Emma (2020) Review

I know Bridgerton is all the rage right now, but I’m old, my watchlist is long (and frequently interrupted by old Jeopardy! Episodes), so I just got around to 2020’s Emma. And here we are now.

Having never read Emma, but knowing my Pride and Prejudice, I felt prepared for the general vibe going into this film. It certainly delivers on quietly, cleverly poking fun at rich people with too much time on their hands, particularly the titular lead, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, who is just as capable of playing vain and mean-spirited as she is charming and (haltingly) remorseful.

But frankly, I was way more interested in her father, an antisocial man terrified of the slightest draft, who just became the film character who best represents my entire being. He steals the show, and I needed more of him to finally feel seen in a film.

I’ve always worried that these kind of period pieces are more concerned with beautiful costumes than genuine entertainment, and to a slight extent, I think that is true here: the film is beautifully shot, colored, and lit, and sometimes the costumes are the most interesting thing happening on the screen. That said, those moments are rare, because the film does a lot to make this feel like a classy version of a coming-of-age film. The soundtrack is wonderful, sometimes conspiratorial, sometimes blaring characters’ dislike of each other in a scene where they’re otherwise standing haughtily around in their finery. There’s also a surprising amount of cringe-humor, particularly from the pastor, who is very easy to hate.

The last thing I have to say (except that there’s a very sexually-charged piano-violin duet) is that one place I enjoyed the story of Emma even over Pride and Prejudice is that the former actually deals with regular people (not the merely upper-middle class being sneered at by the very upper class) in the character of Harriet, and actually deals with the fallout when people of wealth and power play games with their lives.

But also I can’t get that duet out of my head.

Suffice to say, this is not a thrill/goof per second film, but it is thoughtful, beautiful to look at, and surprisingly easy to find yourself invested in, even if period dramas aren’t ordinarily your thing. 4 wealthy socialites out of 5, now streaming on HBOMax.