cabin in the middle of nowhere with a ton of drunk men thinking that something bad might not happen,” Fennell said. Not excited at all,” she captioned a pic with Jesse Williams. Promising Young Woman's plot sees Carey Mulligan's Cassie seek revenge against her friend Nina's rapist, and those who refused to believe her. The film’s central ride-or-die friendship invokes both “Thelma & Louise” and “Baise-moi.” Before this scene, I was struck by so many other visual compositions — the neon-lit bar and the pastel-inflected coffee shop. In general with this film, I have tried to sort of just present it rather than [explain it]. And you can’t, you know? That we were keen to say, “This is a fable. The next scene: Oh, there’s blood on her leg. I’m really curious about the genesis of this story idea and which threads came first. Yes, Cassie does die a noble death. In the Adam Brody scene, it’s basically the opening scene of a romantic bro comedy. That’s something, again, that I don’t think is really explored. In the end, Cassie comes face-to-face with Nina’s rapist. The promising young woman of the title is Cassie (Carey Mulligan), whose best friend, Nina, was raped while the two were in school and then committed suicide.Cassie subsequently drops out … While we never find out exactly what happened afterward, what emerges is that Nina dropped out of school after a sham investigation — and so did Cassie, in order to take care of her. Warning: This review contains major spoilers . But I feel like the 7,000 people I’ve killed … And it’s not to say I don’t completely adore John Wick. Fennell’s financiers balked, she said with a laugh: “They were, like, ‘Come on, we’re going to give you money to make this!’ But in my heart, I think that’s where it would have ended.”, When she originally sat down to write the script, Fennell had yet another ending in mind — one in which Cassie walks into Al’s bachelor party and triumphs — “the big, fuck you, cathartic ending,” she said, in which Cassie “is going to put on a sexy outfit and she’s going to kill a ton of guys!”, “It was never written,” she continued, “because the moment Cassie is in that room, I realized that there is no way of honestly showing that. But with this movie, the first moment was — which is what usually happens for me — a very specific scene. The Most Striking 2021 Grammy Performances Were Bigger Than the Music. I think that’s the thing with Cassie. I think that Promising Young Woman, for me, was always about allegiances and who you trust and to whom you’re willing to give the benefit of the doubt. Oh, damn. This is never more evident than in its gruesome, exhilarating ending. Everything she does, the door is slamming. It may be very cathartic — and very, very, very pleasurable — to say things are simple, but they’re not. Al could step in to … Again, it’s like, at what point do you forgive? Its pop-inflected soundtrack and bright-hued production design belie the violence at the story’s center. Focus Features. I’m interested in Westerns and road movies and the revenge genre, and in particular, I think, kind of centering women and trying to wonder what … For me, it’s always like, What would I do? Fuck me. Promising Young Woman, the much-hyped rape-revenge movie from Emerald Fennell, is remarkable for one key reason: It never, ever tries to tone down its heroine’s rage. Certainly the rapist, Al Monroe (Chris Lowell), never acknowledges the word when Cassie confronts him. Fennell’s dark comedy, now on demand, is a genre-bending adventure ― part revenge thriller, part candy-colored rom-com.It tells the story of med school dropout Cassie (Carey Mulligan) who is now a barista by day and a bad-man exposer by night.After a traumatic event leaves her broken, Cassie … “My father-in-law is a retired policeman, so I asked him how long it would take to smother somebody,” Fennell said. Directed by Emerald Fennell. The doors just slam, slam, slam. What was in your mind as you were trying to find the right men for this story and play with people’s expectations?I think there’s a huge amount of pleasure in seeing people you’ve loved for a long time doing something that you’re not expecting, and so there is that. In Promising Young Woman, femininity contains its own form of violence: it’s a cover under which danger hides. PARK CITY, Utah, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- In Promising Young Woman, Carey Mulligan plays Cassie, a former medical school student who devotes her life to … That’s quick.Yes, it was quite quick. Oh, this is going to happen. Surely, I mean, John Wick, my favorite of all time, there’s got to come a point where John Wick sits down and watches television and thinks, Fuck me, I killed a lot of people. Emerald Fennell, the writer-director of Promising Young Woman, didn't want to have her heroine die at the end of the movie. Maybe detective Benoit Blanc will make a cameo? Don’t get me wrong, it was a really cute dog. So that felt very real to me. It makes sense in the context of the movie. I think people really prefer not to be self-aware.That’s another alarming facet of this film: We, as humans, have a tendency to forget and live in denial, I think, rather than, as you say, face it. Log in or link your magazine subscription, This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. It needs to be a world that feels familiar and safe and feminine until it isn’t. [Warning: Spoilers ahead.]