Bursting with old-school charm even as its provocations are distinctly modern, director Alicia MacDonald’s “Finding Emily” is a witty and sincere reminder of the enduring appeal of romantic comedies. Unlike recent stabs at the genre that feel like they coast on self-awareness and the ability to wink at their audience, MacDonald’s story has a refreshing earnestness. It believes in our primal, primordial need to be seen and loved, but explores how modern life and its many tribulations complicate those desires. Even as it moves through its classic tropes, its inquiry and curiosity never get overshadowed. It’s a gift to be invited to ask questions of and with its characters.
Thankfully, in Spike Fearn and Angourie Rice, MacDonald and writer Rachel Hirons have found more-than-worthy travelers to root us in this voyage. Fearn plays Owen, a sound engineer who, after spending a magical night with Emily (Sadie Soverall), realizes that she has given him the wrong number through which to contact him. Distraught, he seeks help from another Emily (Rice) to find her. Rice’s Emily sees Owen as a prime candidate for her theory that love serves no purpose in the modern world, merely an evolutionary carryover from when people still needed companionship and community.
One key theme that “Finding Emily” thoughtfully explores is the digital anxiety young people face when trying to pursue love. When awkward dates can go viral, texts can be screenshotted and shared out of context, and no one wants to be the cautionary tale, how does this impact the way people interact? Does it force people to be more genuine, or does it make them put up more boundaries? “I think romcoms, in many ways, can be seen as a genre that explores the ways technology impacts human connection,” Rice shared on the theme.
“Finding Emily” was released in the UK in May and as the film gets ready to jump the pond to make its US bow, RogerEbert.com spoke with Rice and Fearn about how filming in Manchester was emblematic of MacDonald’s anachronistic take on the romcom, the joy of filming their key musical scenes, and the outtakes they filmed that ended up being critical to understanding their character’s journeys.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
It’s rare for Manchester to be the setting of a romcom. From the film, it feels like it’s a place that feels modern and ancient, particularly how it oscillates between classic locations like the Northern Quarter and the more contemporary Peak District. That interplay between ancient and modern connects with the ways Alicia has taken rom-com tropes and updated them with distinctly Gen Z angst. Tell me more about what being in that city, and being surrounded by that history, helped clarify what Alicia was trying to accomplish with “Finding Emily.”
Spike Fearn: Manchester was always a place I wanted to film, and I’m happy I could live into that dream. I’m inspired by the purity of Manchester but also its sound. I think with filming for projects, you’re often not there long enough to really fall in love with it, but it was nice to film there, grow with it, and experience its seasons and changes.
I’m just happy that Manchester is shown because a lot of the northern parts of the UK are shown as gray, and that’s not really what it is. How Manchester is shown, with its vibrancy and color, is exactly how it feels. That focus guided how we thought through what Alicia was trying to do with this romcom: expand people’s horizons on what the genre can be.
Angourie Rice: Spike wrote me a poem at the end of filming that was about Manchester. It was specifically about what you’re referencing. It’s about all that is old and new within Manchester, how it holds these realities. You were also writing that poem from the vantage point of where you were filming in your apartment because you see the city, but how it’s surrounded by green.
SF: Manchester feels like it’s a city, but if you’re high enough and you look around, you see mountains and forests all around you. It feels like nature stopped just for Manchester to be there, and then it continued to build around it. That felt weighty, as if Manchester was “chosen” to be there and was there for a reason.
I remember being inspired and reflecting about how nature stopped for this beautiful place that we’re now filming. That sense of time stopping and building around a particular emotion like love was also something I was thinking through.
Spike Fearn stars as Owen and Angourie Rice as Emily in director Alicia MacDonald’s FINDING EMILY, a Focus Features release.Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features / © 2026 FOCUS FEATURES LLCAngourie, I heard you share that the team had about a week to film when school wasn’t in session, and that all of a sudden, these empty streets were flooded with people as production went on. I imagine that puts the idea of “doing things that are cringe with sincerity” to the test when you have all these watchful eyes.
