IIII

Promising Young Woman (2020, Emerald Fennell) is a bubblegum black comedy revenge fantasy with an agenda. And what’s so satisfying about it is that it feels like what I want a Hollywood movie to feel like: assured, absurd, uncomfortable, relatable, relevant, serious, fun, silly, and structured. Well, what I want out of a movie that I guess could be called a date movie, or escapist, or popcorn; but intelligent, even Hitchcock-worthy in its strategies.

     The music works. So much of the tone of Promising Young Woman comes from the songs. The opening alone was worth the price of my admission. Seriously, Charli XCX? I already love it. “Boys” is Charli at her most playful, and its 8-bit NES coin sounds in the soundscape is not just fun, it says something about her demographic. But somewhere around the midpoint there’s a scene where CASSIE goes batshit aggro way over the top to the “Liebestod,” in a set piece that for me shows that character eschewing verisimilitude for emotional authenticity. That scene’s my whole basis for relating to her. And not that at this point I can even rank the music selections but there’s also a montage to Paris Hilton’s one hit, “Stars Are Blind,” that goes so far as to make me wonder why I can’t think of any other movie to knock me over with applause at the alchemy of worthless art into precious art.

 

     But no it wasn’t only the music. The narrative is an airtight genre psychological thriller morality trap. And it doesn’t cop out. Yet still it manages to stay dangerous. Its tone is traumacore. And the central protag is so volatile but not for one second would I say crazy.

 

12/23/2020 AMC Madison Yards 8

Atlanta, GA

DCP