Well, this movie was certainly something.
After a devastating incident in college, when despite the pleas, they were not just kids, Cassie (the brilliant Carey Mulligan) drops out of medical school. Flash forward to present day and Cassie is still miserable, sitting at home, working at a coffee shop but at night, she comes alive. She may act comatose and drunk out of her skull, but she's completely with it, telling off the men, some are nicer than others, calling them out for having the audacity to acquaintance rape her, when she's too drunk to say no.
Then, she runs into an old acquaintance from medical school, Ryan Cooper (Bo Burnham) who seems like a genuine human being, a pediatric surgeon. And she genuinely likes him but this stirs everything she dealt with in college and causes her to want to get revenge on those who harmed her best friend, Nina who has killed herself since the incident though it is never explicitly stated. So, after seven years, she finally gets revenge on the friend, Madison (Alison Brie) who refused to believe Nina's drunken pleas, Dean Walker (Connie Britton) who didn't believe Nina's story but it actually the dirty lawyer, Jordan Green (Alfred Molina) who finally regrets his role in the process, knowing that he shouldn't have pressured Nina into dropping charges.
And then, there's the actual rapist, Al Monroe (Chris Lowell) and Cassie exacts her revenge on him also and even though it goes wrong, she has a back-up plan which drops just after Al says his vows. So the ending is utterly crazy, and quite frankly, painfully sad. Sure, revenge is finally had but everyone loses, especially Cassie and Nina which is terribly sad.
Now, just when you think this film is a love story, it isn't. Turns out Ryan was a lot closer to Nina's rape than Cassie realized and she can't forgive him and quite frankly, I don't think I'd be able to forgive him.
Fortunately, the film is pretty flawless, except for the old phone holding a charge for a million years, holding the video that should have been crucial evidence but was rather laughed at and hidden away. Yet, Madison never deleted it. That should tell you something.
Despite that little quibble, this film was brilliant with a tight and clever screenplay from Emerald Fennell, Patsy from Call the Midwife, and the performances are truly brilliant, of course Mulligan is a stand out, deserving of all the awards she has and will hopefully get. And this film tells you how you always have to be on guard, and you do, as even your friends are capable of the deepest betrayal. Grade: A
Side Notes:
-The film is just packed with talent. Clancy Brown and Jennifer Coolidge are Cassie's parents. Laverne Cox is Gail, Cassie's slightly horny boss at the coffee shop, and then there are the 'victims': Adam Brody, Sam Richardson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Max Greenfield is one of Al's dumbass friends.
-I liked how it was unexpected that the lawyer regretted his actions while the two females didn't.
-Sure, it's got to be a man's worst nightmare of being accused of rape but that is nothing compared to the woman's worst nightmare of actually being raped.
-This film highlights how disgustingly horny men are.
-It is weird seeing Bo Burnham in front of the camera as he directed 2018's brilliant Eighth Grade.
-The ending is sadly polarizing, but I liked how twisty and unpredictable the whole film largely was.
-This film contains the best use of Paris Hilton's one-hit wonder song, 'Stars are Blind'.
-At least Ryan didn't rape anyone, but in this case, he's nearly just as guilty.
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