. “It’s difficult to talk about. So it’s that kind of thing. Watching her gesturing toward these open doors for people to escape, and they just don’t. In the same way that if somebody comes up to you in a pub and says “Hey” and, I don’t know, pinches your ass or whatever. When do you let things go? Let’s have a coffee after.” I mean, that’s never happened. Generally what happens is I’ve been thinking about something for a while. But I have a best friend like Nina, who I’ve been friends with since I was four. Its protagonist, Cassie (Carey Mulligan), is a 30-year-old med school dropout who goes to bars every week and pretends to be drunk. That’s the thing about this, is that it’s all in what you expect. The movie centers on Cassie, a woman who has dedicated herself to avenging a gang rape that destroyed her best friend’s life. “And it may not be right. It’s because if she does, she’s fucked, and he’s fucked, and everything’s fucked. Did you really do that? And in her mind, when she intricately planned her revenge, she’s reunited with Nina — in emoticons, at least. Okay, fine. With regard to casting, when it came to the “bad guys” Cassie fucks with, for lack of a better term, I thought the actor choices were really good. Okay, he didn’t do that, and she was sober. What happens after you’ve done that stuff? Pepa, one-third of the legendary rap group, recalls her surprise, Rosé Takes the Choreo to the Floor for ‘On the Ground’, It’s one of two songs off her recent solo project, Sharon Osbourne Denies Allegations of Racism, Claims She Was Set Up. First of all, for the love of God, do not read this story or watch the video unless you’ve seen Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman.” Just stop now — unless, of course, you love spoilers, in which case… go forth. For Variety’s cover story about “Promising Young Woman,” Fennell and Mulligan extensively discussed the ending. “It’s been 10 years of slow burn — of tiny minute decisions of self-harm, of hardening. What happened to Nina has given Cassie a purpose — and what she does for that purpose “many, many male protagonists have been doing for years,” Fennell said. Promising Young Woman is not the feminist revenge fantasy I wanted, but it’s the one society deserves . But you look at it and the way that these movies tend to be structured — not always, but something like Kill Bill, perhaps — they have set pieces. The London native once again has made a stir this awards season playing Cassie in Promising Young Woman, a young woman hell … I mean, I think that I was really lucky in that, at every stage of this film, when I sent out scripts and when I was talking to people about it, they got it. I just was like, how do I fix it?”. By day, she works at a candy-colored coffee shop. Here’s How to Get the Streaming Service for Free, From Sharp Looks to Precise Movements, Grand Seiko’s Elegance Watches Are a Serious Value Buy, NFL Bid to Expand Regular Season Could Earn Networks $180 Million, Make Your Own Craft Beer at Home With the Best Home-Brewing Kits. She goes to bars and acts wasted, and inevitably a man picks her up in order to, he tells himself and possibly his bros, get her home safely. Promising Young Woman asks a brilliant question about the morés and norms of our society today. There are reasons that the weapon is introduced in a room with a man and a woman in it, that the woman doesn’t win. It’s completely unrelenting. Is it blood or is it [ketchup]? And I think that that’s what always interests me. Promising Young Woman upends this approach, never depicting Cassie’s traumas explicitly but using her final assault and death as the basis of its cathartic denouement. Like, “You need to take her home,” then she laughs at his jokes. But that was fine. But "Promising Young Woman" isn't one of those films. We had to tell the truth about that situation, and it had to be exact.” Harder than the actual shoot, she said, was the subsequent voice dubbing in post-production (called ADR, automated dialogue replacement). Two people you would trust, as an audience. But I think actual anger, real anger, makes me feel ill, really ill. It’s not something I … For me, it’s not pleasurable and the release of it isn’t pleasurable. That’s why so few people go to therapy — because who wants to know? Cassie gets to have her say with Al (Chris Lowell), the man who raped her best friend Nina years ago, but is killed by him in the ensuing struggle. The following review contains spoilers for Promising Young Woman. The root of her journey really was her love for Nina and the grief that she feels there. Rape does not go away when you refuse to say it. Awkward” — and then they have a long weekend of brunches and walking alongside the river where they fall in love slowly, you know? You can ask Alfred Molina to come in for a day, or Connie Britton, or Alison Brie. And so Cassie goes to find Al, who is celebrating his bachelor party with his best friends at a remote cabin in the woods. 'Promising Young Woman' ending explained: Emerald Fennell breaks down the shocking end to Carey Mulligan film. She hates him so much!”