[2020 is finally over but before we send it off to the trash heap it deserves to be in, it’s time for the Golden Cages 2020 edition, Flixist’s extremely coveted prize! Each year the Flixist staff gets together to vote on the best and worst films of the year and gives you lovely readers our true and honest thoughts. Plus since there are no other awards shows this winter (suck it Academy!) we’re now the defacto voice of truth in the film industry. So read on dear viewer and see which films win our lovely little award!]
Promising Young Woman was a victim of circumstance. It released at the very end of 2020 and not many people were able to see it, mostly due to its completely theatrical release. On one hand I understand the desire to have audiences see the film the way that the creator’s intended it, but on the only hand that means that one of the best performances of the years was barely seen by anyone, which is a crying shame since Carey Mulligan dominates the screen in Promising Young Woman. All throughout my feeds on social media, I see people asking how they can see the movie without having to go to theaters because they NEED to see her performance. I can’t really say I blame them. But when we came to vote for who would win Best Actress for the Golden Cages 2020 edition, after some fierce debate, Carey Mulligan was the clear winner.
To call her performance incendiary doesn’t seem to really put into proper perspective just how dynamic she is. Mulligan is always in control at every single moment, filled with a vindictive rage that is all too familiar to anyone who had gone through what she has experienced. Without giving away spoilers, it’s something all too relatable and her drive to enact vengeance makes every confrontation with the people on her list compelling. It plays off the gender misogyny of 2020 in a wonderful way and flips the table on a world that turns a blind eye to the horrors that women go through nowadays.
A part of me is almost glad that the film got delayed from April to December because while this is a great performance, movies like these that release towards the beginning of the year usually fall under the radar when award discussions start to happen. Now Mulligan can get the recognition that she deserves and I can’t think of a better way to honor one of the best female performances of the past couple of years by honoring her as the Golden Cages 2020 recipient for Best Actress. Screw what others may say, we at Flixist think you stole the screen Ms. Mulligan.
