phednourtensua
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1 month ago Promising Young Woman is a sharp and provocative film that explores themes of revenge and justice through the story of Cassie, a woman who seeks why does a man kiss a woman's hand to right the wrongs of her past. The film’s unique approach combines dark humor with a gripping narrative, presenting a fresh take on the revenge thriller genre.
Promising Young Woman
Revenge never looked so promising.
Average Review: 7.505/10 (2320 votes)
A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path.
Streaming On: HBO Max, DIRECTV, Cinemax Amazon Channel
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Chris Lowell, Molly Shannon, Connie Britton, Adam Brody, Max Greenfield, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Steve Monroe, Sam Richardson, Ray Nicholson, Timothy E. Goodwin, Alli Hart, Loren Paul, Scott Aschenbrenner, Gabriel Oliva, Bryan Lillis, Francisca Estevez, Lorna Scott, Casey Adams, Vince Lozano, Mike Horton, Angela Zhou, Austin Talynn Carpenter, Emerald Fennell, Alfred Molina
Keywords: ohio, coffee shop, psychopath, horror, sociopath, revenge, predator turns victim, childhood friends, rape and revenge, woman director, medical school, pediatrician, living with parents, barista, sexual predator, nice guy, prosocial psychopath
Triggers
- bugs: A brief view of flies and the sound of their buzzing. - gaslighting: The film is about cultural gaslighting and the way that society allows men to abuse women without any consequences to their own lives. Characters discuss how a woman had been sexually assaulted and none of her friends believed her at the time, reporting the assault had no result, and the woman's life was ruined, while the man was able to go on to a successful career, reputation, and relationship despite never having changed. - stalking: The protagonist stalks a guy to take revenge on him. - alcohol abuse: Though sometimes fake - drug use: A character snorts lines of cocaine. He offers it to a woman, who refuses it, so he rubs it on her gums. Lots of drinking and discussing drinking alcohol to the point of blacking out. Someone's alcohol is drugged. - restraints - choking: Prolonged suffocation scene when the protagonist goes to confront the rapist at his bachelor party. He ends up suffocating her with a pillow. It is a long and gruesome scene to watch. - torture: Yes, but not in the slasher kind of way. More psychologically. - overdose - cheating: Cheating is not on camera. - kidnapping: In more than one situation, someone is lured to a location by a shady character with malicious intent. However this may not qualify as kidnapping. - farting or spitting: The protagonist spits in a cup of coffee after being asked if she wanted to - hospital scenes: The protagonist's love interest works at a hospital. - PTSD - anxiety attacks: There are several scenes with people in extreme distress: once with the ex-lawyer, and a final one near the end of the movie with a man handcuffed to a bed and unable to escape. - violent mentally ill person - people dying by suicide: Though it is never shown, but it is talked about and it's what drives the protagonist. - flashing lights or images: The clubs scenes had flashing lights and one scene with flashing lights gave a bit of a headache - man in a dress jokes: At the bachelor party there are two men wearing fake bare breast plates as a joke. It is more misogynistic than transmisogynistic, but still hits the same note. - hate speech: The movie has a lot of hate speech directed at women. A group of men discuss at a bar the fact that a woman can't come with them to a golf or strip club, but place the responsibility on her. Male construction workers shout insults at a woman who doesn't respond to their catcalling. Many people blame another woman for her own assault because she was drinking and say that she invited it. - sexual content: The film features many scenes of the lead-up to sex, and there is a lot of discussion of sex, but no sex is depicted on screen. A woman discusses a man "putting his fingers inside" her. A mention of anal sex. Crude descriptions of women and their bodies. Implications or discussions of sexual assaults - sexual objectification - sexual assault: The first scene of the film shows a man targeting a woman who appears drunk in a bar. He kisses her and begins to undress her as she protests, although she stops it and nothing is shown further. In another scene, a man plies a woman with drugs and begins kissing her and touching her legs as she says she needs to go home, before she stops it and confronts him. Multiple characters discuss a sexual assault in the past where the person reporting it was doubted, spoken over, and intimidated into silence. A woman sets up another woman to have an experience where she wonders if she had been assaulted or not. Someone recorded a video of a sexual assault and it was sent around. People regularly refuse to take responsibility for their part in a sexual assault. - male crying ridicule - sad endings: I don't believe anyone got justice, the guy was only arrested for killing her and nobody was punished for any instance of rape. The ending is sad and the movie acts like it's happy with happy music, that and the long rape-like murder scene is incredibly triggering. - blood or gore: There's a fake out where a red liquid is shown, but it's not blood.