IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Hallmark holiday movies offer viewers balm in a tough year

For the past decade, the Hallmark Channel has been a reliable destination for holiday programming. And in a year when many Americans are homebound because of the COVID-19 pandemic, network executives say there’s been a craving for the feel-good movies.

Hallmark’s ratings are up 2% over 2019’s holiday season, the Nielsen company said. That may not seem like much, but year-toyear increases are the exception rather than the rule in modern television.

The network turned its programming over to holiday fare on Oct. 23 and has been the top-rated entertainment cable channel, excluding news and sports, for the fourth quarter, Nielsen said.

“What we have seen is just how much our movies mean to our viewers,” said Michelle Vicary, programming chief.

When coronavirus-related closures began in March, Hallmark tried to calm anxieties by airing a series of its holiday movies then.

“We made a choice not to let COVID affect us thematically,” she said. “There are a lot of places you can find information about COVID. What we provided was a respite from that.”

Actor Carey Mulligan mesmerizes in the film ‘Promising Young Woman’

Is it a #MeToo-era revenge thriller? A 21st-century “Fatal Attraction”? A candycolored feminist polemic, to strains of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears? A black comedy? A comic tragedy?

None of the above — and all of the above. Which is to say: a film as bracingly original as Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” defies labels.

Here’s a couple good adjectives, though: Startling — the only way to describe Fennell’s vision and execution in this, her

directorial debut. And, sensational — a word that only begins to capture Carey Mulligan’s lead performance.

We’ve seen Mulligan command the screen before, and witnessed her consistently fearless stage work. But the tonal balancing act she conquers in this audacious, disconcerting film is something new entirely, and one wonders how many actors could even dream of pulling it off. It’s been a decade since Mulligan, now 35, received her only Oscar nod, for “An Education.” Let’s hope Oscar voters will be well educated by this latest effort.

We first meet Cassie (Mulligan) sprawled on the red banquette of a club, near the dance floor, her business attire askew. She’s clearly blind drunk. A group of office guys stare, tsk-tsking. One of them — nice, wholesome Jerry (Adam Brody) — decides to rescue her.

No harm if the “rescue” includes stopping at his apartment for a quick drink, right? As she drunkenly murmurs, “What are you doing?” he starts to undress and caress her, assuring her she’s “safe.” Suddenly, she asks the question again — stonecold sober. It’s all been an act. Oops!

The stellar supporting cast includes Alison Brie as a former school friend, Connie Britton as a med-school dean, Alfred Molina as a remorseful lawyer, Laverne Cox as Cassie’s sympathetic boss, Christopher Lowell as a troubled figure from the past, and others, all excellent.

As scenes with Brie’s and Britton’s characters attest, it’s not only men who have retribution awaiting. But they bear the brunt of Cassie’s anger, especially those who go through life convincing the world — and themselves — what “gentlemen” they are.

Courtesy of Focus Features / Associated Press Carey Mulligan in a scene from the film “Promising Young Woman.”