Emily: Movie Review

Cast: Emma Mackey, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Fionn Whitehead, Adrian Dunbar

Director: Frances O'Connor

Sex Education's Emma Mackey burns brightly in this take on the Emily Bronte story, that's dulled only by its duration and fuelled by its speculation of her life.

As the film opens, Emily's about to pass on, asked by her sister "How did you write Wuthering Heights?" Despite a quip-led "I put pen to paper", the film then flashes back to take viewers through the life of the so-called "strange one" of the family.

When her stern father (Line of Duty's Dunbar) urges her to take up French lessons with the new curate Weightman (Jackson-Cohen), Emily's soon smitten with his ways and begins an ill-advised affair.

Emily has moments when it truly shines, but in truth, they're all led by Sex Education's Mackey.

A scene where she leads a seance behind a mask and seemingly conjures up her mother's spirit is utterly impressive, and Mackey's turn is what grounds it in its riveting atmosphere.

Equally, the scenes she shares with her brother Branwell show a character at ease and also at conflict with her place in the world. Again, it's Mackey's commanding turn that makes it so watchable.

But stretched out over a 2hr10 minute run time, the film starts to feel bloated and at times spineless, no matter how well shot the moorlands and their desolate vistas are.

One sequence sees her shouting "Freedom in thought" but the more Emily goes on, the more stilted and stifled it becomes. While O'Connor blurs the lines between the known and unknown, the end result is somewhat muddied - and would be written off as conjecture and stuffy period drama - were it not for the utterly compelling Mackey who dazzles more than her material does.