Overview
A journey of self-discovery unfolds as a young woman navigates the complexities of life and love.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- gothic
- passionate
- irreverent
- literary film night
- period drama evening
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as an entertaining, beautifully shot, irreverent fictionalization elevated by Emma Mackey’s vibrant lead performance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film imagines Emily Brontë’s inner life, relationships, and creative transformation rather than presenting a strictly factual account.
Critics describe the film as a gothic fable, while its romance, deathbed imagery, and Wuthering Heights associations create a heightened gothic register.
Emily is portrayed as a rebellious misfit pursuing authorship within a society that expects women to accept limited roles.
Emily lives in the shadow of her successful sister Charlotte while navigating the ambitions and instability of the Brontë family.
Films like Emily, and why
Becoming Jane
shared focus on a creatively driven woman resisting restrictive nineteenth-century social expectations, with romantic and literary drama
The Young Victoria
shared british period setting, women’s constrained choices, literary ambition, and emotionally charged romance
Mary Shelley
shared gothic atmosphere, literary authorship, familial conflict, and speculative treatment of a female writer’s life
Colette
shared romanticized historical biography, intense female subjectivity, and lavish period-film craftsmanship
Movie Details
- Director
- Frances O'Connor
- Release Date
- 2022-10-14
- Runtime
- 130 min
- Rating
- 6.9 / 10 (264)
Cast
- Emma Mackey
- Fionn Whitehead
- Oliver Jackson-Cohen
- Alexandra Dowling
- Gemma Jones
- Adrian Dunbar
- Amelia Gething
- Veronica Roberts
- Gerald Lepkowski
- Paul Warriner
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Emily about?
- A fiercely imagined gothic portrait of Emily Brontë finding artistic and emotional freedom amid family rivalry, social constraint, and forbidden feeling.
- What is Emily like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Emily as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Emily violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Emily as mild.
- What did critics think of Emily?
- Critics broadly praised the film as an entertaining, beautifully shot, irreverent fictionalization elevated by Emma Mackey’s vibrant lead performance.
- Which films are like Emily?
- Films with a similar feel include Becoming Jane, The Young Victoria, Mary Shelley, and Colette.
- How long is Emily?
- Emily runs 130 minutes.
- Where can I watch Emily?
- In United States, Emily is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex.
