Emily | 2022 | R | – 6.3.2

Why is “Emily” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some sexuality/nudity and drug use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several sex scenes with partial nudity, an implied sex scene, abbreviated passages from a book that include suggestive references, two people chased by angry dogs, a man whipping his son, people dying from cholera, many arguments, two people using opium, and some strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Biopic documenting the family life and trauma of the 19th century British author of “Wuthering Heights,” Emily Bronte (Emma Mackey), who died when she was 30 years old. Also with Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Fionn Whitehead, Alexandra Dowling, Amelia Gething, Adrian Dunbar, Gemma Jones, Veronica Roberts, Gerald Lepkowski, Cara Foley and Sacha Parkinson. Directed by Frances O’Connor. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in French with English subtitles. [Running Time: 2:10]

Emily SEX/NUDITY 6

 – A man leaves a note for a young woman in a hymnal in church instructing her to meet him at a lodge later; they meet and kiss passionately, they remove each other’s clothing (we see his bare chest and shoulders), kiss and he lays her back on hay on the ground, they breathe heavily and sex is implied. A man and a young woman are shown lying on a floor and we see thrusting movement under a blanket. A man and a young woman are shown lying in a bed (we see his bare chest and shoulders), and the young woman moves off-screen below the man’s waist and he gasps (oral sex is implied).
► A man kisses along a young woman’s abdomen and chest (we see her bare breast). A man and a young woman take shelter from rain in a lodge where they talk and kiss passionately; the man pulls away saying that they should not continue. A man touches a young woman’s hand in a washbasin filled with water and dishes; they kiss passionately and he pulls away. A young man kisses the neck of a married woman in a crowded room and other people see him.
► A young woman professes her love for a man but he refuses her and sends her away. Four young men fawn over a young woman trying to climb over a wall and try to help her. Two clothed young women embrace and snuggle in bed in several scenes. Two young women giggle and become giddy when they receive Valentine’s cards from a man.
► A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage.

Emily VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – A man removes his belt and whips his son with it; the young man is then taken away to tutor a man’s child in order to make amends for spying on the man’s family. A young woman pounds on a man’s door and pleads with him asking what has happened after he did not meet her.
► A man holds his dead son after succumbing to cholera; we later see the body cleaned, dressed and laid in a bed, and then later mourners gather at a funeral. A young woman appears feverish and collapses; she is placed on a sofa, she wheezes, coughs and falls motionless (we understand that she died).
► People talk about putting on a mask and imagining that they are someone else; one young woman puts on the mask at a gathering and behaves as if she is the woman’s deceased mother, causing her siblings to become emotional; when a storm blows the windows open people scream thinking that the ghost of their mother was present, and a man pulls the mask off the young woman and reprimands her. A young man and a young woman peer through a window and when a resident catches them, he sets his dogs loose and they chase them; the young man stumbles and is caught and the young woman escapes. A young man and a young woman peer through the window of a house and make up stories about what the people inside are thinking; when a resident sees them, he chases them accompanied by his dogs (they manage to get away). A man is alarmed when he sees words written on a young woman’s arm (like a tattoo) that read, “Freedom in thought.” A young man and a young woman seem inebriated after they use opium; they spin around and roll down a hill laughing. A young woman wakes up in a start and sees a man standing in the curtains. A young woman locks herself in a closet in a girls’ school and a woman opens the door to reveal her crouching inside.
► We hear that a man died from cholera. A young woman criticizes a young man’s writing in scathing terms and he is crestfallen. A young woman collapses to the floor crying and tells her sister, “I hate you.” A young woman quizzes another young woman and appears upset with her about how she could have written something. A young man argues that an education in the humanities is more important than any other course of study. A young woman says, “I don’t like to meet new people.” A young man tells his sister that a man is “not to be trusted.” A man tells a young woman that her brother is a dangerous influence and an “odd fish.” Two young women argue about another young woman coming to visit and one threatens to stay in her room for the whole time she is there. A young woman yells at another young woman calling her an embarrassment and saying, “Mother would be ashamed of what you have become.” A young woman tells another young woman, “I won’t let you drag me down.” A young woman is told, “Try not to be a burden.” A young man describes being in a fight and being kicked while on the ground. A young woman presses a man on his faith and piety and he becomes upset with her. A young woman makes the sound of a sheep during a church sermon and she laughs while the curate looks at her with disapproval. A man tells a young woman, “There’s something ungodly in you.”
► Young men and women walk through pouring rain in several scenes; in one scene two people try to take shelter under a bare tree and the others run away. Two young women burn many pages of poetry.

Emily LANGUAGE 2

 – 1 anatomical term, 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (ugly book, base, selfish people, Captain Sneaky, strange, strange one, rude, insane, fool, odd fish, idiot, tricky, self-important, laughable, soppy, cliché, pathetic, overwritten, shy, pity, bad influence, embarrassment, unstable, wasteland, human scum, unkind, blind faith, silly, pathetic, lazy, flock of unquestioning sheep, gypsy, beggar, madness), exclamations (oh gosh, gosh), 16 religious exclamations (e.g. God is in the rain, Amen, Christ the Lord, Hallelujah, God is in us, dear God, thank God, God bless you all, God, dear Lord, for the love of God, ungodly). | profanity glossary |

Emily SUBSTANCE USE

 – A young woman finds a tube labeled “Elixir of Opium” in a drawer and she and a young man use some. Three men drink from tankards in a pub and a young woman takes a sip, a young woman drinks a glass of sherry and seems to like it, a young man drinks from a flask in a few scenes, a young woman accuses a young man of being an alcoholic, a young woman drinks from a bottle of liquor, people drink a toast at a celebration, and a reference is made to a woman’s behavior on a “drunken summer evening.” A young man smokes a cigarette in a few scenes, and a young woman smokes a cigarette.

Emily DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Merit, talent, inspiration, growing up, Victorian England, death of loved ones, truth, grief, vivacity, mortal sin, insolence, growing up, love, dwelling in the past, expectations, art, talent, impropriety, blind faith, morality, freedom in thought, true happiness.

Emily MESSAGE

 – True happiness is to love and be loved.