Deep in the suitably windy moors of Yorkshire, Emily Brontë (Emma Mackey) is under pressure from her older sister Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling) to involve herself in society and become a teacher. Content in her family home, passionate introvert Emily would rather lose herself in her poetry, compose stories with her sisters, and wander the hills with her rebellious brother Branwell (Fionn Whitehead). After the impactful arrival of Mr Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) into the parish to assist her father (Adrian Dunbar), life becomes increasingly complicated for Emily.

Actor turned writer-director, Frances O’Connor, imagines the early years of a pre-Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë in this evocative and progressive period drama. Marrying the weather-beaten landscape with a powerful performance from Emma Mackey in particular, O’Connor weaves a passionate story of heartbreak, sisterhood, and being true to oneself.

Notes by Saidhbh Ní Dhúlaing