Movie Review: Finding Emily

By John Corrado

The romantic comedy formula is tried and true at this point, but every so often a new one comes along that reminds us just how satisfying this formula can be when done well.

Such is the case with director Alicia MacDonald’s Finding Emily, a British romantic comedy that is produced by heavy hitters Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, who also have classics like Love Actually and Bridget Jones’s Diary to their name. As such, Finding Emily plays in the proud tradition of other Brit rom-coms, and it’s delightful.

The pining male lead is Owen Brompton (Spike Fearn), a young man who is not a student at the Manchester City University, but works as a sound engineer at the campus pub. One night, he meets – or rather has a “meet cute” with – a girl named Emily (Sadie Soverall) at a party. The two share some special moments on the dance floor, and the night ends with him getting her number as she leaves to meet friends for a birthday party.

When he tries to message her the next day, Owen discovers that one digit of her number is missing in his phone. This prompts him to start searching the campus for every girl named Emily until he finds the right one, which leads him to another Emily; Emily Raine (Angourie Rice). Through this, Finding Emily successfully pulls off the “double meet cute,” an immensely satisfying rom-com trope when done right, which it very much is here.

This second Emily is a somewhat cynical third year psychology student on a study visa from America. She is doubtful of the spark that Owen claims to have felt, and tries to convince him he is chasing an idealized version of this girl that perhaps only exists in his head; a literal “manic pixie dream girl.” But she agrees to help Owen, partially because she is secretly using him as the subject for her thesis that love makes you do irrational things.

The experience allows Owen to get closer to second Emily, at first platonically, but some feelings inevitably get in the way. Meanwhile, Owen’s search to find the right Emily quickly snowballs, gaining him a very vocal following of both supporters and detractors. Like student union president and ardent feminist Emily Thewlis (Kat Ronney), who decides to turn this into a #MeToo moment. She is offended that she got contacted as part of Owen’s search simply by virtue of her name, and tries to spin the whole thing into some form of harassment.

The whole situation starts spiralling out of control, almost to the point of becoming farcical. But MacDonald keeps her film largely grounded in asking some thoughtful questions about modern relationships and compatibility. There are some trickier elements at play here that might not have worked if the framing felt off. But the screenplay by Rachel Hirons does a good job of keeping us engaged in the search for Emily, while also introducing a lot of timely themes.

Better yet, the film actually seems interested in grappling with and exploring a lot of these ideas, within the confines of something that still works as a classic romantic comedy. The film finds new angles and adds some fresh wrinkles to the formula, doubling as a post-cancel culture allegory about going viral, mob mentality, and the rush to pass judgement on someone on the internet. It’s a very modern way of approaching a classic story about trying to find a lost connection.

Of course, any rom-com is also only as good as its leads and the chemistry between them, and both Fearn and Rice are pretty irresistible here. Fearn’s Owen is a ball of nervous energy with a very thick Manchester accent, while Rice balances him out nicely as the more sardonic Emily, who doesn’t want anyone to know that her heart is open to love. The film manages to find satisfying resolutions for all of its characters, as it races through a finale that yet again reminds us just how satisfying these various rom-com tropes can be when done well. In short, Finding Emily is a treat to watch.