DIRECTOR: Frances O’Connor
CAST: Emma Mackey, Fionn Whitehead, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Alexandra Dowling, Amelia Gething, Adrian Dunbar, Gemma Jones
RUNNING TIME: 130 mins
CERTIFICATE: 15
BASICALLY…: Aspiring writer Emily Brontë (Mackey) faces a transformative journey to womanhood…
NOW FOR THE REVIEW…
Although her novel Wuthering Heights is regarded as a literary classic, very little is still unknown about its author, Emily Brontë. Historically, she has been grouped together with her sisters Charlotte and Anne, as a trio of breakthrough British writers whose shocking (for the time) prose and tragically short life spans became the stuff of legend, but what about her as an individual? That seems to be the question that writer-director Frances O’Connor seems to be running with for her filmmaking debut, which presents a largely imagined look at her life and personality before she sat down to write what would be her only novel, but still manages to work as both a compelling character study and as a wistful coming-of-age story with a 19th century twist.
The film, simply titled Emily, portrays the middle Brontë sister (played by Sex Education’s Emma Mackey) as something of an outsider, even in the small Yorkshire community she lives in with her reverend father Patrick (Adrian Dunbar), her sisters Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling) and Anne (Amelia Gething), and her ne’er-do-well brother Branwell (Fionn Whitehead) who is the only sibling to really see his sister’s potential as a creative talent. It is with him that Emily thereby looks up to the most, spending long walks with him, engaging in some of his mischievous actions (which mostly includes drinking and spying into other people’s houses), and even getting high on some opium together. Her nature is further prodded by the arrival of handsome, yet reserved, clergyman William Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) who is also recruited to give Emily some further French lessons, but soon it becomes clear that he is the Heathcliff to her Catherine, with predictably tragic results.
Those expecting a straightforward biographical film will probably not get what they were expecting, for it is honestly as much a biopic as Blonde is (although not quite as extreme or disturbing). Instead, O’Connor seeks out the spirit of Emily Brontë that had been suppressed by her strict upbringing and her own reluctance to stand out, drawing from what is known about the real-life figure and transplanting it into a semi-fictional story that is filled with life, passion, strength, and even the odd bit of humour. However, O’Connor wisely avoids going full Shakespeare in Love by grounding the romanticised revisionism to where it still matches the gothic tones of Emily’s – and indeed, all the Brontës’ – celebrated works without sacrificing what made them so dark and even supernatural. For instance, there is a scene involving a guessing game with a rather creepy porcelain mask, and it plays like a demon possession movie (seriously, all that’s missing is an Ouija board); that might sound ridiculous and out of place, but O’Connor proves herself to be a strong enough filmmaker to blend the unexpected genres together while still retaining its mellow tone. It isn’t setting out to be the definitive Brontë biopic, but instead shows more than a few interesting takes that will surely get Brontë fans alike debating amongst each other.
Elsewhere, O’Connor shows great confidence behind the camera, sneaking in some ambitious shots and editing tricks to highlight the emotional journey her lead character goes on without pandering too hard to a younger crowd (Gen Z is, undoubtedly, on the filmmaker’s mind as she often writes Emily as a free-spirited and strongly opinionated soul). From the handheld camerawork that further retains the grounded notion of this gothic environment, to close-up shots of dilating pupils during a drug-taking scene straight out of Requiem for a Dream, O’Connor’s work feels astoundingly seasoned for someone who’s technically doing it all for the first time. The same goes for lead actress Emma Mackey, who after supporting roles in Eiffel and Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile earlier this year shines in her first proper protagonist part, delivering an excellent performance that’s filled with quiet passion, and even traces of her sassier role in Sex Education which are put to good use in some outstanding scenes. She shares strong chemistry with nearly everyone she acts opposite, most notably Fionn Whitehead who is also pretty memorable as the troublemaking Brontë brother, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen who – after previously standing out in another costume drama, Mr. Malcolm’s List – is all too well-suited to play the brash, and noticeably Heathcliff-like, romantic interest. Most of your attention, though, is on Mackey who easily carries this movie with a fierce turn that should get her noticed and considered for more leading roles in the future.
It’s a stylish, delicate, and rather engaging historical drama, but Emily does occasionally transform into standard biopic fare, mostly towards the end. It briefly touches upon the success of Wuthering Heights, as well as the author’s tragic end at the age of 30, but when it does there is significantly less of that vibrant and even style that had been present throughout the rest of the film, and it feels more like it’s checking a bunch of boxes than really adding anything to this story (which is ironic, because those two elements are among the most defining moments of Emily Brontë’s entire existence). However, it is proof that O’Connor is less interested in sticking to history than creating a lively portrait of a historical figure who isn’t as well known as she perhaps appears to be – and manages to get an interesting and reasonably entertaining film out of it, too.
See, Andrew Dominik? THIS is how you get to the soul of a historic icon without victimising them or being exploitative.
SO, TO SUM UP…
Emily is an intriguing take on the life of Emily Brontë, which tells a semi-fictional account of her story with confident filmmaking and superb acting by lead Emma Mackey to get through to the figure’s lively free spirit.