AG: When the students came back, it was as if the city came alive. It was fun because we filmed on Canal Street, and a couple of weeks earlier, Manchester Pride was on that street. It was so crowded, and coming back a couple of weeks later to film was special.
SF: One guy with a camera kept following us around when we were filming. He must have been the only paparazzi guy in Manchester. He always knew where we were.
AG: I didn’t feel embarrassed or cringe while performing. It was interesting, as you pointed out, to think about the fact that people were watching and to work not to let that factor into the performance. We added a shot of me running out of the library at the last minute.
We finished filming early, which never happens, and as I’m running out the front of the library, there’s this crowd of people gathered to watch, evidently, me run–and they set up a barricade. It felt like all the people of Manchester gathered to watch me run from the tram stop in front of the library. They were cheering me on, not knowing what I was running to, from, or for, and I was like, “I’m just filming a movie!” It all felt so magical though; that’s what Manchester is like.
People will see something, and then they’ll be like, “Wait, this is awesome. Let’s check it out.”
Both of you have standout musical moments in this film: Spike, your scene with Jack Riddiford as you rap “Wordy Rappinghood”, and Angourie, your dancing scene with Cora Kirk. Tell me more about filming those scenes of catharsis, particularly how you communicated that sense of liberation in these very contained environments: the car for you, Spike, and the cramped living room for you, Angourie.
SF: For the scene with Jack in the car and me, Alicia was like, “What should the song be?” My
dad always showed me music growing up, and my mom showed me that song by Tom Tom Club. That’s always stuck in my head as the musical influence my mom has had on me, and I thought it would be fitting for these two brothers to listen to something that their mom showed them.
I remember on the day we were doing it, Jack and I realized that we both don’t speak French and there’s obviously a key French part of the song. On the day, Jack said, “Instead of trying to do the French part, what if we just said ‘French French French French French French.’” It was just so enjoyable to film, and we couldn’t hear them say “cut” because we were having such a good time.
The significance of that dance scene, Angourie, was that production played the song out loud while you dance “Off Wiv Ya Headz,” which often doesn’t happen for productions.
AG: Yeah, we filmed that sequence several times. I felt like it was just as fun as the boy’s scene in the car. Alicia and our DP, Rachel Clark, wanted to film the scene as one shot. Obviously they cut into it, but those scenes were filmed through as one take. Alicia also wanted to do a 360-degree perspective of the room so everyone was out of the room–normally very rare on a film set–and it was just Cora, me, Rachel filming us with a handheld camera, and Alicia hiding under the kitchen bench. I love those moments where you get to dance with the camera operator as well.
It felt exactly how it looked; we were coming to the end of filming, so it was emotional to be there, dancing, and letting all of these emotions out. We had an incredible movement coach called Polly Bennett, who gave both Spike and me a framework for how we’d move our bodies. It was less “do this” and more “Here’s roughly how I want you to move. Do something different during this beat; here’s the shape of how you’ll be moving in space.” She gave us guide rails to freestyle. She was also there when you were doing all of the music stuff on stage as well, Spike.
SF: She worked so well with the background actors, which in my scene was important. She did warm-ups with them and helped me feel confident I wouldn’t be embarrassed and could lead that scene with all those people.
Actor Angourie Rice, director Alicia MacDonald and actor Amber Grappy on the set of their film, FINDING EMILY, a Focus Features release.Credit: Matt Squire / © 2026 FOCUS FEATURES LLCSpeaking of filming and endings, a scene that stood out to me was the moment of revelation between your characters, when Owen realizes Emily has been using him. That confession moment is a rom-com staple; these characters have to feel betrayed by each other before they can love each other. What’s interesting, though, is that we don’t hear their confrontation. James Blake’s “Atmosphere” is what the audience hears while the dialogue is inaudible. Talk to me about how that affects your line deliveries as actors, when you know that what you’re saying might not be heard by people, especially for a critical moment like that.
AG: I didn’t know the song, but there was no dialogue scripted. So everything was figured out and improvised on the day.
