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Ella Purnell in ‘Sweetpea’ season 1 (Photo Credit: Starz)

Fallout‘s Ella Purnell returns to star in Starz and Sky’s Sweetpea season two. Filming is now underway in London on the new season of the dark comedy based on C.J. Skuse’s novel.

Additional returning series stars include Jon Pointing (Big Boys), Jeremy Swift (Ted Lasso), Leah Harvey (Foundation), Ingrid Oliver (Thursday Murder Club), Nitin Ganatra (Sexy Beast), and Alexandra Dowling (Game of Thrones).

“We are thrilled that Sweetpea and the world of Carnsham are back in full swing for season two, with new and exciting characters for what promises to be an intoxicating ride for Rhiannon as she continues on her murderous journey,” commented executive producers Ella Purnell, Ella Jones, and Patrick Walters. “This season, the stakes are even higher, and as the consequences of her actions begin to close in, questions of morality and justice will come into play.

Sky and Starz announced today that filming has begun in London on the second season of the critically acclaimed, darkly comic Sky Original thriller Sweetpea. Ella Purnell returns as wallflower-turned-killer Rhiannon Lewis, joined this series by new cast members Tamsin Greig and Rish Shah.

Killer wallflower Rhiannon Lewis is back in season two of the iconically brazen and darkly comic thriller. Navigating a new promotion, an irresistible rebound, Marina still hot on her trail, her sister selling her family home, and a copycat killer threatening to expose her, the kill list is mounting.

But now that she’s harnessed her rage and found her power, Rhiannon is forced to question whether her perfect ex, Aj, was right: is she a monster?

Rish Shah joins the cast as Rhiannon’s romantic interest, Gabriel, alongside Tamsin Greig, who stars as Aj’s mother, Liv. Taj Atwal steps in as Freya, Rhiannon’s...

Sweetpea, the comedic horror thriller starring Ella Purnell, has cast a Marvel star. Debuting back in October 2024 on Starz in the U.S., the story centers on Rhiannon Lewis (Purnell). Although she seems to live a normal life, a string of events leads Rhiannon to develop a penchant for murder. The premise garnered buzz, and a postive 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes, leading to a Sweetpea season 2 renewal.

It's reported by Deadlinethat Ms. Marvel and Overcompensating star Rish Shah has joined Sweetpea season 2 as Gabriel, Rhiannon's love interest. The thriller, created by Kristie Swain, has also added three-time BAFTA nominee Tamsin Greig as the mother of Aj, who is Rhiannon's co-worker. Filming is also officially underway onseason 2 in London.

What This Means For Sweetpea Season 2

Shah, well-known for his role as Kamran in the MCU series Ms. Marvel, in addition to recently co-starring in Prime Video's young adult dramedy Overcompensating, joins...

Exclusive: Tamsin Greig and Overcompensating star Rish Shah have joined Ella Purnell for the second season of Sky and Starz comedy-drama Sweetpea.

Greig will play Aj’s mother Liv while Shah is Rhiannon’s romantic interest Gabriel. Cameras have rolled in London on Season 2 of the Kirstie Swain-adapted Sweetpea, which stars Purnell as the killer wallflower. Navigating a new promotion, an irresistible rebound, Marina still hot on her trail, her sister selling her family home and a copycat killer threatening to expose her, Rhiannon’s kill list is mounting. But now that she’s harnessed her rage and found her power, she is forced to question whether her perfect ex Aj was right about her being a monster.

Returning cast include Jon Pointing, Jeremy Swift, Leah Harvey, Ingrid Oliver, Nitin Ganatra and Alexandra Dowling.

Greig is a UK comedy legend who can soon be seen in Sally Wainwright’s Riot Women. Shah broke out as Miles in Benito Skinner’s Overcompensating for Prime Video.

Purnell plus EPs Ella Jones and Patrick Walters said: “We are thrilled that Sweetpea and the world of Carnsham are back in full swing for Season 2, with new and exciting characters for what promises to be an intoxicating ride for Rhiannon as she continuous on her murderous journey. This season, the stakes are even higher, and as the consequences of her actions begin to close in, questions of morality and justice will come into play.”

