Promising Young Woman
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Short description
Cassie was a promising medical student with a bright future ahead of her, until a traumatic event derailed her life. She dropped out of school, moved back in with her parents and took a job at a coffee shop. By day she appears to be going nowhere. At night, she leads a secret double life, visiting bars and pretending to be drunk so that men will take advantage of her, then turning the tables on them. A chance encounter gives her the opportunity to settle the score with the people she holds responsible for what happened in her past.
Emerald Fennell wrote and directed the film, her first time in the director's chair. Fennell also produced alongside Margot Robbie and Ben Browning. Carey Mulligan leads the cast as Cassandra, with Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge and Laverne Cox in supporting roles. The production involved a credited cast of 31 and a crew of 193.
Made for a budget of 10 million dollars, the film took in about 20 million dollars worldwide, a modest sum that made it a commercial success relative to its cost. On IMDb it holds a 7.5 rating from roughly 253,000 votes, and on TMDB a 7.4 from around 3,851 votes. A critics' rating of 8.1 from 428 reviews places it well above the audience scores. Fennell went on to direct Saltburn in 2023 and Wuthering Heights in 2026.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film's title plays on a reference to one of the Stanford University students who was tried in 2016 for sexual harassment. Some called him a 'promising young man'.
- Chris Lowell later recounted that the choking scene was difficult for both him and his co-star. Mulligan had to keep her head in a specific position to be able to breathe while Lowell pretended to strangle her. The assistant director observed the scene and was supposed to shout when the actress lost consciousness. During the filming of one of the takes, Mulligan didn't manage to position her head correctly, and Lowell had already begun to strangle her, this time actually choking her, but the actress managed to signal to him to stop.
- The film's title alludes to a Stanford University student who was tried in 2016 for sexual assault. Despite being found guilty, some referred to him as a "promising young man."
- In the scene where her character is strangled, Carey Mulligan performed the scene herself, refusing a stunt double.
- Emerald Fennell asked her father-in-law, a retired police officer, how long it takes to strangle a person. He replied that 2.5 minutes is enough. The final strangulation scene in the film lasts exactly that long.
- The first scene conceived by screenwriter Emerald Fennell was as follows: a girl lies on the bed, her underwear is being removed, and she drunkenly asks, “What are you doing?”—and then asks the same question in a sober voice. She wrote the entire screenplay based on this idea.
- The first scene conceived by screenwriter Emerald Fennell was as follows: a girl lies in bed, her underwear is being removed, and she drunkenly asks, "What are you doing?" – then asks the same question when sober. She wrote the entire script based on this idea, and this first conceived scene also found its place in the final version.
- According to Emerald Fennell, the lead actress Carey Mulligan was very worried about the prospect of portraying drunkenness on camera, which is always difficult enough. The director and screenwriter reminded the actress that she wouldn't actually be drunk, she would only have to portray being drunk while sober, so some imperfections in her performance were permissible. These assurances and arguments helped Mulligan relax, and soon Fennell was already assuring the actress that she was portraying drunkenness very convincingly.
- According to Fennell, it was originally intended that the film would end tragically with Cassandra's death, but the director later decided to add a scene in which the character played by Chris Lowell receives his comeuppance. Discussing the film's ending with the producers, Fennell emphasized that a meticulous person like Cassandra would never allow herself to be in such a dangerous situation without taking precautions and carefully thinking everything through. This remark resulted in the appearance of the wedding scene and all related events in the script.
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