Emma (2020)
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A wealthy and elegant young woman in Regency-era England finds herself meddling in the romantic lives of those closest to her.
The story
In Regency England, the wealthy and beautiful 20-year-old Emma Woodhouse lives with her widowed father at his Hartfield estate in the Surrey village of Highbury. A frequent visitor to Hartfield is George Knightley, a close friend of the family and owner of nearby Donwell Abbey. Emma prides herself on her matchmaking skills, and successfully arranges the marriage of her old governess, Miss Taylor, to Mr Weston. She befriends Harriet Smith, a naive young woman of uncertain parentage who boards at a local girls' school, and persuades her to decline a marriage proposal from a respectable farmer, Robert Martin, instead recommending the local vicar, Mr Elton.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In Regency England, Emma Woodhouse, a wealthy woman, meddles in the lives of others, including her friend Harriet Smith. After a failed courtship with Mr. Elton, she meets Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill. During a ball, Emma and George Knightley develop feelings for each other. After a misunderstanding at Box Hill leads to a realization of her own behavior, Emma reconciles with Miss Bates. The truth of several secret engagements and loves is revealed: Frank and Jane are secretly engaged, and Harriet loves George Knightley. After a series of misunderstandings regarding who is confessing love to whom, Emma realizes George's feelings for her. She eventually marries Knightley, while Harriet marries Robert Martin.
- First release year
- 2020
- Runtime (minutes)
- 124
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Autumn de Wilde
- Writers
- Eleanor Catton · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Anya Taylor-Joy · Miss Emma Woodhouse; Johnny Flynn; Josh O'Connor; Callum Turner; Mia Goth; Miranda Hart; Bill Nighy
- Genres
- romantic comedy; period; comedy-drama
- Themes
- matchmaking; social status; romance
- Tone and mood
- period; romantic
- Premise and plot tags
- period piece; romance; comedy
- Source material / true-story basis
- Jane Austen's 1815 novel of the same name
- Reception
- The film received generally favourable reviews, with the performances and production design singled out for praise.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 86% · review count: 260; Metacritic · score: 71 · scale: 100 · review count: 48; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 3 · scale: 5
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Costume Design · 93rd Academy Awards · nomination; Academy Award · Best Makeup and Hairstyling · 93rd Academy Awards · nomination; British Academy Film Awards · Best Costume Design · 74th · nomination; Critics' Choice Awards · nomination · 26th · nom1; Golden Globe Award · Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical · 78th · nomination
- Production trivia
- The title includes a full stop to signify it is a period piece.; The score features a theme for each character inspired by Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.; The film features several a cappella recordings of folk songs.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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