75
Metascore
36 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The PlaylistJason BaileyThe PlaylistJason BaileyWith Emily, Frances O’Connor has crafted a first film that feels like the work of an accomplished master.
- 90Screen DailyAllan HunterScreen DailyAllan HunterMackey convinces us that there are so many more colours to Emily than the ones she is allowed to display. Her thoughtful, understated performance matches a film that teases out the flesh-and-blood emotions from the stuff of gothic romance.
- 83The Film StageChristopher SchobertThe Film StageChristopher SchobertO’Connor, who also scripted, adroitly manages the feat of making a 19th-century period piece burst with contemporary feeling.
- Emily is a sensitive and passionate portrait of the author.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeThe Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeWith her angular face and penetrating gaze, Mackey commands the screen, confidently shepherding us through Emily’s mercurial moods. Her eyes — darting nervously at one moment, squinting suspiciously at another — tells us what dialogue can’t.
- 80VarietyJessica KiangVarietyJessica KiangO’Connor’s well-modulated debut doesn’t pretend to be a faithful recreation of the facts of the Brontës’ lives. Instead it succeeds on a much trickier level, giving us a psychologically vivid Emily who did not write “Wuthering Heights” because a real-life romance unlocked her passionate nature, but whom we’d love to imagine having had such a grand affair, because she was always the woman with “Wuthering Heights” inside her.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThis is a sensually imaginative dive into the life of the Wuthering Heights author: it is a real passion project for O’Connor, with some wonderfully arresting insights.
- 75IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichEven a movie as evocative and well-mounted as this one can’t help but feel like a shadow of a shadow. It traces the silhouette of “The Strange One” without ever achieving the emotionality it needs to feel her touch first-hand.
- 60Time OutHelen O'HaraTime OutHelen O'HaraHowever slight the recorded romantic history of a well-known female author is, you can be sure it will become a key part of her biopic. Joining the trend now is this account of the life of Emily Brontë, which spends a chunk of its time on a romance that may not have happened. It’s well played and well written, but it’s an odd addition to a story that is remarkable even without invention: studios need to start letting spinsters be spinsters.