“It’s a day of reckoning for everyone,” Carey Mulligan announces in a new trailer for “Promising Young Woman.” Emerald Fennell’s feature directorial debut sees the Oscar-nominated actress playing Cassie, a med student whose future is derailed after a mysterious incident.
Cassie left school under “unusual circumstances” — the spot suggests that she accused a fellow student of sexual assault. Now she’s considering resuming her studies, but the administrator (Connie Britton) she meets with seems less concerned with righting the wrongs of the past than covering her own ass. “You know we get accusations like this all the time,” she says. “What would you have me do? Ruin a young man’s life?”
Disgusted by predatory men and the systems that protect them, Cassie has been living a double life. As she explains in an earlier trailer for the pic, “Every week, I go to a club. I act like I’m too drunk to stand. And every week, a nice guy comes over to see if I’m OK.” These “nice guys” are often looking to take advantage of a vulnerable woman, but Cassie has other plans for them.
Mulligan received an Oscar nomination in 2010 for “An Education.” “Collateral,” “Wildlife,” and “Mudbound” are among her more recent credits.
Fennell served as showrunner on “Killing Eve’s” second season. Also an actress, she’s appeared in “The Crown” and “Call the Midwife.”
“Promising Young Woman” opens in theaters December 25.
