[Editor’s note: The following containsspoilersfor Promising Young Woman.]
Emerald Fennell’s directorial debut,Promising Young Woman, makes a huge impression for a number of reasons, but there’s truly no shaking the events of the film after that gut-punch of an ending. The film concludes withCarey Mulligan’s character, Cassie, targeting the individual that put her on this path to begin with, Al Monroe (Chris Lowell), her best friend Nina’s rapist. By posing as a stripper, Cassie manages to drug the other guests at his bachelor party and handcuff Al to a bed. But, before Cassie manages to carve Nina’s name in Al’s skin, he escapes and smothers Cassie with a pillow, killing her.
While talking to Mulligan for the theatrical release ofPromising Young Womanback in December, she took a moment to address that crushing conclusion to Cassie’s story, including her first reaction to reading it:
“I think my first reaction was sort of the audience’s reaction of like, ‘Oh no!’ That’s so not what you want to happen! And, you know, the audience feels that too. But I’m just so proud of Emerald for sticking to her guns. I think a lot of people may have been persuaded to change that ending to something that ultimately just wouldn’t have felt real. We know the truth around those kind of scenarios and they don’t go generally in the favor of the woman when it comes to physical hand to hand combat. And the fantasy version of this would have been that Cassie walks away in a sort of triumphant strut and leaves everyone on the floor, but it’s just not the truth and I think Em felt very, very strongly that it’s important to tell the truth about things like this. So I’m really proud of Emerald for being so clear on that. And I do think it’s part of the reason why you can’t forget about the film when you walk away. It’s not a film that you can just sort of put down to being a fun experience. It stays with you in part because it doesn’t give you the easy way [out] and that’s what continues the conversation.”
Promising Young Womanproves mighty successful in that department. Not only did I carry the film’s conclusion with me from Sundance in January 2020 to my second viewing for that December 25th theatrical release, but every single time I rewatch it, the devastation of Cassie’s fate and what it says about our reality intensifies.
Mulligan also took a moment to address Cassie’s headspace when walking in for that bachelor party. Did Cassie know her mission was doomed from the start or was there a sliver of hope that she wouldn’t even need the failsafes she put in place prior? Here’s what Mulligan said:
“Yeah, I think it was the latter more. It wasn’t a suicide mission, but she had become caviler with her life so she wasn’t going knowing that she wasn’t coming back. She put things in place in case that happened. She knew there was a possibility of that happening, but the will to live was still there. But yeah, by that point, so much had happened and there was so much anger that I think she sort of doesn’t overthink it.”
If you’d like to hear more onPromising Young Woman, we’ve got anextended non-spoiler video interviewwith Mulligan andLaverne Cox, and alsoour conversationwith Mulligan, Fennell andBo Burnhamfrom the Sundance Film Festival.
