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Finding Emily is going to be your new favorite modern rom-com

There’s been buzz across the pond ever since this British rom-com premiered in UK theaters earlier this year, and I’ve been patiently waiting for it to hit streaming. It finally dropped here in the States, and I loved it so much I watched it twice over the weekend…

The movie opens with a quote attributed to Freud: “Love is a state of temporary psychosis.” Which, when you think about it, could describe some of the best rom-coms ever made.

Some of my favorites are built on objectively questionable behavior: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, You've Got Mail, 10 Things I Hate About You. They’re all filled with deception, manipulation, elaborate schemes, and grand romantic gestures that would probably warrant a restraining order in real life. But somehow, when Tom Hanks or Matthew McConaughey is involved, we're willing to overlook a lot.

Finding Emily understands this contradiction beautifully. Better yet, it makes it central to the story.

Our lovestruck leading man, Owen (Spike Fearn), meets Emily, a very Manic Pixie Dream Girl type, on a night out. They hit it off, but their time together is cut short when her friends whisk her away to another party. Before leaving, Emily puts her number in his phone. There's just one problem: She's left off a digit.

Determined to find her, Owen embarks on an increasingly ridiculous search that involves putting up “wanted” posters and shouting “Emily” into lecture halls. It's how he meets Emily Raine (Angourie Rice), a psychology student who needs a case study for her dissertation on the self-sabotaging nature of romantic love. Owen, with his borderline obsessive pursuit of a girl he barely knows, is practically a gift from the psychology gods.

In a classic rom-com, we'd probably accept Owen’s pursuit as hopelessly romantic. But in 2026? Did the original Emily genuinely make a mistake, or did she deliberately give Owen the wrong number to escape an interaction she wasn't interested in pursuing? And when he starts plastering her name around campus, is that a cute romantic gesture or just plain creepy? It's a fine line, and the movie is smart enough to explore it rather than ignore it altogether.

Still, for all its sharp observations about modern dating, Finding Emily is surprisingly optimistic about romance. It makes the case for an earnestness that feels rare in our culture of playing it cool. Between dating apps offering seemingly endless options, the fear of coming on too strong, and the embarrassment of admitting you really, really like someone, we’ve decided that caring too much is cringe.

Owen, meanwhile, is willing to make an absolute fool of himself in the name of love. At one point, a character sums up his approach: “True freedom in this life is knowing you’re cringe and doing it anyway.” (My fellow Las Culturistas listeners and I know this idea as climbing Cringe Mountain.)

That's the balancing act Finding Emily pulls off so well. It doesn't ask us to abandon our modern understanding of boundaries or pretend that every grand romantic gesture is inherently romantic. But it also challenges the idea that the “coolest” way to date is to never let anyone know how much you care.

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Did anyone else sob through the entire episode? I made it a solid 6 minutes before the tears began. The biggest highlights for me were:

Ezra Frech & Daniella Karagach: What a beautiful relationship, and his mom is incredible! He continues to impress me week after week. And that blade lift?!

Tatyana Ali & Jan Ravnik: Okay, vocals!!!! She really does get better every week.

Amber Glenn & Pasha Pashkov: Oh, I'm properly crying now. BEAUTIFUL choreography that told her story so powerfully, and she nailed every moment. I love sisters. ♥️

Harry Shum Jr. & Jenna Johnson: CHILLS. I loved how he incorporated his parents, wife, and kids into the dance. It was so effective. And I agree with Kim (who should be a permanent judge): I didn't see a single moment of hip-hop, which really showed off his range.

Tyler Cameron & Sharna Burgess: I'm not okay… He already had me tearing up talking about how he wished his mom could have met his fiancée, but then the pregnancy announcement?! What a beautiful moment. I will say, though, the gender reveal was a bit much.

Julia Stiles & Ezra Sosa: As excited as I was to see her pay homage to 10 Things I Hate About You, I was a little nervous that dedicating the dance to Heath Ledger might feel in poor taste. But they handled it beautifully. Instead of forcing a narrative about their relationship, they celebrated the movie's enduring impact, and I loved every moment of it.

Meredith is the Managing Editor at Pix Media and has been covering TV, movies, podcasts, and books for 8 years. Raised on VH1's I Love the... series, E! True Hollywood Stories, and The Real Housewives, Meredith has been fluent in pop culture since infancy. She religiously watches every Bravo show, lives for HBO Sunday nights, goes deep on reality-scandal discourse, and has a TBR that is physically taking over her apartment.