FINDING EMILY Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Alicia MacDonald
Stars: Angourie Rice, Spike Fearn, Minnie Driver, Sadie Soverall, Jack Riddiford, Isabella Laughland, Fiona Allen, Prasanna Puwanarajah.
When Owen met Emily? Desperately seeking Emily?
This is a charming and enjoyable British romantic comedy that works as a variation on the 80s classic When Harry Met Sally. This is the kind of thing that the British do so well, and although it is a tad predictable it has an edgy quality that sets it apart from the bland generic offerings from Hollywood.
Finding Emily centres around Owen Brompton (Spike Fearn, recently seen in the romantic drama Ella McKay, etc) who works as a sound engineer in the student union bar. He lives at home with his older brother Matt (Jack Riddiford) and his partner Freya (Isabella Laughland), but they are increasingly at odds with one another over the issue of whether or not to sell the house that belonged to their late mother.
One night he meets Emily (Sadie Soverall) who is dressed in a fairy costume. He connects with her and feels a chemistry. But then Emily leaves to go to another party, but she gives Owen her number. The next morning when Owen tries to contact her, he discovers that one digit is missing. This sets in motion a desperate search to find Emily amongst the university student population.
Emily Raine (Australian actress Angourie Rice, from the musical remake of the teen classic Mean Girls, etc) who is studying psychology at a fictional university in Manchester. She is working on her thesis which looks at how love can be a state of temporary psychosis and how can be a form of self-sabotage. She suspects that she has found the perfect study subject in Owen and his plight. She agrees to help the lovesick Owen find the Emily he is looking for, but she is being less than altruistic. But over the journey they realise they share a few common interests and traits, and they develop a mutual attraction.
The desperate search to find Emily leads to both of them taking some risks, like hacking into the student data base to contact all the female students with that name. His actions put him in the crosshairs of a podcaster who demonises Owen as a crazy, obsessed stalker. He also earns the ire of a number of people at the university, including the non-nonsense Dean Watkinson (Minnie Driver), and the female student body.
And what happens when Owen finds the Emily he is looking for? Will the reality live up to the fantasy?
Finding Emily has been written by Rachel Hirons (2018’s A Guide To Second Date Sex, etc) who balances some laugh out loud moments and some slapstick humour with deeply emotional moments that resonate. The film is predictable as it draws upon many of the tropes of the boy meets girl genre and we know where it is headed from the outset. But Hirons throws in a few curveballs and populates the film with some quirky peripheral characters. This is the first feature film for Alice MacDonald who cut her teeth on episodic television such as Sisters, etc. She keeps things moving along at a fair pace.
The film has been shot on location in Manchester and Cinematographer Rachel Clark (Edge Of Summer, etc) gives us a strong sense of location and gives the setting an authenticity. The film also features a great soundtrack that includes some lesser-known musical acts from the city such as W H Lung, but it pays homage to Manchester’s rich musical history.
Fearn completely throws himself into the role of Owen, bringing depth to his quirky character. However, I found his thick accent a little hard to understand at times. Rice has a warm and engaging presence and is fine. It was nice to see Driver on screen again.
While Finding Emily is predictable it is the journey that makes this a very enjoyable British romcom.
★★★☆