The show has been a hit for Sky and Starz. Speaking in advance of Season 1 premiere last year, Purnell told us she drew on previous experience of “not being afraid to look ugly.”

The series is adapted from C.J. Skuse’s novel of the same name and produced by See-Saw Films and fanboy in association with Sky Studios. The comm ed for Sky is Manpreet Dosanjh. EP for fanboy is Walters (Heartstopper), and EPs for See-Saw Films are Helen Gregory, Iain Canning, and Emile Sherman. Jones and Purnell serve as EPs alongside Swain. Selina Lim, Emme Hoy, Simon Gillis and Natasha Heliotis are Co-ep and Zorana Piggott (Heartstopper) is the series producer.

Episodes 1, 5 and 6 will be directed by Jones. Episodes 2, 3 and 4 will be directed by Coky Giedroyc. The series is written by Lim, Hoy, Anna Jordan and Laura Jayne Tunbridge.

Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” held onto the top spot at the U.K. and Ireland box office for a second consecutive weekend, drawing £6.1 million ($8.2 million) to push its cumulative gross to a £25.9 million ($34.9 million), according to numbers from Comscore.

Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” secured second place with $4.6 million, bringing its total to $23.5 million after two weeks.

Opening in third, Sony’s franchise continuing “Karate Kid: Legends,” featuring Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio alongside a new generation of stars, debuted with $3.5 million.

Black Bear’s “The Salt Path,” based on Raynor Winn’s memoir and starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, bowed in fourth with $1.9 million. Trafalgar Releasing’s “Peppa Meets The Baby Cinema Experience” rounded out the top five with $1.4 million.

Further down the rankings, Warner Bros.’ “Final Destination: Bloodlines” placed sixth with $1.32 million in its third weekend, pushing its total to $12.7 million. Universal’s...

Fallout star Ella Purnell is headed back to the small screen for another season of serial killing in Sweetpea.

Per Deadline, the hit Sky/Starz series Sweetpea has officially been renewed for a second season. Although there is no planned release date as of yet, star and executive producer Ella Purnell has already expressed her excitement at returning to the leading role of Rhiannon Lewis. Purnell said, "Being part of Rhiannon’s coming-of-rage journey has been a career highlight for me, and to see fans engage with and relate to our oddball Rhiannon, in all her complexity, feels truly special. I cannot wait for audiences to see what she does next. Stay tuned."

Related The Good Place Star Confirms Sneaky Reunion With Kristen Bell in New Netflix Series

The Good Place star D'Arcy Carden confirms a sneaky reunion with Kristen Bell in a single scene from her new Netflix series with Ted Danson.

Another series has dodged the dreaded ax of cancellation, as the popular dark comedy Sweetpea has now been officially renewed for a second season. The exciting news of Sweetpea Season 2 comes courtesy of Variety, who revealed that the show, which stars Fallout actor Ella Purnell as a seemingly mild-mannered administrative assistant with a killer secret, will return thanks to Sky and Starz.

Purnell, who has received widespread acclaim for her lead performance as the deceptively violent Rhiannon Lewis, responded to the news, saying she “cannot wait” for audiences to see what’s coming in Season 2.

“Being part of Rhiannon’s coming-of-rage journey has been a career highlight for me, and to see fans engage with and relate to our oddball Rhiannon, in all her complexity, feels truly special. I cannot wait for audiences to see what she does next. Stay tuned.”

Created by Kirstie Swain for Sky Atlantic, Sweetpea adapts...

The sensational Ella Purnell is swiftly becoming one of the small screen's most dazzling and dynamic talents, with the gifted actress appearing in a slew of critically acclaimed hits like Yellowjackets, Arcane, and the post-apocalyptic knockout Fallout. Purnell continues to showcase her impeccable range as a performer and her fearless approach to any character she tackles, impressing audiences everywhere yet again with her delightfully wicked role in the dark dramedy series Sweetpea.

The edgy and immersive show focuses on the timid Rhiannon Lewis, who, after becoming tired of being constantly taken for granted and overlooked by society, decides to shake up her lackluster existence and finds comfort in a spine-tingling outlet: murder. Rhiannon goes on a violent killing spree, hunting down those who have wronged her and making them pay in a truly gruesome manner. Sweetpea has become a bona fide hit with both fans and critics and currently holds...

