Script Analysis: “Promising Young Woman” — Part 4: Themes

A week-long analysis of this Oscar-winning screenplay. Download. Read. Discuss.

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule:

Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Takeaways

Today: Themes.

I have this theory about theme. In two parts. First, a principle: Theme = Meaning. What does the story mean? Second, while there is almost always a Central Theme, there are multiple other Sub-Themes at play in a story. Therefore the question: What does a story mean takes on several layers of meaning?

This week: Promising Young Woman. You may download the script here.

Screenplay written and directed by Emerald Fennell.

Plot summary: A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who crossed her path.

Writing Exercise: Explore the themes in the movie. What is its Central Theme? What are some of the related Sub-Themes?

Major kudos to Litty Williams for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown and the sequence breakdown.

To download a PDF of the breakdown , go here.

Here is Anatomy of a Scene with writer-director commentary from Emerald Fennell. It’s a terrific analysis of the use of dramatic irony: Cassie knows she isn’t drunk. The audience knows she isn’t drunk. But Neil has no idea.

For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown discussion, go here.

For Part 2, to read the Plot discussion, go here.

For Part 3, to read the Character discussion, go here.

To access over 100 analyses of previous movie scripts we have read and discussed at Go Into The Story, go here.

I hope to see you in the RESPONSE section about this week’s script: Promising Young Woman.