Promising Young Woman by Emerald Fennell [7/10]

Vigilante movies rarely work but when they do, they can be memorable. “Promising Young Woman,” a revenge story for the #MeToo era, follows a young woman turning the tables on misogynistic males, at first in random bars but then increasingly in a targeted fashion relating to an event in our hero’s life. Carey Mulligan is extraordinary as the scheming, candy-sweet-looking avenger, channeling deception, rage, ennui, and regret. Writer-director Emerald Fennell’s script charges ahead from one brilliant scene to another. The cinematography and the music fit perfectly. Promising Young Woman makes for edgy viewing, skirting satire and horror, and the closing bravura scenes seem both inevitable and regrettable from a story point of view. Recommended.