Fallout star, Ella Purnell, has a habit of choosing bloody and horrific stories and characters, but her new show Sweetpea took the actress to her darkest place yet. The new series, based on the novel of the same name by C.K. Skuse, follows an innocent and easily ignored young woman called Rhiannon. Fed up with being overlooked at work and ignored by her boyfriend and everyone around her, Rhiannon fills her hours with a brand-new hobby... murder.

Purnell wanted to convincingly play a woman who slowly shifts from innocently pacifist to a serial killer, and went to some dark places in her research. Speaking to Variety, Purnell recalled an interaction on a flight with the passenger next to her. Desperate to fill the time with research, she pulled out her laptop, and was shocked when the lady next to her accidentally caught a glimpse of her search history. She...

At the start of Sweetpea, the new Starz/Sky Atlantic series adaptation of Cj Skuse’s novel of the same name, Rhiannon Lewis (Ella Purnell) is having a bad life. In voice-over, she catalogues the people she’d like to kill in a list that ranges from the man spreader on the bus and the cashier at the store who is always on the phone, all the way up to her high school nemesis, Julia Blenkingsopp (Nicôle Lecky).

Rhiannon is a quintessential horror protagonist. She is shy and meek, working a dead end job as the receptionist at a newspaper where she is taken advantage of by work colleagues. She is introverted and overlooked, pining for a romance with a shitty guy who won’t acknowledge her in public. And she still lives at home with her father Tommy, who is in the hospital with a life-threatening illness that Rhiannon...

Peaky Blinders and Malignant star Annabelle Wallis is ready to join Jason Statham to co-headline the forthcoming action thriller Mutiny from Lionsgate. The hard-boiled project finds Statham producing through his newly established Punch Palace Productions banner alongside Marc Butan of MadRiver Pictures. Jean-François Richet directs Mutiny from a script by J.P Davis and Lindsay Michel.

When principal photography begins this fall in the UK, Mutiny aims to tell the story of Cole Reed, a man set up to take the fall after his billionaire boss is murdered in front of him. Fearing for his life, Cole goes on the run while trying to uncover an international conspiracy at the heart of the crime.

Of course, Annabelle Wallis is a seasoned actor with many memorable characters to her credit. She plays Grace Shelby in the BBC-Netflix series Peaky Blinders, Rebecca Crosby in one of my comfort watches, Tag, the character...

Key highlights this February on the essential, alternative streaming service Arrow include a second season of films from the legendary Brazilian director José Mojica Marins, a devilish double-bill from Spanish director Álex de la Iglesia, a season of wonderfully weird short films, Valentine’s Day done Arrow-style, and much more.

In February, Arrow presents a season of bite-sized shocks in the form of the very best wild and weird short films, including Smile, the extraordinarily imaginative and disturbing award-winning short from director Joanna Tsanis; as well as The Wyrm of Bwlch Pen Barras, a Welsh language folk horror film about modern Wales, rooted in the country’s rich mythology, shot on 16mm and featuring a score by Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan from The Super Furry Animals; and ab adaptation of the famous short story by W.W. Jacobs, The Monkey’s Paw, produced by the newly revived Hammer Films, and...

Munich-based sales agency Global Screen has acquired romantic drama “Falling Into Place” for worldwide theatrical distribution. The English-language film is written and directed by Aylin Tezel, one of Germany’s leading young actors, and stars Tezel (“7500”) and Chris Fulton (“Bridgerton”).

The directorial debut is set in Scotland on the Isle of Skye and in London. It is an honest and poetic portrait of today’s 30-somethings caught between the fear of commitment and the desire for self-improvement. Like all great love stories, it is not just about the love between two individuals, but also about the dreams and anxieties of a whole generation.

Kira and Ian, two 30-somethings, meet all too briefly over a winter weekend on the Isle of Skye and form a sudden, deep, and surprising bond. Back in London, they try to move on with their separate lives – but both have to stop running from themselves...

