Carey Mulliganis a woman in search of retribution no matter the cost in the first trailer forPromising Young Woman, the feature-length directorial debut ofKilling EveshowrunnerEmerald Fennell, who also wrote the script. The trailer has someKilling Evevibes in its approach to storytelling with a mix of violence and humor fueling the action. The trailer also makes it clear that, at its heart,Promising Young Womanis a hauntingly familiar story and it couldn’t be any timelier.
ThePromising Young Womantrailer begins with a warning fromSam Richardson’s (Detroiters) character, Paul: “You know, they put themselves in danger, girls like that.” Mulligan’s character, Cassie, sits slumped, looking quite drunk, on a bench in the middle of a busy bar as three bros in business suits, including Jez (Adam Brody), eyeing her up. As Jez offers to help her home, you may have a bad feeling about how this is going to go until Cassie sits up and asks Jez, “What are you doing?” before he can take advantage of her, believing she’s about to pass out on her own bed. As we watch things unfolds, a tense classical rendition ofBritney Spears' “Toxic” plays along. From this tense moment the trailer unfolds with more details about Cassie. We learn she was once in med school with a bright future ahead of her before she left for unknown reasons. Well, unknown to us but Cassie is seemingly fueled by them, hunting out predatory “good guys” and teaching them a lesson. If you have images of Villanelle in her big pink dress dancing around you’re head by the end of this trailer, it makes perfect sense.
In addition to Mulligan,Promising Young Womanboasts an incredible cast, including Brody,Bo Burnham,Alison Brie,Connie Britton,Christopher Mintz-Plasse,Alfred Molina,Laverne Cox,Max Greenfield,Jennifer Coolidge, andClancy Brown. This is Fennell’s first feature film and she also wrote the script. Most recently, Fennell appeared on Season 3 of Netflix’sThe Crownas a youngCamilla Parker-Bowles.
Promising Young Womanis set to land in theaters on July 20, 2025. Want moreKilling Eve? Check out our thoughts which are included in our roundup of thebest shows of the decade.
Here’s the official synopsis forPromising Young Woman:
From visionary director Emerald Fennell (Killing Eve) comes a delicious new take on revenge. Everyone said Cassie (Carey 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.
