Emily (2022)
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A fictionalized portrait of the life of writer Emily Brontë explores her secret romantic entanglement and the inspiration behind her masterpiece.
The story
As Emily Brontë lies ill and near death, her sister Charlotte asks about the inspiration for 'Wuthering Heights.' The story flashes back to a time when Charlotte was nearly graduated from school. Emily attempts to share her fictional worlds with her sister, who dismisses them as juvenile. Meanwhile, a new curate named William Weightman arrives. Though Emily initially seems dismissive of him, the two eventually grow close. The narrative explores the Brontë siblings' dynamics, their education, and the burgeoning, secret romantic and sexual entanglement between Emily and Weightman, which eventually leads to significant personal devastation for the writer.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
As Emily Brontë lies ill and near death, her sister Charlotte asks about the inspiration for 'Wuthering Heights.' The story moves back to Charlotte's school years, where Emily creates fictional worlds that Charlotte dismisses as juvenile. A new curate, William Weightman, arrives; while other women are enamored by him, Emily is initially dismissive. During a childhood game of masks, Emily claims to be possessed by their deceased mother's ghost. Later, Emily and her brother Branwell both fail at their studies—Emily in teaching and Branwell at the Royal Academy of Arts. Emily begins tutoring with Weightman, and they engage in a romantic and sexual entanglement. When Charlotte suspects their affair, Weightman abruptly ends it, leaving Emily devastated. She decides to leave for Brussels, telling Weightman she will no longer write. Weightman writes a letter urging her to continue, which Branwell intercepts and hides. In Brussels, Emily receives news of Weightman's death from cholera. Before dying, Branwell gives her the hidden letter. Inspired, Emily writes 'Wuthering Heights.' On her deathbed, she confesses her love for Weightman to Charlotte and asks her to burn their love letters.
- First release year
- 2022
- Runtime (minutes)
- 130
- Production countries
- United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Frances O'Connor
- Writers
- Frances O'Connor · writer
- Cast and characters
- Emma Mackey · Emily Brontë; Fionn Whitehead · Branwell Brontë; Oliver Jackson-Cohen · William Weightman; Alexandra Dowling · Charlotte Brontë; Amelia Gething · Anne Brontë; Adrian Dunbar · Patrick Brontë; Gemma Jones · Aunt Branwell; Gerald Lepkowski · Mr Linton
- Genres
- biographical drama
- Themes
- Inspiration; Forbidden Love; Sibling Dynamics; Creativity
- Tone and mood
- Gothic; Irreverent; Fervent
- Premise and plot tags
- Biographical; Period Drama; Romance; Literary Fiction
- Source material / true-story basis
- Part-fictional portrait of English writer Emily Brontë
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews, praised for its acting and 'irreverent' approach to the Brontë story, and won three awards at the Dinard British Film Festival.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 88% · review count: 123
- Awards and nominations
- Best Performance Award · Emma Mackey · Win
- Production trivia
- The film was announced in May 2020.; Filming took place in Yorkshire.; Joe Alwyn and Emily Beecham were originally cast but left the project before filming began.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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