Siegel™’s review published on Letterboxd:
The film could (and undoubtedly will) be accused of being bitter, its veneer of snark acting as a facade for how dramatically sharp it constantly reveals itself to be, and those accusations would be correct. Is it an empowering feminist film? Is it too dark to be enjoyable, or is it too comical to be taken seriously? This boundary-pushing exercise in fearless filmmaking is provocative above all else, and it's jolting to witness how it refuses to let anyone off the hook. Carey Mulligan is furious, confident, damaged, cunning, morbid, cynical, acidic, tender, and ferociously funny. This does not offer the escapism that revenge themed films usually deliver, its intention is not to have you cheering on the heroine doling out punishments to those who've gotten away with so much for far too long. Reveling in emotional contradictions that will make your head spin - enraging comedy, triumphant tragedy, confusing catharsis - the true resonance of Promising Young Woman is that its heightened, exaggerated reality feels far closer to actual reality than any genre film could ever hope to achieve.
