Review: Emily - A worthy biopic for a literary legend?

Emily Bronte's life gets a fictionalised adaptation through Sex Education's Emma Mackey, but does the film do its revered source justice?

George Lowes
7th November 2022
Image Credit: IMDb
Emily tells the story of Wuthering Heights author, Emily Brontë, as played by Emma Mackey (Sex Education). The film explores her relationships with those around her and how they influenced her life and writing. Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk), Alexandra Dowling (Game of Thrones), and Amelia Gething portray her siblings: Branwell, Charlotte, and Anne. And Oliver Jackson-Cohen (The Invisible Man) plays William Weightman, Emily’s romantic interest.

The director, Frances O’Connor, has been upfront in saying that the film is a fictionalised account of Emily's life rather than a factual retelling. This is most evident with the character of Weightman, who was created entirely for the film, yet is crucial to its plot. I can see some diehard Emily Brontë fans being troubled by the inaccuracies, but as someone unfamiliar with her story, they didn’t bother me. In that approach, Emily is similar to last year’s Spencer, which told an imagined version of Princess Diana’s experience at a Royal Christmas event.

Emma Mackey is great in the titular role, bringing a lot of depth to the character. In particular, she excels at communicating subtle emotions through her face. Other performances were solid too, with the standouts being Fionn Whitehead and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Besides Whitehead, who starred in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017), I hadn’t encountered any of these actors before. Consequently, I could fully immerse myself in the film without the distraction of familiar faces – which sometimes impedes my ability to get into a movie.

My biggest issue with Emily was its pacing. Despite being only 130 minutes, this film felt long. Most of that runtime focused on Emily and Weightman’s relationship, which I was never entirely invested in. However, the scenes featuring Emily and Branwell together were my favourite parts of the film. These actors had great chemistry, and their interactions were a joy to watch.

Unusually, Emily’s opening scene takes place during the story’s ending. We then flash back an unspecified amount of time – a few years, if I had to guess – with the rest of the movie leading back to that scene. This odd structural decision felt unnecessary, and, if anything, made the film’s first 15 minutes somewhat confusing. Another jarring moment early on featured a mask that seemingly possessed Emily, veering the film into supernatural territory. Nothing similar happens again, making the scene completely out of place.

Emily is primarily set in a small village on the Yorkshire moors, giving a backdrop of some stunning scenery, with the rain adding a nice, moody atmosphere to many scenes. The film is a strong directorial debut for Frances O’Connor, who, previously, was mainly an actor. She has shown a great talent for extracting strong performances from her stars, and I’m interested to see what she does next.

Overall, Emily is a fairly by-the-numbers historical drama – I hesitate to call it a biopic due to the inaccuracies mentioned. The acting is great, and the film features some wonderful visuals. However, its pacing and structure may leave you unengaged and confused. 3/5

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ReLated Articles
magnifiercross
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap