Revenge is a dish best served bold.
American audiences have been subjected to revenge plots in popular movies + TV shows for years. Weโre no strangers to protagonists with personal vendettas avenging deaths in a comic book like fashion made famous by the likes of Quentin Tarantino to Arya Stark on Game of Thrones. Frankly, audiences eat it up and itโs always satisfying when the good guys win. But what happens when the story becomes more fact than fiction? Can it still be evocative and entertaining? If youโre director Emerald Fennell the answer is yes and with a confectionary twist. ย
Focus Featuresย Promising Young Woman, directed by Killing Eveโs showrunner Emerald Fennell, is a re-imagined femme fatale thriller starring Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, and Connie Britton.
The film follows Cassie Thomas [Carey Mulligan] and her double life as an uninspired barista living at home with her parents by day and a feminist vigilante by night. Righting the wrongs of her past trauma and best friendโs death, any man who lands himself in Cassieโs web has serious consequences to pay. When Ryan [Bo Burnham], a former classmate, reappears in Cassieโs life she rethinks abandoning her missionโuntil new details from the past come back to haunt her.
We sat down with Promising Young Womanโs Bo Burnham to discuss the movie in detail:
The Knockturnal: First impressions, I saw Promising Young Woman last night and itโs one hell of a movie.ย Who approached you with the script and what were your first thoughts upon reading it?ย
Bo Burnham: My agent actually said, โDo you want to do a chemistry read with Carey Mulligan?โ, and I said that sounds horrifying and that will go so horrible but that will be good because Iโll leave a better person or something for having failed [Laughs] So then I read the script and was like Woah. The story is genuinely shocking and I donโt know how anyone could pull it off, then I met [director] Emerald Fennell. Well if anyone could pull it off itโs this person. She is incredibly intelligent but like darkly funny and sweet and emotional and also kind of confectionary. She just is the movie so I was immediately sort of onboard.ย
The Knockturnal: I love the femme fatale music selections in this movie.
Bo Burnham: Itโs done out of love, Emerald genuinely loves these things and has respect for them. When you see movies where like pop music is placed in ironically by men who have no respect for the music. She has a deep respect for this stuff, as she should. Itโs so Emerald.ย
The Knockturnal: One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Ryan + Cassie [Carey Mulligan] take their first pharmacy trip together as a couple and start singing down the aisles to Paris Hiltonโs Stars Are Blind.
Bo Burnham: Itโs so funny people keep saying that to Carey and I. That was maybe the hardest thing for me to shoot. It was so embarrassing, but it should be because early stages of love are so embarrassing. Youโre so punch drunk off of each otherโs company so that was good. It was good to be able to do it with her and humiliate ourselves simultaneously.ย
The Knockturnal: Thereโs a lot of great talent in addition to yourself on this film, Carey Mulligan, Molly Shannon, Alison Brie to name a few. Who did you get to work with on a daily basis and who shot on separate days?ย
Bo Burnham: Me and Carrie for most of it and then I had a scene with [Clancy Brown and Jennifer Coolidge] that was incredible. It was mostly separate and thatโs the thing youโre kind of compartmentalized which is fun. My character, Ryan, is not aware of whatโs going on in the film. Itโs important for me to keep the blinders on and not think about what they just shot or what they were going to shoot afterwards.
The Knockturnal: Weโre dealing with themes of power abuse and redemption. The characters in this film are so complex. Are there redeeming qualities to these people?ย
Bo Burnham: Thatโs probably the tragedy of it – whoโs redeeming them? I would say more than redeeming itโs complicated. I think Emerald does a beautiful job of showing how complicated these issues are. I think it encourages and opens conversation which is important. I donโt think the movie is wagging itโs finger at you trying to tell you something.
The Knockturnal: Weโre pointing a mirror back to ourselves in away. This isnโt a Kill Bill type revenge story. We know plenty of men and women like this.
Bo Burnham: Itโs also entertaining. This isnโt just about an issue that you should sit through and learn something, itโs this exciting story that does play with fire and raises a lot of issues and questions. I feel more like an audience member.ย
The Knockturnal: Well weโre happy to have you as an audience member and onscreen as well.
Bo Burnham: Thank you!
Promising Young Womanย opens in theaters April 17th 2020.ย
Focus Feature’s Promising Young Woman directed by Emerald Fennell starring Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox and Connie Britton
