Director Alicia MacDonald‘s endearing film “Finding Emily” is a sweet, slightly goofy Gen-Z romantic comedy that understands how ridiculous falling for a stranger can be.
Owen (Spike Fearn) meets a mysterious girl (Sadie Soverall) dressed as a fairy at a party and immediately becomes obsessed. She tells him her name is Emily, hastily gives him her phone number, and disappears. The next morning, Owen discovers the number is missing a digit. He sets out to find her, enlisting the help of psychology student Raine (Angourie Rice) who is far more interested in analyzing romantic obsession than experiencing it herself.
The premise is undeniably silly (and some of the plot mechanics strain credibility), but the film gets away with it because it’s swimming in genial sincerity. Fearn and Rice (whose performance does occasionally veer into annoying, overly cloying territory) have an appealing, winsome chemistry, but there isn’t much conventional “heat” or sex appeal between them. Instead, they feel like two people who genuinely become friends and gradually fall for each other, which gives the romance an oddly authentic quality.
What makes the movie more interesting is the way it plays with the familiar rom-com fantasy. Owen isn’t really in love with Emily at first, but he’s in love with the idea of her. One perfect night becomes a fantasy that he projects all his hopes onto, turning a stranger into a symbol of everything he thinks he wants. Raine recognizes this almost immediately, viewing romance through the lens of Freud’s idea that love is essentially a temporary form of madness. Her cynicism, of course, is also a convenient way of protecting herself from getting hurt. (I’m sure you can see what’s coming next).
The movie also has a clever, good-natured take on campus culture, social media and dating in the digital age. A mass e-mail sent across a university in the name of romance is funny, but it also raises an increasingly relevant question about grand romantic gestures and how they may cross the line into stalking or obsession. It’s a savvy look at a very modern (and very real) issue facing couples today.
“Finding Emily” is briskly paced with a happy ending that feels both classic yet contemporary, and MacDonald is self-aware enough to poke fun at the manic pixie dream girl and fairy tale rescue formulas it could easily have fallen into. The result is a cute and funny charmer that will resonate with anyone who remembers what it feels like to fall for someone before you actually know them.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 