“Emily,” Frances O’Connor’s take on the inner life of one of literature’s moodiest, broodiest romantics, embraces life on the moors as a clear alternative to the bulk of 19th-century English society. Now available on VOD and starring Emma Mackey as Emily Brontë — the gangly outcast who poured her ache for what cannot be into “Wuthering Heights” — her place in the world and within her own family is subtly but craftily conveyed by her dresses.

Oscar-nominated costume designer Michael O’Connor is no stranger to the 19th century, having done everything from “The Duchess” to the 2011 “Jane Eyre.” Within the era’s fashion, he finds ways in which to make Emily stick out, her unease in her own skin peeking through what she wears.

For the model of how to get along as an intellectual woman with limited vocational options (and of firstborn sibling syndrome in overdrive), the film offers...

Done right, a cliffhanger can be the most effective plot device on television.

The best can leave you tearing out your hair, wishing the next episode was available immediately. The greatest offer mystery by teasing answers but never making the outcome obvious. The worst, the ones that make you want to stop watching a show, are often those that “jump the shark”.

For many years, the benchmark for great cliffhangers was the “Who shot Jr?” storyline on Dallas, the American TV show that caused a media storm in 1980. So widely talked about was the twist that Jimmy Carter even joked about the fictional murder during his second presidential campaign.

The cliffhanger soon developed into something more than just being a “whodunit”. Sitcoms – such as The Office US and Friends – went on to incorporate the device to tease relationships, keeping viewers coming back for resolution. Soaps, from EastEnders to Neighbours, have...

Emma Mackey in Emily. Photo credit: Bleecker Street. Courtesy of Bleecker Street.

What if Emily Bronte, the author of “Wuthering Heights” and painfully shy daughter of a parson, secretly had a steamy love affair with her father’s assistant? Could have happened, right?

Well, no, but the highly imaginative historical drama Emily posits such a hidden romance. Emily is less a biography than a fantasy of the life the director might have wished the author had, something more possible now than then.

Emily is the latest in a series of historical dramas that posit a secret love life for a famous unmarried female 19th century author. While such what-if romances might be fun, this one goes pretty far from the factual, in the romance imagined and other acts of rebellious behavior. However, where the film has more depth is in its other aspect, a speculative inner progression from shy, reclusive...

Emily begins and ends with Emily Brontë on her deathbed. Is it heartbreak that led to her early death at the age of 30 or something less dramatic? Her death’s attributed to tuberculosis (the same disease that took her siblings), but first-time feature film writer/director Frances O’Connor paints such a gorgeous picture of a life full of tragedy, romance, betrayal, and longing that she makes it possible to believe Emily succumbed to something more mysterious and befitting of the author of Wuthering Heights.

Brontë siblings Emily (Emma Mackey), Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling), Anne (Amelia Gething), and Branwell (Fionn Whitehead) are artistically inclined, with Branwell – the sole male – the free-spirited, wild child of the group. They all share an ability and desire to write.

Of the siblings, Branwell and Emily’s relationship proves the most interesting in O’Connor’s directorial debut. Emily dearly loves her impulsive brother, and both push...

Frances O’Connor’s Emily, her directorial debut, takes a familiar literary biography and garnishes it with the right kind of creative liberties — the vibrant, suggestive kind. It’s the story of Emily Brontë, author of Wuthering Heights, younger sister to Charlotte, author of Jane Eyre and Villette. Emily isn’t a straight biopic but, at its best, a suggestive and enjoyable exploration of a young, imaginative mind and its troubles — Emily is, from the start of the movie, a woman brushing up against the limits of decorum, increasingly so as the myth-building,...

In her directorial debut, Frances O'Connor brings to life the prolific author Emily Brontë in a way that she's never been seen before. Emily stars Sex Education actress Emma Mackey in the title role, and she is joined by Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Fionn Whitehead, Alexandra Dowling, and Amelia Gething. The film focuses on the period during which Brontë was inspired to write Wuthering Heights, but Emily takes some interesting, and arguably necessary, creative liberties to depict the life of the notoriously reclusive author.

O'Connor has starred in her fair share of period pieces, but Emily reveals a strikingly current take on its central figure. With tones of gothic horror and modern themes, O'Connor has crafted a biopic that eschews genre conventions for something much more ethereal.

