When lovesick musician, Owen (Spike Fearn) is given the wrong number for his dream girl, he teams up with driven psychology student, Emily (Angourie Rice) to find her. Together, they spark a hilarious campus-wide frenzy that tests their own hearts and ambitions along the way.
Finding Emily is a hilarious new rom-com from director Alicia MacDonald, and before the film hits Australian cinemas on May 21, Nick L’Barrow spoke with Alicia about how the films chaotic energy gave them freedom as performers, and why the British charm of the story makes it stand out against other rom-coms.
Director Alicia MacDonald on the set of her film, FINDING EMILY, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Matt Squire / © 2026 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
Nick: I loved the chaotic nature of Owen and Emily’s chemistry throughout the story. I’m curious to know how the natural chaos of the film bled into the characters’ dynamics, and how Spike and Angourie then brought that to life together?
Alicia MacDonald: Well, when I did a chemistry test with them, we had cast Angourie first, and then I had six different actors line up to do a chemistry test with her. Like, two days before that test, Spike’s tape came in super last minute. I don’t know where he’d been, but he sent this tape that was so raw and wild. He had done a recording where he was like half playing the guitar, half singing, and it kind of told me the kind of guy Spike is. So, his audition was him in character as if he was writing a song. He’d play the guitar a bit, then write something down. And I thought that was so clever. But, it turned out, he can’t play the guitar or sing [laughs]! So, we got him in for this chemistry test with Angourie, and it was crazy because I’d never done this type of testing before, so I didn’t even know what we were looking for. But seeing the two of them, in a two shot, where she was so full of poise and put together like Emily is, and he is this tornado of energy. And seeing the way that impacted her, and the way she impacted him in the same frame, was so different. But they were holding onto those differences for each other within the two shot, and I leant into that because I would just want to hold the shot and let them play.
Nick: I think there is such a visceral immersiveness to how you shoot Manchester. It feels like another character in the film! What does the tangibility of a real location give to you as a filmmaker?
AM: It gives so much! I was excited because there are only a few things that are shot or are set in Manchester. Our locations department and I went there a couple of times, but I didn’t know the area too well. So I got to see all the little nooks and crannies. They showed me the landmarks too, but I got to see a lot of the little bits that people don’t necessarily know. There’s a scene where they’re sitting on a stoop, and she’s got her ice lolly, and that’s just an area on the side of the road we passed and thought it was a cute, weird, little back alley corner. Initially, that scene was supposed to be inside a shop, but there was something about that location that captured such a youthfulness – being quite drunk and messy, and you’re just sat on the floor nursing a fat lip or eating something. So, yeah, Manchester was really important for those visual details.
Nick: There is such a 90s rom-com feeling in this film’s DNA, but I love how it kind of clashes with this 21st century cynicism. What was the process in blending the tropes that make the genre so beloved, but have it feel relevant in 2026?
AM: I think I really missed the nostalgia of those 80s and 90s movies. They just felt a little bit more accessible. They felt a bit grittier. A bit realer. And I wanted that because I feel that recently, rom-coms have gotten quite formulaic, and shiny, and glossy. And if rom-coms are done right, they can be soul-stirring and amazing. The thing that we go back to, and I found this in doing my research by watching a lot of new and old rom-coms, that anchoring it in an honesty was my plan from the beginning. It was about exploring why he runs for this love, and not walks. Why does Emily do what she does? And that allowed me to give a psychology of these people to the actors, which gave them more to work with so they didn’t just go through the motions of these rom-com tropes. Just having more character depth was my plan.
Nick: How did the British charm that is also embedded in this movie help heighten that feeling even more?
AM: Yeah, I don’t know exactly what it is. Maybe there’s a sort of lack of polish. But, then again, some of the best American rom-coms, like When Harry Met Sally, I wouldn’t exactly describe as polished. The great British ones, like Notting Hill, there’s a filmic grain to them. And a reality to them. But also, 10 Things I Hate About You was another reference for this film! So, I guess it’s a case by case basis.
Thank you so much to Alicia for her time, and to Universal Pictures for organising the interview. Finding Emily is in Australian cinemas May 21.
