Cassie dropped out of medical school after a friend was hurt, and now spends her nights pretending to be drunk in bars to test the men who take her home. Then an old classmate walks into her coffee shop. Fennell paints it in bubblegum pastels, and the sweet look is the trick.
Promising Young Woman is a 2020 crime, drama and thriller film directed by Emerald Fennell. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (3 narrative, 1 sound and 1 cinematography), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Monty Python and the Holy Grail uses several of the same techniques.
Building the whole plot on one character's fixation with a person, goal or rival. Every scene ties back to it, and the obsession keeps feeding itself while it destroys them.
How this film uses it
Cassie's mission drives every scene, from her bar nights to the hit list in her notebook. She is stuck in the past and will not stop. You see her grow harder with each name she crosses off.
Where to see it
The notebook: Cassie writes a tally mark in her notebook after each night out and keeps a list of the people connected to her friend's case.
Setting up a film to look like a familiar genre, then breaking that genre's rules on purpose. You have to rethink what kind of story you are watching.
How this film uses it
The film looks like a rom-com in pastel clothes, with a sweet coffee shop and a charming boy. Then it turns into a revenge thriller, and the cute surface starts to feel like a mask.
Where to see it
The pharmacy scene: Cassie and Ryan sing along to a pop song in a drugstore. It plays like a rom-com montage, and the mood warms before the story turns.
Playing an existing popular song at a precise moment in the film. The song's lyrics, era and associations add irony, period feel or emotion that an original score could not.
How this film uses it
Fennell uses glossy pop songs to set a mood the characters are not in. The upbeat tracks play over scenes with dark meaning, so the sound and the story pull against each other.
Where to see it
The pharmacy scene: Paris Hilton's 'Stars Are Blind' plays while Cassie and Ryan sing along, a sweet moment of falling for each other.
Building up the usual genre expectations, like the villain getting caught and the climax approaching, then refusing to deliver them. Your own anticipation is what makes the letdown hit so hard.
How this film uses it
You expect Cassie to win. The film builds toward her final confrontation, and then Al Monroe kills her. The shock hits harder because you wanted the revenge to work.
Where to see it
The bachelor party: Cassie handcuffs Al to the bed and tells him why she is there. He breaks free, pins her with a pillow and kills her.
Limiting the film to a tightly chosen set of colors, or giving each place or state its own set. The colors tell you about the world and its mood without dialogue.
How this film uses it
The film is full of candy colors, pinks and baby blues in the coffee shop, the clothes and the nails. The cheerful palette makes the story look harmless, and it makes the dark scenes hurt more.
Where to see it
The coffee shop: Cassie works behind a counter in a sugary pink and blue room, then walks into a darker bar at night.
Questions
Promising Young Woman: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does Promising Young Woman use?
CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Promising Young Woman (2020): Obsession as Structural Engine, Genre Subversion, Pop Music Needle Drop, Expectation Collapse and Color Palette as Worldbuilding.
Who directed Promising Young Woman?
Emerald Fennell directed Promising Young Woman, released in 2020. CineCode also covers Saltburn (2023).
What films are similar to Promising Young Woman?
Films that share techniques with Promising Young Woman include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Sunshine (2007), The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985).
