Emily Brontë / Wuthering Heights

 

Emily Brontë • Frances O'Connor • Wuthering Heights

Emily isn't a biopic of Emily Brontë but a fantastical re-telling of her life. Much like the Brontë sister it is based on (a breathtaking performance by Emma Mackey), it has its own unconventional beat that manages to portray the author of Wuthering Heights through the lens of the book, mapping plotlines with her life - all exquisitely shot handheld.

It has it all, like the novel: sex, romance and a good dollop of the gothic, with its portrayal of the moors that make up what's now famously known as Brontë Country and a frankly scary scene with a mask.

"It takes you by surprise, doesn't it?," says Oliver Jackson-Cohen about that particular scene, when we caught up with him London.

He plays the real-life William Weightman in Emily; a man who has devoted his life to god but can't help fall for Emily Brontë (it's thought in real life, it was Anne Brontë he actually fell for).

Jackson-Cohen definitely knows scary. Before Emily, he is best known perhaps for his terrifying take on the title character of The Invisible Man, starring alongside Elisabeth Moss as the abusive, presumed-dead husband.

Then there's his roles in Mike Flanagan's spooky The Haunting franchise and a stint as Jonathan Harker in the NBC production of Dracula - all of which are a far cry from the initial pureness that seems to emanate from Weightman.

"Gothic horror keeps following me wherever I go," laughs Jackson-Cohen. "But I think horror is something we are all interested in. There's a darkness we all want to explore and in Emily it's this scene with the mask, which is an ode to Wuthering Heights."