Revenge movies are, at heart, wish-fulfilment fantasies.

A traditional rape/revenge movie offers the satisfaction of seeing a woman bring her rapist to justice - usually through violence.

I& #39;d argue that #PromisingYoungWoman fails to do this AND fails to ~subvert the genre. https://twitter.com/Hello_Tailor/status/1385014305280700417">https://twitter.com/Hello_Tai...

The thing is, PYW *is also* a total fantasy. The story only works if we ignore (or completely rewrite) some basic elements of human behavior. It doesn& #39;t make sense AND it& #39;s not morally/emotionally satisfying.

(Spoilers in thread!)

PYW& #39;s heroine Cassandra entraps rapists by pretending to be blackout drunk in bars. An intriguing idea, altho in reality she& #39;d also attract a ton of women trying to help her get home safe.

(The film doesn& #39;t show this, because it has a very meanspirited view of both men & women.)

Once Cassandra has successfully honeytrapped a rapist, what does she do?

She... reveals that she& #39;s not actually drunk! And that& #39;s it. The guy& #39;s entire "comeuppance" is having to admit that he& #39;s an attempted rapist. There& #39;s no follow-up.

In theory, we& #39;re meant to be satisfied by watching these men feel vulnerable & guilty. But do they actually see the error of their ways? Will they stop trying to rape people now? We literally don& #39;t know!

(Two people have already replied to this thread saying, "Wait, she DOESN& #39;T kill them??" which really emphasizes the success of PYW& #39;s trailer, which strongly implied it was a straightforward revenge movie.) https://youtu.be/7i5kiFDunk8 ">https://youtu.be/7i5kiFDun...