Emerald Fennell’s promising rape revenge movie ‘Promising Young Woman’ has been nominated in four major categories at the Golden Globes.
The nods have been announced today by Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker and Empire protagonist Taraji P. Henson. Among clamorous snubs and a few surprises, the movie starring Carey Mulligan got its due.
‘Promising Young Woman’ Nominated For Best Motion Picture – Drama
The English actress who plays protagonist Cassie was nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. The movie was also nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama.
Promising Young Woman is Fennell’s directorial debut. The English actress and filmmaker is best known for her role of Camilla Parker-Bowles in Netflix royal drama The Crown. She also appears in a cameo in her own film as the makeup influencer of a spoof ‘blow-job’ lips tutorial Cassie watches at home.
Fennell also scored two nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Director – Motion Picture. Following last year’s outcry over the exclusion of Little Women director Greta Gerwig from the Best Director category, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made history nominating three women in 2021.
This year is the first with more female directors getting nominated than men. Alongside Fennell, Regina King (One Night in Miami…) and Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) were shortlisted. Directors Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7) and David Fincher (Mank) also received a nomination.
Barbra Streisand is the only woman to have won the award for Best Director in the history of Globes, but the upcoming award ceremony — airing on February 28— might change that.
‘Promising Young Woman’ And The Sexist Review Controversy
Additionally, Promising Young Woman scored a record of nine nominations at the Hollywood Critics Association Award and three at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
The movie by Fennell has recently made the headlines when a sexist passage of a review published by Variety last year resurfaced.
Premiered at Sundance Film Festival last year, the movie directed by The Crown’s actress Emerald Fennell sees Mulligan as protagonist Cassie. Years after her university friend Nina got raped, Cassie is out seeking revenge by posing as drunk in clubs to attract male predators.
Sporting a number of disguises, Mulligan shines in the role. Yet Variety’s mostly positive review — written by freelance critic Dennis Harvey — suggested that perhaps the role of Cassie should’ve gone to Margot Robbie, a producer on the film.
Mulligan first spoke up about the sexist review in an interview with The New York Times last December. Variety has since issued an apology, regretting “the insensitive language and insinuation” that “minimized her daring performance,” but leaving the review intact.
Harvey told The Guardian he was “appalled to be tarred as misogynist, which is something very alien to my personal beliefs or politics. This whole thing could not be more horrifying to me than if someone had claimed I was a gung-ho Trump supporter.”
Promising Young Woman premiered in US cinemas on December 25, 2020 and is now available to rent on VOD on a number of platforms, including Amazon Prime Video
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