Related: 10 Underrated Movie Adaptations Based On Classic Books, According To Ranker

Ahead of Emily's wide release in theaters, Screen Rant sat down with O'Connor to discuss the film,...

Emily Review — Emily (2022) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Frances O’Connor and starring Emma Mackey, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Fionn Whitehead, Alexandra Dowling, Amelia Gething, Adrian Dunbar, Gemma Jones, Gerald Lepkowski, Sacha Parkinson, Phillip Desmeules and Elijah Wolf. Emily Brontë is played by Emma Mackey with plenty of raw vulnerability and fierce emotion [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Emily (2022): Emma Mackey Plays Emily Brontë To Perfection in Frances O’Connor’s Solemn but Well Made Film...

There’s a practice known as bibliomancy, where readers will open the Bible to a random page in the hopes that the passage they encounter will provide a needed answer to a dilemma. In Mike Leigh’s “Career Girls,” the collegiate heroines practice their own version, called “Miss Brontë, Miss Brontë,” wherein they ask a question and then open “Wuthering Heights” in search of counsel.

How the powerful and provocative “Wuthering Heights” came to be the single novel produced by a relatively sheltered woman who died at the age of 30 is the subject of “Emily,” a powerful debut feature from actor and filmmaker Frances O’Connor. Craftily combining fact, fiction and conjecture, O’Connor captures the inner life of Emily Brontë, a writer presented here as carrying within her the same wind and storms that she immortalized on paper.

The writer-director is aided immeasurably by lead actor Emma Mackey (“Death on the Nile...

The title that saw Riz Ahmed stifle laughter, the press room crack up and Allison Williams murmur “no comment” at Oscar nominations last month hits theaters today as ShortsTV presents Oscar Nominated Short Films at circa 380 locations in 75 markets.

The program, three feature-length presentations of the five nominees for Live Action, Animated and Documentary short films, will expand to 500-600 screens by Academy Awards week. Exhibitors can play any or all of the trio. Some are splitting the doc shorts, at 160 minutes, in two. “We leave that up to theaters,” said ShortsTV founder-ceo Carter Pilcher. My Year Of Dicks is an animation entry.

ShortsTV has been releasing these theatrically for 18 years and they do pretty well, hitting 3.5 million in box office pre-Covid. That fell to 1.8 million in 2021 but Pilcher is hoping for a rebound, calling this year’s crop “absolutely some of the best and most audience-friendly films we’ve...

Emma Mackey in Brontë Photo: Bleeker Street We don’t know for sure where Emily Brontë found the inspiration for her characters in Wuthering Heights, but the film Emily imagines the author herself as the starting point for Cathy, the heroine of the seminal novel. Actor Frances O’Connor, in her feature writing and directing debut,...

Going into Emily, the feature debut of director Frances O'Connor, it is important to understand that the film isn't a biopic. The title character may be Emily Brontë, the author behind literary classic Wuthering Heights, but it is clear that O'Connor, who also wrote the screenplay, opted to add a fictional slant in bringing this figure to life. While some might bristle at the unconventional approach, those willing to go along for the ride will come away enchanted with the story Emily tells. In many ways, it resonates with the present day without veering into anachronisms, and it paints a fascinating portrait of a woman who existed well before today's imaginations took shape. Led by a stunning Emma Mackey, Emily is a striking depiction of a woman embracing her individuality while crafting an iconic piece of literature.

Emily starts at the end, as its eponymous heroine (Mackey) struggles to combat a deathly illness.

"Emily" is the new biographical drama feature, written and directed by Frances O'Connor, depicting a version of the life of English writer 'Emily Brontë' (Emma Mackey), co-starring  Fionn Whitehead, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Alexandra Dowling, Amelia Gething, Adrian Dunbar and Gemma Jones:

"...as author 'Emily Brontë' is near death, her older sister 'Charlotte' asks her what inspired her to write her novel 'Wuthering Heights...

"...as she begins to recount a love affair with 'William Weightman'..."

Click the images to enlarge...

