Promising Young Woman is a 2020 American thriller film
It stars Carey Mulligan as a young unstable woman haunted by a traumatic past as she navigates balancing forgiveness and vengeance.
Cassie Thomas, a 30-year-old medical school dropout, lives with her parents and works at a coffee shop in Ohio. Seven years earlier, her classmate, Al Monroe, raped her best friend and classmate, Nina Fisher. There was no investigation by the school or consequences from the legal system, causing Nina to commit suicide. Now, Cassie spends her nights feigning drunkenness in clubs and bars, allowing unsuspecting men to take her to their homes and revealing her sobriety when they try to take advantage of her.
Cassie goes on a date with another former classmate turned pediatric surgeon, Ryan Cooper, who mentions Al is getting married. She begins a plan to exact revenge on Al and others who were responsible for him getting away with the rape. She meets another former classmate, Madison McPhee, who continues to deny that Nina was raped. Cassie gets Madison drunk and hires a man to take Madison to a hotel room. With no memory of what happened, Madison leaves several distraught voicemails for Cassie, who does not answer them.
Cassie next targets Elizabeth Walker, the school dean who dismissed Nina’s case for “lack of evidence”. Cassie lures her teenage daughter, Amber, into her car by posing as a makeup artist for a popular band. Later, she meets Walker under the pretense of resuming her education and questions her about Nina’s case. When Walker explains away her actions, Cassie tells her she dropped Amber off at a dorm room with drunk male students. A terrified Walker apologizes for her inaction, and Cassie reveals Amber is safe at a diner. Cassie cancels a date with Ryan and instead again lures a man into taking her home. As they are walking out of the bar, they run into Ryan, who, not knowing what is really happening, is hurt.
Cassie visits Jordan Green, Al’s lawyer, who harassed Nina into dropping the charges. Green, on leave from practicing law after a nervous breakdown following Nina’s suicide, is remorseful, and Cassie forgives him. After visiting Nina’s mother, who urges her to move on, Cassie abandons her revenge plans. She also apologizes to Ryan, and they fall in love.
Madison confronts Cassie outside her house, desperate to know what happened after their lunch. Cassie reassures her that nothing happened. Madison gives her an old phone containing a video of Nina’s rape before warning her to never contact her again. Watching it, Cassie sees Ryan as a bystander. She confronts him and threatens to release the video unless he tells her where Al’s bachelor party is being held. Ryan tells her and begs for her forgiveness, but Cassie refuses.
Cassie arrives at Al’s bachelor party posing as a stripper. She drugs Al’s friends and takes Al upstairs. She handcuffs him to a bed and eventually reveals her identity. As she prepares to carve “Nina” onto Al’s abdomen, he breaks free and suffocates her with a pillow. The next morning, Al’s best friend, Joe, helps him burn Cassie’s body. Her parents file a missing person report and the police begin to investigate. Ryan tells them Cassie was mentally disturbed and does not tell them she was going to the bachelor party.
At Al’s wedding, Ryan receives several scheduled texts from Cassie. Green is shown receiving a package from Cassie with the video of Nina’s rape and instructions to follow if she does not return from the bachelor party. Gail, Cassie’s manager and friend, finds a half heart-shaped necklace with Cassie’s name under the cash register; Cassie was wearing the matching half with Nina’s name when she was killed. The police discover her burnt remains and the necklace, and arrest Al for the murder as Ryan receives a final text from Cassie, signed with her and Nina’s names.
