Editor's Note: The following contains Emily spoilers.
Finally, Francis O’Connor’s directorial debut, Emily, is playing in US theaters. Anyone who’s heard of the film probably knows that it’s about Emily Brontë, author of the 1847 English literature classic Wuthering Heights, and stars Sex Education actress Emma Mackey. The narrative follows Emily (Emma Mackey) in the years leading up to her death, as she engages in a romantic relationship with the local church curate, William Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), and subsequently writes the magnum opus that made her a household name. What audiences might not know is that a traditional biopic this is not — the movie is a highly fictionalized, imagined version of Brontë’s life with a small number of key historical facts underpinning it.
What Is True in ‘Emily’
There’s enough truth in Emily to prevent the story from being wholly unrecognizable. Just as Brontë did in real life, Emily in the film has three siblings: elder sister Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling), younger sister Anne (Amelia Gething), and brother Branwell (Fionn Whitehead). The three of them live in the moors of Haworth, Yorkshire, with their father, Patrick (Adrian Dunbar), a widower following the death of their mother, Maria Branwell, in 1821. Emily, of course, writes Wuthering Heights in the 1840s, andit’s also noted that Charlotte is a teacher and writer. The picture is structured around certain events that really did happen, such as Emily and Charlotte traveling to Brussels, and Branwell studying at the Royal Academy of Arts, as well as his addiction issues and early death. Emily, too, died tragically young, something that the film establishes as early as its opening scene before descending into flashbacks.
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Emily’s introverted, eccentric personality in the film may be fairly accurate, as historical sources have regarded her as reserved and reclusive in nature. Emily’s love interest in the movie, Weightman, was also a real person and was the curate at the Brontë’s parish. But there is zero evidence to suggest that the real Emily Brontë and Weightman were ever close acquaintances or romantically involved; instead, historians sometimes speculate about a potential connection between Weightman and Anne. This is the biggest way in which the movie diverges from reality.
'Emily's Love Story Is Pure Fan Fiction
In Emily, the titular character and Weightman share a secret, forbidden romantic and sexual relationship that ends in tragedy. Fearing exposure — and disturbed by Emily’s dark, "ungodly" writings — Weightman suddenly denies his feelings for Emily, ending their tryst and leaving her heartbroken and adamant that she will never write again. When Emily plans to leave for Brussels with Charlotte, Weightman writes to Emily, expressing his regret, pleading with her to continue writing and stay in Yorkshire. But he passes the letter on to Branwell, who refuses to deliver it to Emily; the two never meet again, and Weightman dies shortly after. When Emily returns from Brussels, Branwell is gravely ill, and relinquishes the letter to her before his death; the contents inspire Emily to pick up her quill and write Wuthering Heights.
None of this happened in real life, and the inclusion of romance seems like a way of making Brontë’s life more appealing to contemporary audiences, who desire sex scenes and romance stories using conventionally attractive actors. Not everybody will appreciate this choice; it’s easy to come away from the film feeling that maybe the creators doubted whether an equally interesting story could be told without centering a man and a heteronormative relationship. It also falsely credits Wuthering Heights to Weightman, his lasting impact having inspired Emily to tell the story – because surely a woman without any romantic experience would be unable to craft a novel filled with so much passion. Arguably, publicly speculating about a historical woman’s private life is problematic in itself, especially since Brontë is no longer alive to set the record straight.
Who Was the Real Emily Brontë?
Brontë’s real story is fairly mysterious, and there are minimal sources out there that provide much information. It appears that when she wasn’t writing, she was often tutoring or studying, but romance was absent from her life. No stranger to disease and grief, it’s perhaps surprising that the filmmakers did not find enough basis for a compelling story rooted in Brontë’s reality. Those behind Emily clearly saw a lack of biographical content to adapt, and a gap in her personal life influenced them to envision what could’ve been, but due to her solitary character and more importantly, societal expectations, it is improbable that she ever had a relationship that resembled Emily and Weightman’s in the film. Scenes such as Emily and Branwell scaring a nearby family, and Emily acting possessed by her mother in an impersonation game, also have no basis in real life.
At the end of Emily, Emily’s death motivates Charlotte to take up writing herself; this is historically inaccurate as Charlotte was already a writer who published poetry collections with her sisters prior to Emily’s death, and Jane Eyre was in fact published before Wuthering Heights. Overall, the film does not try to examine issues surrounding the Brontë’s being female writers in the Victorian era, and does not even show how Wuthering Heights was originally published under a male pseudonym, Ellis Bell. This was a missed opportunity to present the internal and external challenges the sisters would’ve navigated before and after revealing themselves as women — though Wuthering Heights was not published under Emily’s real name until after she passed away.
'Emily' Is a Period Romance Disguised as a Biopic
All of this is not to say that Emily is bad at all. The performances are stellar, and the chemistry between Mackey and Jackson-Cohen is sizzling. The gloomy English landscapes and slightly disconcerting score are both highlights in a film that's at once intimate and haunting; think Jane Austen but without the happy ending. Whether Emily is worth a watch all depends on what you want out of it. If you're here for the period aesthetics, gothic vibes, and doomed romance reminiscent of Wuthering Heights, you'll likely love it. But if you're a stickler for historical accuracy, or seek knowledge about Brontë that goes beyond what's on her Wikipedia page, this one might not be for you. At the very least, the film is sure to be devoured by fans of the ‘hot priest’ trope and should bring the Brontës’ works to a new audience.
