FINDING EMILY

(director: Alicia MacDonald; screenwriter: Rachel Hirons; cinematographer: Rachel Clark; editor: Phil Hignet; music: Morgan Kibby; cast: Minnie Driver (Dean Watkinson), Spike Feam (Owen Bromptom), Angourie Rice (Emily Raine), Phil Wang (Pervy Martin), Jack Riddiford (Matt, Owen’s brother), Cora Kirk (Anna), Prasanna Puwanarajah (Professor Westlake, pompous teacher); Runtime: 111; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Tim Bevan, Olivia Kaempfer, Sadie Soverall (Fairy Emily),  Eric Fellner; Focus Features; 2026-UK/USA)

“A cute Brit rom/com.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
 A cute Brit rom/com directed by Alicia MacDonald and written by Rachel Hirons.

The sound engineer at Manchester City University, Owen Brompton (Spike Fearn), meets at a club Emily (Sadie Soverall), the dream girl co-ed who mistakenly gave him the wrong number when in a hurry to leave with her friends. At the university he runs into the American student Emily Raine (Angourie Rice), a psychology student at the university writing a dissertation about how love causes severe mental problems. She volunteers to help Owen find his Emily, as she plans on using him in her case study to prove her theory.

The lovesick Owen and the wrong Emma scour the campus to find his dream girl, putting up posters and sending e-mails to every co-ed on campus named Emily.

It follows the usual rom/com predictable formulaic path, while showing it has a heart. If you like the’80s rom/com films, you’ll probable adore this charmer. I’m no fan, but it had some humor, a clever story and likeable characters.  

REVIEWED ON 5/29/2026  GRADE: B-
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