A highlight at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, actor Frances O’Connor’s directorial debut Emily finds Emma Mackey playing Emily Brontë, set in her own Gothic story that inspired her seminal novel, Wuthering Heights. Haunted by the death of her mother, Emily struggles within the confines of her family life and yearns for artistic and personal freedom, and so begins a journey to channel her creative potential into one of the greatest novels of all time. Ahead of the February 17 release from Bleecker Street, the first trailer has now arrived for the film also starring Fionn Whitehead, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Alexandra Dowling, Adrian Dunbar, and Amelia Gething.

Christopher Schobert said in his TIFF review, “Emily, the directorial debut for Mansfield Park and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence star Frances O’Connor, is one of the more remarkably assured first efforts in recent memory. Shot with breathtaking beauty and acted with extraordinary emotion and grace,...

"Freedom in thought!!" Say it louder. Louder!! Bleecker Street has debuted the official US trailer for Emily, a fresh Emily Brontë biopic made by actress / filmmaker Frances O'Connor making her feature directorial debut. This first premiered at TIFF last year, and already opened in the UK in October - we posted the first trailer last year for it. Emily imagines the transformative, exhilarating, and uplifting journey to womanhood of a rebel and a misfit, one of the world's most famous, enigmatic, and provocative writers who died too soon at the age of 30. Delve into the mind that wrote "Wuthering Heights" – "so begins a journey to channel her creative potential into one of the greatest novels of all time." Young actress Emma Mackey (from "Sex Education" and Death on the Nile) stars as Emily, with Alexandra Dowling, Amelia Gething, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Adrian Dunbar, & Gemma Jones. I've heard mixed reviews on this film,...

Emma Mackey reaches new heights as ill-fated author Emily Brontë.

Set during the events that inspired “Wuthering Heights,” Frances O’Connor’s directorial debut “Emily” reimagines Brontë’s brush with love, embarking on an epic romance. Fionn Whitehead, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Alexandra Dowling, Adrian Dunbar, and Amelia Gething also star in the feature from Bleecker Street.

“Emily” debuted at 2022 TIFF and charts Brontë’s own Gothic story that inspired her seminal novel, “Wuthering Heights.” The official synopsis reads: “Haunted by the death of her mother, Emily struggles within the confines of her family life and yearns for artistic and personal freedom, and so begins a journey to channel her creative potential into one of the greatest novels of all time.”

“Emily” is produced by Piers Tempest, Robert Connolly, and David Barron.

IndieWire critic David Ehrlich praised “Sex Education” star Mackey’s “brilliant” performance in the titular role, writing, “invented splashes of rebellion...

Experience the windswept Yorkshire moors at home when Emily arrives on DVD from 12th December. Frances O’Connor makes her directorial debut with Emily, from her own original screenplay, with Emma Mackey starring as Emily Brontë, and to celebrate its release we have three copies of the DVD to giveaway.

Emily tells the imagined life of one of the world’s most famous authors, Emily Brontë. The film stars Emma Mackey as Emily, a rebel and misfit, as she finds her voice and writes the literary classic Wuthering Heights. Emily explores the relationships that inspired her – her raw, passionate sisterhood with Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling – “The Musketeers”) and Anne (Amelia Gething – “The Spanish Princess”); her first aching, forbidden love for Weightman and her care for her maverick brother whom she idolises.

Watch the official trailer Here

Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only

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Emily Is Available...

It was a great night for Charlotte Wells' father-daughter drama Aftersun at the British Independent Film Awards on Sunday evening, as the film—– already a favourite going into the evening after 16 nominations, won seven, including Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

Other films scoring several awards included Blue Jean, and The Origin, about a nomadic tribe that faces a terrifying ancient threat that comes when night falls.

The BIFAs continued non-gender-specific main performances categories and added one, the Joint Lead Performance, awarded to Tamara Lawrance and Letitia Wright for their roles as extraordinary real-life siblings who communicated only with each other in The Silent Twins.

Here is the full list of winners…

Best British Independent Film

Aftersun – Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson – Winner

Blue Jean – Georgia Oakley, Hélène Sifre

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande – Sophie Hyde, Katy Brand, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski

Living – Oliver Hermanus,...

It has been a stellar year for British talent, as is evidenced by the amazing line up of films celebrated and championed by BIFA this evening. The British Independent Film Awards were handed out this evening in London and we were there to talk to the presenters and nominees on the red carpet.