SF: There was a different song before the James Blake one. It might have been “Love Will Tell Us Apart.” It’s funny you mention that scene because my dad likes that moment too. Everybody picks up on it. It’s such a smart scene, because I remember when we were filming, I really wanted to talk. Thinking about this from Owne’s perspective, I want to say my piece right over what’s happened. We did do a take like that, but then Alicia was like, “That’s a different movie.”
AG: I think it’s good though that we did that take because whether or not it ends up in the film, what we do informs, at least for me, the next take. I was thinking, “What is Emily afraid of? Is she afraid he’s going to yell?” So when you did yell for that take, it was scary because her fears were realized. But then when we did the silent, more muted version, that felt worse than the yelling. What happened is much worse than what she feared. She feels like she deserves to be yelled at, but he doesn’t, and that aches.
SF: Speaking on things that were filmed but didn’t end up in the film yet still informed the character, the last thing we filmed is not actually in the movie. It’s Angourie and Cora walking home from a night out. I had wrapped filming earlier in the day and had gone out with some of the cast to the pub for celebration drinks. I decided to go down to where they were filming, and I had my hood on, and I wanted to get in the back of the shot in a shopping cart.
Scenes like that, whether it makes it in the final film or not, are one of the many ways that sets “Finding Emily” apart from films of a similar ilk. It has such delightful quirks, like that scene where you, Angourie, and the character played by Emily Ash listen to Spike’s heartbeat.
SF: I think that’s what’s so great about the film: there are these quirky small parts where others can shine apart from the main ensemble. It’s what drew me into the story, and because there are so many parts and each person has a funny bit to do, it keeps you engaged. I’m happy you mentioned that heartbeat scene because I love that so much. I couldn’t stop laughing during that moment.
Minnie Driver stars as Dean Whittaker and Prasanna Puwanarajah as Professor Westlake in director Alicia MacDonald’s FINDING EMILY, a Focus Features release.Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features / © 2026 FOCUS FEATURES LLCAngourie, I read that you read Essays in Love by Alain de Botton to prepare for the role, and even attended a Carl Jung lecture. Can you talk about building the philosophical spine for the character of Emily Rain, what stood out to you from these readings, and how you might have layered them into your performance?
I think what I really took from that book is that, and I think Emily goes through this too, is that you can intellectualize love from every single side, and you can figure out how to talk about it and really break it down into its elemental building blocks. At the end of the day, when you’re standing in front of somebody who makes you feel like your heart is going to explode, none of that intellectualizing is going to help. You are still going to feel how you feel and express it in some way. That’s not to say don’t research. You can try to gamify all these things, but there’s something about meeting someone face-to-face and the embodied connection that stands out powerfully.
I’ve been thinking about the role of technology in this film, and how it’s changed what’s possible but made what’s permissible murkier. If “Finding Emily” took place in a different time, I feel like Owen would leave things be, but it’s because he exists in a world where it’s possible to send emails that almost enables his fantasy in a way. Tell me more about this undercurrent of digital anxiety and the ways it manifests in how young people navigate relationships.
AG: I think romcoms, in many ways, can be seen as a genre that explores the ways technology impacts human connection. If you’ve seen “Sleepless in Seattle,” that’s a ‘90s romcom where the character falls in love with somebody over the radio and, using her journalism skills, finds him. So that idea of technology enabling your search manifested there, and I also think about the film “Dangerous Liaisons.” That’s a film based on a book from the 1700s that similarly has this plot of enticement and the use of letter writing to find and locate someone.
I think it’s interesting to think about how, for broncos, the context and details change, but the feelings are the same. For these characters, the feeling of being embarrassed, even if it’s three hundred people who you’ve accidentally sent an email to, or if it’s just that you’ve accidentally said the wrong thing to one person, that feeling of embarrassment stays the same no matter where you are or what time period you’re in.
SF: I think we live in a time where people are scared to see phones in their movies, mainly because people might go to the cinema to get away from life where screens dominate. I empathize with that, but at the same time, this is the time we’re living in. In. I think Alicia, in pursuit of authenticity, cleverly incorporated technology without drawing too much attention to it, focusing on how it has infiltrated every part of our human experience, including love. Love and its pursuits change with the times, but you can still be smart about the way you change.
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