Promising Young Woman

 

"Sometimes gentlemen are the worst"

The film starts from this premise, wants to reverse the roles and show that any man could become a sexual offender / predator if the opportunity presents itself. Emerald Fennell (I only knew her from her role as Camilla on The crown) did a great job of casting. In the roles of molesters we find mostly well-known faces of the silver screen who have earned the reputation of good guys like Adam Brody (Seth Cohen of The OC), or Max Greenfield and Chris Lowell (both nice boyfriends of Veronica Mars). But not only the male parts, even the female ones have been carefully chosen starting with Connie Britton, the usual figure who inspires confidence; then we have Jennifer Coolidge, for years most of the roles she played were the parody of Stifler's mother, here instead we find her in the role of a mother concerned about her daughter's future; and finally the protagonist, Cassie, Carey Mulligan, here in an unprecedented role, apparently harmless, sexy and confident when facing potential predators, but at the same time vulnerable and disappointed by almost all the men in her life.

An important part of the film is also the soundtrack, there are many pop songs, even some questionable choices like the silly song Stars are blind by Paris Hilton, but it is a good choice because it manages to lighten the tone of the film and be in tune with the mood of Cassie in that given moment. Or when the instrumental cover of Toxic by Britney Spears with eerie sounds (it almost reminds me of the Psycho theme song) anticipates the terrifying ending with Cassie, which reminds me the figure of Little Red Riding Hood who goes into the woods towards the house of the wolf, but aware of the consequences she could face. The ending is unexpected, it is a bitter sweet revenge, almost poetic, is as cruel as real life ...

The pièce de résistance is certainly the script, which never disappoints, sometimes is funny, even provocative and never bland. All this crowned by a majestic performance by Carey Mulligan and a noteworthy direction by Emerald Fennell.

The movie makes you wonder if Cassie is just a victim who failed to recover from her friend's death and became a revenge addict or is she a heroine, a woman fed up with man always getting away with their so-called "juvenile stunts", a heroine we need to avenge all the women who were ever humiliated, harassed or abused.

Nomadland

 

“What the nomads are doing is not that different than what the pioneers did.”


There is no doubt Nomadland is a beautiful movie. Visually is mesmerizing, it shows America’s vastness and beauty, there were such sublime and awe-inspiring landscapes that no blockbuster movie could have ever achieved. All that thanks to Joshua James Richards’ realistic photography, it manages to highlight and even amplify the rawness and authenticity of the surroundings, alongside with the harmonious music of Ludovico Einaudi and the majestic direction of Chloé Zhao, it creates a superb piece of work for the sight and hearing.

The movie itself feels like a documentary, not just for the dialogues of the real life vandwellers, but also the way it’s filmed. The camera follows Fern, the protagonist, on her journey, on her temporary jobs, on her nomad reunions, it documents the life of a nomad and the people she meets during her trip. Frances McDormand disappears in her role(even some of her “co-stars” believed she was a nomad like them). She always portrays strong, independent women, but mostly she’s great at depicting human beings, who arouse compassion, but never give up on the difficulties of life, but roll up their sleeves and fight every day against adversity. It’s usually the kind of character I feel more empathy with, because it reminds me of my mom, who was and is an independent and strong woman and my forever role model.

But I have some issues with the plot, more specifically with the fact that it’s never explained why nobody hires Fern for a longer time, why all the jobs are temporary(I didn’t read the book nor I’m aware of USA’s temporary job politics). Another thing is the memory of Fern’s husband, she clearly cannot move on with her life, she’s constantly thinking of him, but we don’t have a flashback of him or not even a picture, just Fern’s stories of him. I think a flashback would have made the story more engaging. Some scenes become redundant, like showing her temporary jobs again and again, it just gets tedious and you may lose your interest after a while. Maybe it’s made on purpose in order to emphasize the loop Fern is stuck into, but I don’t think it was necessary.

Nonetheless Nomadland is a movie that will make you reflect, it deals with many social questions: the economical crisis, the precarious work and its consequences, the new nomads, but I think the biggest protagonist is nature and the sense of freedom which gives you, that no money will ever buy it. Freedom is what motivates Fern to keep wandering and accept the kind of life she leads. Isn’t freedom what we are all longing for?