Search

» » My Name Is Emily (2015)

Short summary

On her 16th birthday, Emily runs away from her foster home and, with the help of her new friend Arden, sets out on a road trip to break her father out of a psychiatric institution.
Emily has been living in a foster home ever since her father was institutionalized after her mother's death. Still, she keeps in touch with him through the birthday cards he sends her every year. As Emily starts at a new school, she catches the attention of her shy classmate Arden. When her father doesn't send a birthday card on her 16th birthday, Emily decides to take matters into her own hands. Enlisting Arden's help, she runs away, and the pair set out on a road trip to break her father out of the psych ward. As their journey progresses, Emily and Arden must depend on each other as they learn about life, love, loss, and letting go.

Trailers "My Name Is Emily (2015)"

Director Simon Fitzmaurice wrote the script when he was diagnosed with motor neuron disease - and directed the film entirely through eye-recognition software.

The brief shot near the beginning of the film of Robert leading a crew of people into the sea naked was done as a charity promotion. Inspired by the Ice Bucket Challenge, the stunt was promoted as 'The Ultimate Ice Bucket Challenge'. One hundred people turned up on the day to run into the sea naked, which they all did for free. Actor Michael Smiley also appeared nude and took part. Evanna Lynch did not take part but was still there on set.

The building used as the set for the mental hospital was actually a school in Rathnew, Co. Wicklow. The same building was used for the scenes where Robert is teaching at a community college.

James Vincent Mcmorrow wrote and performed an original song for the film.

Emily loses her boots when she jumps into the sea.

All sound engineers during recording were flown in from Sweden.

Extras coordinator Fiona Bonnie doubled for Evanna Lynch in a couple of scenes due to their resemblance.

Less extras than expected turned up on the day to shoot the scenes in Robert's classes. So in the brief shot where Robert is finally connecting with his class, several crew members had to jump on camera to fill the frame.

Arden was written to be Irish too, and Irish actors were auditioned for the part. The British George Webster gave the best audition, and they re-wrote Arden to be half-English.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: MrDog
    There's a poetry to My Name is Emily. Not just in the words - it permeates the imagery and music as well. That should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Simon Fitzmaurice's work - his short films won all around them, lauded as lyrical and beautiful. His stream-of-consciousness film-making evokes a response on myriad levels - visually, musically, emotionally - and My Name is Emily succeeds on all fronts.

    Emily, played beautifully by Evanna Lynch, is a troubled soul - deep and considered and stubbornly beyond conformity. She is wounded, armored and iron-strong. Arden, played with great charm by newcomer George Webster, is similarly bruised, but meets his own challenges with an infectious wit and enthusiasm. He hides his own pain under bravado, to a degree, and his inherent optimism and seize-the-day attitude are a perfect counterpoint to Emily's initial introspection. Their growth as characters as they journey across Ireland builds in an organic and believable way, gradually revealing themselves to each other, and in turn, the audience.

    To call this movie a road trip is a little reductive - it is, for all intents and purposes, but the journey Simon so wonderfully evokes is through an emotional landscape as well as a physical one.

    Parents loom large for both these characters, in different ways. Emily's father Robert is written across every aspect of her life. Their history together has forged her, left her vulnerable, searching for answers. Michael Smiley delivers a nuanced and powerful performance as Robert - a broken man, gradually remade through love and forgiveness.

    Simon finds humor and pathos throughout, delicately balanced against themes of loss and redemption. He adds richness and texture in deft strokes, letting peripheral characters shine in fleeting moments - Arden's Granny, full of wit and wisdom, Emily's foster parents, crippled by their earnest middle-class nicety.

    Emily's pain and loss simmer, fathoms deep, etched across every subtle expression. Lynch plays it flat at first, closed and impenetrable, but gradually opens up as the movie progresses. It's wonderful to see Emily start to smile and laugh, to watch her being freed as Arden helps her come out of herself, out of her pain. My Name is Emily is a poem about love and loss, darkness and light and everything in between.
  • comment
    • Author: Vivaral
    Wordsworth abandoned the woman he loved because he couldn't stand up to the public opinions, conservatives and morality police of his day. Emily, an insightful teenager in the present day, does not want to be in pain like he was. Her motto, like that of her father, is that if you hide from death, you hide from life. Because of Emily's uncommon insight and wisdom, she is isolated from her classmates. She is labeled as a freak. So she doesn't have much to lose by leaving them. With the help a similarly isolated young man, Emily goes on a quest to find answers regarding the forced transfer of her beloved father to a mental institution.

    The young pair travels through the countryside, camps along seashores and beneath the stars, and beholds rainbows. The film is a tad predictable and could be more powerful and better acted and organized, yet despite such drawbacks it has a powerful story. This, the story, weighs most heavily for me when I rate films. I just love Emily's philosophy about living life to its fullest, or, as Emily puts it, "life happens fast, like mountains that appear in the background, and suddenly you are in them." Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015.
  • comment
    • Author: Shakagul
    Emily (Evanna Lynch) feels lost in the world. After her mother's death, her father Robert (Michael Smiley) deteriorated mentally and forced into an institution. Emily was placed in foster care. In the new school, teachers keep asking, "What is wrong with you?" The kids think she's weird except Arden (George Webster) who is head over heels for her. It's her birthday and the expected card from her father has not arrived. She enlists Arden in her mission to save her father.

