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The Oscars are approaching so now I’ll be tweeting all my obsessive observations & thoughts on my fave of the year, Promising Young Woman. As a survivor it made me feel so palpably seen & my rage validated. I own the blu-ray, soundtrack on vinyl, & have clocked 30+ viewings
First of all, I take so much joy in knowing that @emeraldfennell ran the set of @PromisingFilm and ordered those beloved male actors to act like the most pathetic dudes possible while being EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT 
Peak femininity as power behind this story, I’m obsessed.
Peak femininity as power behind this story, I’m obsessed.
SPOILERS ABOUND OBVIOUSLY. Go watch the movie if you haven’t seen it. Don’t read this thread until you have!
I love the very conscious casting choices of these men, all of whom we have off-screen associations with being charming, self-deprecating, “goofy best friend” dudes.
I love the very conscious casting choices of these men, all of whom we have off-screen associations with being charming, self-deprecating, “goofy best friend” dudes.
It lays the trap perfectly. In her pitch for #PromisingYoungWoman, @emeraldfennell emphasized that no bad thing that is done to a woman in this movie is something that has not been played for laughs in mainstream comedies over the past 20 years. Think about that. It’s 100% true.
Something I can’t shake about @emeraldfennell’s brilliance is the haunting script detail that Alexander in @PromisingFilm is an anesthesiologist after med school. Making a living off of a socially acceptable version of his core evil: removing consent. Whew
#PromisingYoungWoman
#PromisingYoungWoman
A detail I ALSO didn’t catch on my first few viewings is that Cassandra, the name of the lead of @PromisingFilm, is also the name of the Greek mythology figure who’s cursed with knowing the future but never believed by anybody when she talks about it. HOO BOY #PromisingYoungWoman
Fennell sneakily references tons of teen movies and media. Did you peep the dean’s daughter’s yellow Clueless dress? And Cassie’s bodycon nightclub look from Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion? I could go on!!
#PromisingYoungWoman
#PromisingYoungWoman
Max Greenfield & Chris Lowell freaking out about what to do the next morning in the cabin—that scene is disgusting to us viewers who’ve been watching the rest of the movie, but what if a movie began with that scene? Tons of 90s & 00s male comedies did! “Very Bad Things”, etc.!
“What do we with the dead stripper” is a premise played for laughs over and over again. Fennell slaps us into reality by showing us those same charming handsome young male actors doing that same scene...but we’ve spent the movie with “the stripper” instead. She’s not just a body.
Fennell even winks at this overtly in the script for @PromisingFilm where Max Greenfield says, “What is this, the 90s?!”
Oh, and we gotta bow down to the multiple uses of The Night of the Hunter, the 1950s Robert Mitchum thriller about a man who hunts women he believes weaponize their sexuality immorally. 
#PromisingYoungWoman
#PromisingYoungWoman
Obviously I want it to win everything this Sunday. But my greatest wish is that it at least nabs Screenplay. It’s just so perfect & surprising.
“Will you think about this, please? Please?” “I cannot begin to tell you how much I’ve thought about it.”
@PromisingFilm
“Will you think about this, please? Please?” “I cannot begin to tell you how much I’ve thought about it.”
@PromisingFilm
The director’s commentary from @emeraldfennell is a stone cold masterclass as we learn her choices scene by scene. The imagery of Cassie walking up the cabin path with her “gear” evokes Little Red Riding Hood with her basket, & cabins are prime locations we associate with horror.
Give her best director toooo! She says she used a Phantom high-speed camera specifically in the slo-mo stripping scene with the close-ups on all the men’s faces, since Nat Geo docs use them & she wanted to evoke the feeling that they’re animals we’re observing 
Tonight is the NIGHT!!! 
Something else I love is the biblical imagery for Cassie. From the cross-like positioning coming full circle from the beginning in the red booth to the end in the bed...to the little red “halo” above her in the restaurant scene, & more!!
Something else I love is the biblical imagery for Cassie. From the cross-like positioning coming full circle from the beginning in the red booth to the end in the bed...to the little red “halo” above her in the restaurant scene, & more!!
And these casting choices!! Casting Coolidge but playing down her physical femininity we’re used to seeing is a purposeful statement. And Britton—who we best know as a “safe”, trustworthy school figure from FNL—is a brilliant trap for us. @PromisingFilm #PromisingYoungWoman
Let’s give it up for @emeraldfennell’s v deliberate esoundtrack!!
Choosing to feature “Toxic” and “Stars Are Blind” is a statement in itself, asking us to reflect how we as a culture treated those young female artists in the early 2000s, & correlate that to the film’s conflict.
Choosing to feature “Toxic” and “Stars Are Blind” is a statement in itself, asking us to reflect how we as a culture treated those young female artists in the early 2000s, & correlate that to the film’s conflict.
Fennell points out in the commentary how “Something Wonderful” from The King & I is a beautiful, haunting song sung by a woman who is in love with a man who is unbelievably cruel. As musical theatre fan I found it so effective! The music stings in @PromisingFilm are unparalleled.
To round out my thoughts, I know award shows are lame/rigged/etc, but I really want as many people to see PYW as possible so a win would help that! Required viewing in high schools plz I think it snaps men (& women!) into reality & is so needed
I love you, @emeraldfennell!
I think it snaps men (& women!) into reality & is so neededI love you, @emeraldfennell!
SHE WON BEST SCREENPLAY OH MY GOD I’M CRYING THIS IS ALL I WANTED!!!!!
