Written by Rachel Hirons and directed by Alicia MacDonald, Finding Emily is an original romantic comedy set in Manchester, England. Starring Spike Fearn, Angourie Rice, Sadie Soverall, Cora Kirk and more, Finding Emily is now searching for the one Emily amongst all the Emilys in cinemas worldwide.

Owen Bromptom is a lovesick sound engineer and musician working at a university pub, where he meets a girl named Emily and becomes interested in her. He manages to get her number before she leaves, but it’s missing a digit, and he also didn’t get her last name, so he’s unable to contact her or find her on social media. Determined to find his dream girl, he searches for anyone named Emily in his hometown and first meets the wrong Emily, Emily Raine, a psychology student from America, who decides to help him track her down. Together, they spark a campus-wide frenzy that tests their own hearts.

Much of the film focuses on Spike Fearn as Owen Bromptom and Australian star Angourie Rice as Emily Raine, and the two have fantastic onscreen chemistry together. Emily uses her psychology studies to help Owen find the one Emily he’s searching for, and they experience many mishaps along the way, mostly at Owen’s expense. Even though Owen’s main goal is to find that specific Emily he met that night at work, he and Emily Raine develop a friendship along the way, with her becoming conflicted about her feelings for him.

Sadie Soverall stars as the Emily that Owen is determined to find. She isn’t seen much of the film for plot reasons, but she does more than enough to show why Owen fell head over heels for her in the short time they had together.

The film also stars Cora Kirk as Anna, Emily Raine’s roommate and best friend, Prasanna Puwanarajah as Professor Westlake, Emily’s psychology lecturer, Jack Riddiford as Owen’s brother Matt, plus Isabella Laughland as Freya, Minnie Driver as Dean Watkinson, Amber Grappy as Rhea, Timothy Innes as Tristan and Fiona Allen as a university receptionist, just to name a few. The supporting cast gets their moments of comedy throughout the film.

One of the unorthodox methods Owen attempts, as seen in the trailers, is to obtain the email addresses of all the Emilys at the university that the Emily he’s looking for said she attends. In a desperate act, he decides to send emails to the 300-plus students with the first name Emily.

The actresses among them include Yali Topol Margalith, Kat Ronney, Faye Campbell, Tash Major, Julia Rogers, Trudy Akobeng, Scarlett-Mai Grant, Lotty Marsh, Yasmin Paige, Kat Kitchener, Herin Seo, Sibusisiwe Nyoni, Alexandra Finnie, Faye Campbell, Lois Mackie and many more. This brings together a large number of Emilys who band together to find Owen, whom they’ve labelled a creep, which leads to more comedic moments.

Romantic comedies are hard to make original, and they’re not as common as they used to be. Finding Emily is a breath of fresh air for its uniqueness, setting itself apart from other films in the genre, and for using modern-day elements such as social media, which help spread the word quickly, much to Owen’s dismay. The comedy is what this film does really well and is comparable to rom-com classics such as Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

There are plenty of cringe moments in the best way, cleverly written dialogue, and a lot of exciting moments building up to keep audiences in anticipation of what happens next. The plot twists in Finding Emily can be predictable, especially for those who have seen similar movies, but it also isn’t necessarily trying to be original, and its creative ideas certainly help it stand out.

Something to keep in mind about romantic comedies is that they set unrealistic expectations and should not be taken seriously or used as dating advice. In real life, Owen would simply be seen as creepy, unhealthily obsessed and a serious red flag. While the Emily, he’s looking for, never actually rejected him, sometimes giving an incorrect or incomplete number can be seen as a sign of rejection.

A man going to great lengths to track down a girl he only met once comes across as more obsessive than romantic, even if he does have good intentions. There is, of course, also the possibility that the incomplete number was a genuine mistake and that Emily might be waiting for Owen to contact her all this time, but he won’t know unless he tries. Thankfully, the movie acknowledges this, and it becomes one of the many misfortunes Owen experiences.

Most British films are set in London, but this story takes place in Manchester, England, and the majority of the characters have northern accents, which gives it extra authenticity and provides some classic British comedy. Manchester offers many good-looking locations, from bars, restaurants, and cafes to streets, residential areas, and the University of Manchester, where Owen meets Emily Raine and, inadvertently, all the other Emilys too.

Finding Emily is a unique, fun and funny romantic comedy with creative ideas, and it’s well worth your time. It stands out from other films in the genre and is comparable to other rom-com classics, so fans are in for a good time, and even non-fans will find plenty to enjoy too. Spike Fearn and Angourie Rice have fantastic onscreen chemistry; the story is cleverly written, with heartfelt moments; Manchester provides nice-looking set pieces; and there is plenty of comedy to laugh at.

For those looking for a fun modern rom-com that you can just sit back and enjoy the ride with plenty of laughs, Finding Emily is the movie for you.