    Evanna Lynch is most well-known as Harry Potter's Luna Lovegood. This one is a similar flighty, ethereal character. She is quite compelling playing this type of role and has a certain magnetic charisma. George Webster is a relative newcomer and presents a very appealing actor. Most of this works well as a teen romance and road trip. At a certain point, the story struggles to do something more than the simple formula. The father's story could have been more emotional. For all the possibilities, the danger to him fizzles. It becomes something interesting about the father daughter relationship but it could have been more dramatic. Its potential is not fully realized but it's good nevertheless.
  • comment
    • Author: Daizil
    This movie won't be from everyone, but it is for me. Evanna Lynch recently almost won Dancing with the Stars. She was robbed by the way, but I digress. After watching her dance, I was intrigued to see what she's done since her Harry Potter days. I found "I Am Emily." I realized I saw this film a few years ago. I decided to watch again. As I was viewing this film, I thought that this is the kind of project I would like to be involved in one day. It was beautifully shot in Ireland. It was something unusual that totally took me to a different world for an hour and forty minutes. As Emily's dad says in the movie, "it's OK to be weird". It was definitely OK that this movie was weird and unusual. I found myself mesmerized by Lynch's character. George Webster also had a very strong performance. Without giving away spoilers, I will just say I loved the decisions his character made in this film. Evanna dedicated one of her dances in Dancing with the Stars to the director Simon Fitzmaurice who passed away from Lou Gehrig's disease. I will search for more of his films, because he really created something special with "I am Emily". It seems like the story was written just for Evanna Lynch. She is quirky, but something about her hits you like electricity (as her boyfriend described in the film several times.). Some may say it moved slowly like the old car they drove on their road trip, but it was just right for me. It was filled with emotion and tremendous performances. I am only giving 9 stars, since I can understand that this film may not be for everyone. If I was recommending it just for my tastes, I would give it an 11.
  • comment
    • Author: Bluddefender
    This movie is a pile of attemptedly profound and meaningful statements that feel like they should culminate to create a big heartfelt message but actually just come down as a heap of confusingly pseudo-poetic tripe. There are so many plot holes in this movie, from Emily's endless wardrobe while on the run with a small bag to the fact that her foster parents don't seem to call the social workers and seek to find her, despite Emily's claims that they will. That's just forgotten. The narration on Evanna lynch's Part is excessively wordy without meaning anything, and her acting is even worse. She quite possibly ruins the movie with it, however I'm not sure there is much good outside that. Why did this movie win any awards?
  • comment
    • Author: Ka
    I'm not aware of Fitzmaurice's cultural background: judging his first feature film on the basis of the level of theoretical depth that it (apparently) expresses would be consequently unfair. But "My name is Emily" - as far as we know - is one of the most elegant examples of complex theoretic inclusions within a classic drama movie format.

    Film language is quite complex with its multimedia semiotics: it's hard to find mainstream films with both an attention to deep conceptual problems and some "watchability" value (no, I wouldn't consider Matrix an example...). This is of course not due to the lack of great writers/directors but to the nature of the language itself which is in some sense too rich, redundant and ambiguous: life-like.

    So here we have a sort of meta-allegory of Plato's cavern allegory (and its social consequences) which doesn't sound boring or book-like, involves likable characters and has a solid plot. Furthermore photography depicts charming corners of Ireland and the actors did an honest job.

    However all in all the film feels weak, not enough daring (and caring) and with too many unnecessary minutes here and there: lots and lots of details that sound rushed or amateurish.

    The writer (and director) has for sure something interesting to say but despite its merits "My name is Emily" is quite forgettable.
  • Cast overview, first billed only:
    Evanna Lynch Evanna Lynch - Emily
    George Webster George Webster - Arden
    Michael Smiley Michael Smiley - Robert
    Deirdre Mullins Deirdre Mullins - Emily's Mother
    Millie Donnelly Millie Donnelly - Newborn Emily
    Sadie Fitzmaurice Sadie Fitzmaurice - Toddler Emily
    Hunter Fitzmaurice Hunter Fitzmaurice - Toddler Emily
    Sarah Minto Sarah Minto - Young Emily
    Michael Hough Michael Hough - Mr. Spade
    Loui Vangelder Loui Vangelder - Steve
    Ally Ni Chiarain Ally Ni Chiarain - June
    Kai Power Kai Power - Young Arden
    Kate Parry Kate Parry - Trapeze Artist
    Conor Knox Conor Knox - Male Student
    Cathy Belton Cathy Belton - Ms. White
    All rights reserved © 2017-2024 hd.thomson-multimedia.com