Parents' Guide to Finding Emily

This warm, well-meaning comedy from the makers of Love Actually and Notting Hill adds a Gen Z slant to the tried and tested romcom formula. Finding Emily touches on the ideas of toxic masculinity and predatory behavior, but focuses more on the hysterical pile-ons that can be exaggerated through social media. This makes the movie sound more serious than it is, though. These topics are all presented with a wink and a pinch of salt, and the gender politics of the campaigning university students are lampooned as much as the cluelessness of the central character. For example, an online vote asks of Owen: "sexy pest or sex pest?" As the kind, thoughtful, but almost frustratingly innocent central character, Fearn makes the biggest impact here. His acting is natural to the point that it doesn't feel like a performance, and it's near impossible not to like him. Rice is a solid counterpart—the pessimistic American determined to prove that love is a form of temporary insanity that should have died out with evolution by now. But their relationship is pretty run-of-the-mill—it's predictable from start to finish and the beats play out exactly as you'd expect them to. A sweet moment between Owen and his brother actually has much more emotional impact than any romantic interaction in the film. But Finding Emily is still a solid romcom with a fitting soundtrack of Mancunian music that will no doubt appeal to fans of the genre.