If love really is temporary psychosis, then I’ve fallen in love with FINDING EMILY.
The theatrical romantic comedy has been surviving on a barely audible pulse. Since COVID, the box office has lost its heart for movie romance and pivoted to streaming. The rom-com shaped my entire worldview. It’s the reason my alias here at SFR is Dobler (SAY ANYTHING remains the greatest film ever made).
FINDING EMILY breaks that drought, as audiences get to watch a hopeless romantic Owen (Spike Fearn) chase his “one” true love, Emily, across the feel-good movie of the summer.
Let’s be clear: FINDING EMILY doesn’t reinvent the genre. It’s a standard, by-the-numbers picture. It works anyway, thanks to the charm of its leads, a hilarious and insightful script by Rachel Hirons, and Alicia MacDonald’s perfectly tuned direction.
Angourie Rice plays Emily Raine, guarded and analytical on the surface, with just enough hesitant vulnerability leaking through to keep the character human. Rice usually shows up in heavier work like MARE OF EASTTOWN, so watching her stretch into rom-com timing here is rewarding.
MacDonald sets the movie in Manchester, and the soundtrack plays to that strength. Morgan Kibby, once the voice behind M83, supplies a fantastic score. The film also stacks needle drops pulled straight from the city’s own music history: New Order’s “Blue Monday,” The Durutti Column, Black Grape, and a run of tracks recorded specifically by Blossoms.
FINAL THOUGHT: Don’t get wrong-numbered, do yourself a favor, and seek out FINDING EMILY in theaters. It’s a love letter to the romantic comedies of the past and proves this genre, when done well, can make people temporarily psychotic, aka fall in love.
One note before you go. The film earns a perfect, SAY ANYTHING-style ending, then keeps rolling through an over-the-credits sequence that doesn’t work. Do yourself a favor: when the screen fades to black, walk out.
It’s playing in theaters now.
