By Chris Kriofske
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Madeleine Olnek
Starring: Amy Seimetz | Brett Gelman | Jackie Monahan | Kevin Seal | Molly Shannon | Susan Ziegler
Country: united_states
Year: 2019
Running time: 84
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5176580/reference
Chris says: “Since it plays like a clunky SNL sketch at times, I wasn’t expecting to like this odd little film in the end, but I kinda did. I only appreciated what it was attempting once I realized Mabel Todd’s ongoing speech was *supposed* to be clunky. Although I love Molly Shannon, I’m not sure she was the best choice for Dickinson (Cynthia Nixon in A QUIET PASSION is still definitive), but kudos to director Madeleine Olnek for portraying her as something other than a self-serious spinster. 3 cats”
Michael says: “I went to see this film because it was the opening night film at the Provincetown International Film Festival. I knew Molly Shannon was in it, and I knew it was a biopic about Emily Dickinson. What a delightful surprise WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY turned out to be! Apparently decades of scholarship about the poet was based on mistruths, and only in the past few decades has the truth started to be uncovered. Apparently Emily carried on a lifelong love affair with her sister-in-law who lived next door. Her brother’s deceptive mistress is the one who published her work posthumously, and created the myth that Dickinson was a recluse who didn’t want her work published until after her death. She invented this myth to save face because she never actually met Dickinson in person because the author didn’t want to meet her brother’s mistress!