. By day, she works at a candy-colored coffee shop. It totally does.It’s like, whoever goes to a therapist and they’re like, “You’re fine”? “Promising Young Woman” — currently playing in select theaters and premiering on video-on-demand platforms Jan. 15 — ends with Cassie dying at the hands of one of those predators, clean-cut Al Monroe (Chris Lowell), a classmate who raped Cassie’s longtime best … I was wondering if you’d just talk about conceiving their romance, what you wanted to deal with, and maybe any movies you were consciously referencing or upending?The thing about Ryan that is so troubling is he not only offers her a chance for happiness, but the relief — from her parents and herself — that she might be okay. ‘The Bachelor’: What Happened to Matt James and Rachel Kirkconnell After the Final Rose? She’s not an idiot, and she knows that there’s a risk. So it is shocking, but it’s not supposed to be nice.”. That’s when it’s complicated, because we’re asking the audience to side with the protagonist, who is much more enigmatic and much more complicated than these people that we all love, who seem like kind of straightforward guys. But I really believe strongly that if you’re going to show violence, you need to… I think actually the worst thing you can do is treat it glibly. Audiences have a tendency to cut a protagonist a lot of slack, and once Cassie is dead, Promising Young Woman lacks a protagonist entirely. We never actually see the video that their former classmate Madison (Alison Brie) has given Cassie. Fennell put it this way: “Look at these two paths in front of this promising young woman. That’s what’s sort of thrilling to me about all this stuff. As Cassie’s necklace symbolically proves, she is now at peace in death as she has been reunited with Nina and has brought Nina’s attackers to justice. It was happening in real-time and also it’s a stunt and it’s dangerous, [so] obviously if something does go wrong, it’s difficult to know,” Fennell said. The ending of 'Promising Young Woman' is a destabilizing shock to audiences. That their default is defensiveness and anger, and that can occasionally spill into something much more frightening and physical. So that’s the kind of thing that I’m interested in, is those people who just think, Oh, this is fine. But once the real stuff comes out, I think she knows that it’s going to be difficult. 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. Something happened at university that you barely remember with a girl that was, as far as you guys were all concerned, crazy drunk, and always shagged everyone. We see a lot of badassery with whip-smartery, which I don’t mind. Cassie is powered by guilt and grief over the death of her best friend, Nina, who died in the wake of a documented rape at the hands of one of their former med-school classmates. After all, from Al’s point of view, he would be scared for his life. Which is, yes, this is a specific story about a specific person, but also this feels profoundly true on a much more disturbing and deep level. Promoted as “black comedy,” yes, there are moments in Promising Young Woman when a smile begins; yet it will soon die. She makes these decisions, and you’re like, Damn, girl. Because there’s no happy ending in any revenge. [Anger is] horrific. But when is life ever tidy when you’re dealing with this stuff? Never, never. Promising Young Woman is a remarkably cold film. The specific scene was a drunk girl on a bed having her clothes taken off and saying, drunkenly, “What are you doing? Already a subscriber? Men who hide in plain sight, a culture that hides in plain sight, and a woman who’s hiding in plain sight. It does. That’s so useful because you can then have these two-handers, which are always, for me, the most exciting kind of scenes in movies. It makes you want to examine the film and the society that we live in. The Ending of Promising Young Woman Explained. She’s deliberately sent them a few days later, so that if things do go right she can cover her tracks. Much of the film lays out the ways Cassie … In “Promising Young Woman,” Carey Mulligan plays Cassie, whose childhood best friend, Nina, was raped during a raucous party in medical school. It’s so hard to talk about this stuff. Promising Young Woman is the prime example of a film that very much needed to be made in today's day in age, but I wasn't expecting it to take things as far as it did. Yup, sounds about right. I completely understand why. Especially Adam Brody. Now that it’s available on VOD, perhaps those conversations will happen in living rooms, over text and (lord help us) on Twitter. In “Promising Young Woman,” Carey Mulligan plays Cassie, whose childhood best friend, Nina, was raped during a raucous party in medical school. Whatever Cassie sent as proof of her disappearance (we never see it), the police find her remains. She handcuffs him to the bed and tries to force him to confess what he did. Indeed, when the police come to ask him questions about her disappearance — which would be a chance for him to do the right thing and say she’d gone to Al’s party — he protects his old friend and sells her out — reinforcing the detective’s idea that she was “unstable.”. I’ve been thinking about consent, and the sort of raunch culture that I grew up with, and the kind of “loopholes” that are exploited to take advantage of women and their bodies.
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