Cross Season 2 Has A Lot In Common With A 10/10 Crime Thriller Movie From 6 Years Ago

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MAJOR SPOILERS for Cross season 2 episodes 1 through 3 are ahead!

The second season of Prime Video’s Cross starts with a powerful and fast-paced beginning, reminiscent of a highly-regarded 2020 dark comedy crime thriller. The creators and cast promised a grimmer season 2 at New York Comic Con in 2025, and they’ve delivered.

The series began with three episodes released on February 11th, establishing the main characters and introducing the two main villains. Luz and Donnie are determined to expose and defeat a group of exploitative billionaires and everyone who supports them.

Season 2 of Cross is heavily focused on a central question: can we truly justify taking the law into our own hands when the system itself is failing? While the Prime Video series is exploring this idea now, it’s a theme that’s been tackled before. In fact, a 2020 Oscar-winning film with a brilliant original screenplay feels particularly relevant to the new season of Cross.

Cross Fans Need To Watch The 2020 Black Comedy Thriller Promising Young Woman

If you enjoyed the start of season 2 of Cross, you’ll likely love the 2020 film Promising Young Woman. It’s a dark and funny crime thriller about Cassie (played by Carey Mulligan), who left medical school after a traumatic event: the rape of her best friend, Nina, witnessed by a group of college students. Since then, Cassie has dedicated her life to getting revenge.

Cassie initially seeks revenge by feigning intoxication at bars. She allows men who present themselves as ‘nice guys’ to take her home, then reveals she’s sober and threatens to expose their predatory behavior, causing them to panic. After discovering that Al, the man who raped Nina, is getting married, Cassie expands her actions to psychologically torment those involved in the assault.

Promising Young Woman Is A Female Rage Revenge Story Like Cross Season 2

Both Promising Young Woman and season 2 of Cross center around revenge, targeting people who exploit those who are most vulnerable. Cross focuses on wealthy, powerful individuals preying on children, while Promising Young Woman targets people—both men and women—who see themselves as decent but commit harmful acts. What connects these stories is that the perpetrators don’t fit the typical image of someone who commits abuse, allowing them to avoid accountability.

In season 2 of Cross, Luz takes revenge through brutal acts of violence. Cassie, in Promising Young Woman, focuses on psychological torment. Both characters are determined to punish not just those who commit harmful acts, but also anyone who supports or enables them.

Cross Season 2 & Promising Young Woman Have Empathetic “Bad Guys”

Both Luz and Cassie are complex characters—they act as villains from one perspective, but as heroes from another. Despite their questionable actions, it’s surprisingly difficult to feel negatively towards either of them.

You know, what really gets me about these two characters is that they’re both fueled by this incredible rage – it all stems from someone they cared about getting hurt. And it’s not just random violence; they’re specifically targeting the people who deserve it, the ones actually doing awful things. It’s a kind of messed-up justice, but they’re not going after innocent bystanders, and that makes a big difference to me as a viewer.

Their actions are still wrong – harming and traumatizing others is never okay, and I absolutely don’t support what they did. However, understanding their motivations does make Luz and Cassie’s characters in season 2 of Cross and the film Promising Young Woman a bit more relatable and understandable.

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2026-02-14 01:10