Romantic comedies often depend on one simple question: will the two people at the center of the story eventually fall in love? Finding Emily takes that familiar formula and adds a modern twist involving a missing phone number, a university-wide search and a psychology student with a secret agenda.
Directed by Alicia MacDonald and written by Rachel Hirons, the British romantic comedy stars Angourie Rice and Spike Fearn. While the movie has an appealing cast and plenty of familiar rom-com ingredients, Finding Emily Review finds a film that does not always know how to turn its promising setup into a consistently satisfying love story.
A Wrong Number Starts the Story
Spike Fearn plays Owen Brompton, a young musician and sound engineer studying and working at a university in Manchester.
After meeting a woman named Emily at a party, Owen becomes convinced that he has found his dream girl. There is only one problem: the phone number she gives him is missing a digit.
Instead of accepting that the encounter may simply have been a brief romantic moment, Owen decides to track her down. His search eventually leads him to another Emily, played by Angourie Rice.
Angourie Rice Plays a Different Emily
Rice portrays Emily Raine, an American psychology student with ambitions of her own.
Unlike Owen, Emily is skeptical about the idea of romantic destiny. She is researching the psychology of love and believes that romantic obsession can push people toward irrational behavior.
When she agrees to help Owen find the original Emily, however, she has an ulterior motive. She sees his increasingly elaborate search as an opportunity to observe the psychology of romantic obsession for her academic work.
This creates the central conflict of the film: Owen believes he is chasing true love, while Emily sees his behavior as the perfect subject for her research.
The Search Quickly Gets Out of Control
Owen’s attempt to find his mystery woman eventually becomes much bigger than expected.
The search spreads across the university, involving social media, students and a growing group of people who become fascinated by his romantic mission. The situation gives the movie many opportunities for comedy while also questioning the traditional idea of the grand romantic gesture.
One of the film’s more interesting ideas is that romantic gestures can look very different depending on whether the person receiving them actually wants them.
The Film Updates the Classic Rom-Com Formula
Finding Emily comes from Working Title, the production company behind well-known romantic comedies including Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Love Actually.
The new movie clearly understands that history while attempting to give the genre a Gen Z perspective. Instead of relying entirely on traditional meet-cutes and sweeping declarations, the story incorporates social media, university culture and questions about consent and personal boundaries.
That modern approach is one reason the film has attracted both praise and criticism. Some critics have appreciated its warmth and willingness to play with established conventions, while others have felt that the screenplay does not develop its ideas strongly enough.
Spike Fearn Brings Charm to Owen
Fearn’s performance is one of the movie’s strongest elements.
Owen could easily become irritating because of his determination to find someone he barely knows. Instead, Fearn gives the character an appealing sincerity that makes his romantic obsession easier to understand.
His musical side also adds personality to the character. Owen is not simply a lovesick student; he is an aspiring musician trying to establish himself while navigating an increasingly complicated romantic situation.
