Wild Nights with Emily (2018)

Dramatization of the little known side of the writer Emily Dickinson's life, in particular, her relationship with another woman.

Director:

Madeleine Olnek

Writer:

Madeleine Olnek

Stars:

Molly Shannon, Susan Ziegler, Amy Seimetz

3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Molly Shannon	...	Adult Emily
Amy Seimetz	...	Mabel
Susan Ziegler	...	Adult Susan
Brett Gelman	...	Higginson
Jackie Monahan	...	Adult Lavina
Kevin Seal	...	Adult Austin
Dana Melanie	...	Young Emily
Joel Michaely	...	Edward Dickinson
Sasha Frolova	...	Young Susan
Lisa Haas	...	Maggie
Casper Andreas	...	Joseph Lyman
Allison Lane	...	The Widow Kate
Robert McCaskill	...	Ralph Waldo Emerson
David Albiero	...	David Peck Todd
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marc Alan Austen	...	Guest at the party

Storyline

Dramatization of the little known side of the writer Emily Dickinson's life, in particular, her relationship with another woman.

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Plot Keywords:

writer | lesbian relationship | female poet | voice over | subtitles | 

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Genres:

Comedy | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content

Did You Know?

Goofs

After Susan brings the newspaper to show Emily her published poem, she (sarcastically) wishes Emily a Happy Valentine's Day as she exits. In the next shot, a tree with full foliage can be seen out the window. There are definitely no leaves on the trees in Amherst, Massachusetts in mid-February.

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Soundtracks

Piano Sonata No. 30 in D Major, Hob. XVI:19
Written by Joseph Haydn
Performed by Vadim Chaimovich

User Reviews

It Shoulda Been a Contender

On the positive side, there was some interesting information about Dickenson's poetry being "cleaned up" after her death, to blot out things that might suggest "Unnatural Passions". And the secondary leads, Amy Ziegler as the beloved sister in law Susan and Amy Seimetz as the scheming Mabel, were very well acted and created three dimensional characters.

On the negative side, this simply did not work at all as a movie. Going from a play to a movie is often difficult -- think how many times the late great Robert Altman tried it and consistently failed. The characters were inconsistent; the dialog was often stilted and unnatural; the attempts to liven up the poems were appalling. The humor was all over the place, and even when the humor was successfully funny, it seemed out of place.

Molly Shannon as Emily did best when doing funny non-reactions to the universally buffoonish men in the movie. For most other emotions, she did not get them across to me, I'm sorry to say, since I've liked her in the past, as in 'Year of the Dog'.

I wish I had liked it better, but instead I kept wishing it would just end.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 March 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wild Nights with Emily

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$30,209, 14 April 2019

Gross USA:

$519,487

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$519,487

Company Credits

Production Co:

Embrem Entertainment, P2 Films, Salem Street Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1