Everyone said Cassie (Mulligan) was a promising young woman…until a mysterious event abruptly derailed her future. But nothing in Cassie’s life is what it appears to be: she’s wickedly smart, tantalizingly cunning, and she’s living a secret double life by night. Now, an unexpected encounter is about to give Cassie a chance to right the wrongs of the past in this thrilling and wildly entertaining story.
For in-depth thoughts on Promising Young Woman, please see my colleague Dom Fisher’s review from its original theatrical release here.
Video Quality
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment brings Promising Young Woman to Blu-Ray with a very pleasing 1080p video presentation. The image is clean with the bright color palette popping off the screen. The film employs splashes of vivid candy colors within the production design, which makes for a very striking image. The black levels are appropriately deep and inky, but digital noise does prove to be a pretty consistent companion from beginning to end. The flesh tones are natural with gentle nuances showcased well in close-ups and medium shots. The presentation provides a significant amount of depth on display, especially in the interior shots. This is as solid of a presentation as any modern movie should provide on Blu-Ray, but a release on 4K UHD Blu-Ray would have been much preferred. Make it happen, Universal!
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio track that is quite excellent without being domineering. Music plays an undeniable role in establishing the mood of the world, and this track does a great job of filling the room in a truly enveloping way. Dialogue comes through clearly without ever falling victim to overlapping voices or an overbearing soundtrack. Everything is mixed perfectly with directionality accurately rendered across all channels. Crowded bar scenes provide a good amount of activity in the rear channels, and music stirs up some intense activity in the low end. This track honors the spirit of the movie with an immersive journey that ranks as one of the strongest we have heard for a non-action movie in some time.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Writer and Director Emerald Fennell provides a commentary track recorded remotely in November 2020 in which this amazing talent breaks down all of the various aspects of the film including specific moments with the ensemble, the inspiration behind the production design, the biblical imagery within the film, building and releasing tension, the choices behind the ending of the film and more. This is such an invaluable listen to get her insights into the story.
- A Promising Vision: A four-minute featurette which explores Fennell’s reasons for wanting to make this film, her expertise behind the camera despite this being her first feature, the resonance of the film and more.
- Two-Side Transformation: A three-minute look at Cassie and Mulligan’s expert portrayal of her including her different personas, her hair and makeup and more.
- Balancing Act: A four-minute look at the razor’s edge balance of the light and dark moments within the story and how the cast tackled the material so well.
Final Thoughts
Promising Young Woman is a daring and uncompromising film that elevates the genre thanks to an impeccably executed feat of writing and direction from Emerald Fennell. Carey Mulligan delivers a career-best performance in this rich and nuanced role that rewards more and more as you analyze it further. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray with a pretty decent video presentation and a stellar audio track, along with a few interesting special features. If there is justice in the world, they will release this one on 4K UHD Blu-Ray at some point in the near future. Either way, this highlight of 2020 deserves a place in your collection. Highly Recommended
Promising Young Woman will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD on March 16, 2021. The film is currently available to purchase on Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
