Best Films of 2020
#5 – Promising Young Woman
Writer/director Emerald Fennell’s polarizing Promising Young Woman is one of the most self-assured and stylish debuts I’ve ever seen. Whether you find it exhilarating or nauseating (or both), you can’t deny its potency.
Part rape revenge thriller, part romantic comedy, part exploration of PTSD, this movie manages its twists and turns so deftly and somehow emerges as a cohesive vision. Fennell, an English actress best known for roles on Call the Midwife and The Crown, has crafted a singular concoction, a candy-coated poison pill.
Several moments in this film took my breath away because they were so unexpected but so intricately designed. I’m always grateful to find myself in the hands of a filmmaker so in command of her audience.
I get why many people find this film irresponsible or shallow. It certainly shouldn’t be the definitive take on ‘Me Too’ or sexual trauma. But I’m glad so many creators of film and TV now have the chance to tell these stories, from so many different perspectives.
And have we got news for you! (You better listen)
Get ready all you lonely girls
And leave those umbrellas at home (Haha)
Alright
Humidity’s rising
Barometer’s gettin’ low
Accordin’ to all sources
The street’s the place to go
‘Cause tonight for the first time
Just about half-past ten
For the first time in history
It’s gonna start rainin’ men
It’s rainin’ men! Hallelujah!
It’s rainin’ men! Amen!
I’m gonna go out to run and let myself get
Absolutely soakin’ wet!
It’s rainin’ men! Hallelujah!
It’s rainin’ men! Every specimen!
Tall, blonde, dark and lean
Rough and tough and strong and mean
God bless Mother Nature
She’s a single woman too
She took off to Heaven
And she did what she had to do
She taught every angel
She rearranged the sky
So that each and every woman
Could find her perfect guy
Humidity’s rising (Uh, risin’)
Barometer’s gettin’ low (How low, girl?)
Accordin’ to all sources (What sources now?)
The street’s the place to go (You better hurry up)
‘Cause tonight for the first time (First time)
Just about half-past ten (Half-past ten)
For the first time in history
It’s gonna start rainin’ men (Start rainin’ men, start rainin’ men)
It’s rainin’ men! Hallelujah!
It’s rainin’ men! Amen!
I’m gonna go out to run and let myself get
Absolutely soakin’ wet!
It’s rainin’ men! Hallelujah!
It’s rainin’ men! Every specimen!
Tall, blonde, dark and lean
Rough and tough and strong and mean
It’s rainin’ men! Hallelujah! (God bless Mother Nature)
It’s rainin’ men! Amen! (She’s a single woman too)
She took off to Heaven
And she did what she had to do
It’s rainin’ men! Hallelujah!
It’s rainin’ men! Amen!
Meet Me In Montauk 
This is one picture I have opted out of seeing. I know it’s getting a lot of attention and I am a fan of Mulligan’s. I may change my mind at some point. I found your review interesting.
I had been very interested in this movie, while Amy, based on a NY Times article, was turned off. When the film received Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture, Amy relented and we watched it.
Candidly, at various points during the film, I turned to Amy and said that I really hated the direction and musical choices. Ultimately, I really disliked the ending, which I found just absurd and thematically inconsistent with the rest of the movie. Why not carry the gimmick she used in the beginning (acting drunk to entrap an otherwise innocent man into attempting rape) to the final scene? What was really the purpose of her schemes, the book with Roman numerals, etc. if she did something entirely different in the final chapter?
As the credits rolled, my instant reaction was that I had just seen a hot mess, and I felt something between ambivalence to irritation. And the more I thought about and discussed the movie with Amy, the more annoyed I became.
Ultimately, I found this film irredeemably irresponsible and exploitive, and I suspect that, had it been written and directed by a man, many, including you, would have felt the same way.
So, yeah, this would be nowhere near my top films of 2020.
I had the opposite reaction. I was thrilled throughout by the choices in music and direction, and I loved the boldness and sure-handedness of the vision.
I was also engaged in the twists and turns, and how Cassie’s actions shifted once she learned Al was back in town and getting married. I was also caught up in the romantic comedy within the movie, which I found so well-executed that I never realized it was a poison pill.
I resist the “if a man had made this” framing because I find it’s used far too often to suggest a woman or POC couldn’t possibly have received widespread acclaim were it not for their special class.
I, too, liked some of the bold choices but found the direction the film ultimately took to be so nihilistic as to make those choices feel irresponsible. I don’t think a man could go anywhere near the creation of a film such as this one and would likely be vilified if he had done so and ended the film this way. That said, with a woman at the helm, the film has gotten the attention it deserves, and, with that attention, the discussion/debate about those choices.
Just a few months earlier I had been blown away by I May Destroy You, which may be the best thing I watched in any medium last year. Michaela Coel’s brilliant miniseries brought me to tears, made me laugh, had me furious, inspired discussion and debate, and felt entirely grounded in the confusing emotions stemming from her own traumatic experience. It was almost impossible for me not to compare these two artistic interpretations of the aftermath of a sexual assault, though I readily admit that such a comparison is unfair. Regardless, I can’t help but feel that Coel was denied all the Emmy/Golden Globe adoration and appreciation that PYW received, so that may be one additional reason I found myself resenting the film that never felt grounded in any sort of reality. Had it not received that sort of reception, I would have still taken issue with its bleak conclusion wrapped in bubble gum colors and a pop soundtrack, but I might not have disliked it quite so intensely.
I need to watch I May Destroy You… that’s one of my big blindspots from last year.
One other thought about the prospect of PYW with a male director. Imagine if Quentin Tarantino, no stranger to stylish nihilism and pop soundtracks, had delivered this exact movie. He no doubt would have received plenty of pushback and criticism, as he always does, but I’m sure he also would have found himself in the Oscar race, as he usually does as well.
I think it’s great that a first-time woman director like Emerald Fennell can experience the same reception. It’s not as if PYW has been universally hailed… it has received plenty of criticism echoing your own. That’s why it’s been called the year’s most controversial movie. But it has also received plenty of accolades and awards recognition.
If that makes Fennell something akin to a female Tarantino… that’s great! We can use one of those.
I like the concept of Fennell being a female answer to Tarantino. I’ll be intrigued to see what she does next. And, yes, please find time to watch I May Destroy You. You may find that subtitles help, as I needed them to get every word!
To clarify, my suggestion of what the reaction might be if a man had directed this is that it may be the case that, in our current “woke” environment, flaws and inconsistencies that would otherwise be highlighted as such are instead ignored or, as reflected in your review, seen in a glowingly positive light because the writer/director is a woman or person of color. Your Tarantino comparison is apt and I agree that it is a good thing when a woman or person of color is not shielded from criticism, yet you seem to be doing that very shielding, whether consciously or not.
I posit that Amy and my (and Maddie’s) ability to see the serious shortcomings of this film make us more “woke,” not less.😀
What I don’t get is why you point to the 89% Tomato ranking of Chicago 7 to show I’m wrong about the shortcomings of that film, while ignoring the 90% Tomato ranking of this one to suggest you’re right about the shortcomings of this one!
Some viewers’ shortcomings aren’t shortcomings for others, for a number of reasons. Some are aesthetic, some are personal. But they are all valid.
The suggestion that a movie by a POC or woman gets a pass because of “woke” culture is very Tucker Carlson!
So, now I’m Tucker Carlson? I think we’re done here!
No, you are not Tucker Carlson, thank god. 🙂