A full list of winners follows the interviews. Colin Hart and Ethan Hart were on the red carpet, here are their interviews.

The 2022 BIFAs Red Carpet Interviews

The full list of winners is below.

Best British Independent Film

Aftersun Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson (Winner)

Blue Jean Georgia Oakley, Hélène Sifre

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande Sophie Hyde, Katy Brand, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski

Living Oliver Hermanus, Kazuo Ishiguro, Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen

The Wonder Sebastián Lelio, Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, Juliette Howell, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, Ed Guiney

Best Director,...

Charlotte Wells’ directorial feature debut, “Aftersun,” took home the most awards of any nominated film at the 25th annual British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), nabbing seven victories out of 16 nominations.

The film spans a 20-year period, beginning with 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) on a father-daughter vacation to Turkey and culminating with her reflection on that experience in adulthood. Upon its premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, “Aftersun” was winner of the French Touch Jury Prize. Most recently, Wells received a breakthrough director prize at the Gotham Awards.

At the Sunday evening ceremony, “Normal People” actor Daisy Edgar-Jones presented the award for best British independent film to Wells. Also added to the feature’s list of accolades were awards for best director, best debut director, best screenplay, best cinematography, best editing and best music supervision.

Director Georgia Oakley’s “Blue Jean” saw a surge of recognition as well, with wins in...

Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells’s acclaimed debut feature Aftersun swept the board, snagging seven wins at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) in London this evening.

The film won Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director. This evening’s four wins were added to the film’s previously announced haul in the craft categories with three wins including Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Music Supervision.

Georgia Oakley’s 1980s Section 28 era set Blue Jean, which trailed only Aftersun for the most nominations, picked up three awards on the night: Best Lead Performance for Rosy McEwen, Best Supporting Performance for Kerrie Hayes, and Oakley took home the Best Debut Screenwriter award sponsored by Film4.

Elsewhere, Safia Oakley-Green won the Breakthrough Performance award for her role in Andrew Cumming’s debut feature The Origin and Tamara Lawrance and Letitia Wright picked...

Charlotte Wells’ debut scooped seven prizes, including best British independent film and best director.

Charlotte Wells’ directorial debut feature Aftersun was the big winner of the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), taking seven prizes at Sunday night’s (December 4) ceremony in London.

Wells’ drama won the award for best British independent film, best director, the Douglas Hickox Award for best debut director, and best screenplay, adding to the three craft awards already announced – best cinematography, best editing and best music supervision.

The Cannes premiere follows a daughter as she reflects on her relationship with her complicated father, through memories of a summer holiday in Turkey,...

The awards ceremony takes place today (December 4), starting at 8pm UK time.

The 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas) ceremony is taking place today (December 4) at London’s Old Billingsgate.

The show starts at 8pm UK time, finishing at approximately 10pm.

Screen will be posting all the winners on this page as they are announced during the live ceremony (refresh the page for latest updates).

Leading the pack for nominations is Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, with 16 mentions – the second-most ever for a film at the Bifas, behind only Saint Maud’s record 17 from 2020. The feature has already won three of those awards,...

Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun” and Georgia Oakley’s “Blue Jean” led the nominations at the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) with 16 and 13 nods respectively.

Sebastián Lelio’s “The Wonder” followed with 12 nominations, Oliver Hermanus’ “Living” nine and Peter Strickland’s “Flux Gourmet” seven.

From this year, the awards are permanently going gender neutral for acting categories with the traditional best and supporting actress and actor awards being replaced by best lead performance, best supporting performance, best joint lead performance — for performances that are the joint focus of the film — and best ensemble.

The nominations were revealed at London’s Everyman Broadgate cinema by hosts, actors Sam Clafin (“Peaky Blinders”) and Kosar Ali (double BIFA winner for “Rocks”).

BIFA Nominations 2022

The Richard Harris Award For Outstanding Contribution By An Actor To British Film

To Be Announced

Best British Independent Film

“Aftersun” – Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson

“Blue Jean” – Georgia Oakley,...

Women dominate the performance, writing and directing categories.

Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun and Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean lead the nominations for the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), with several major categories dominated by women including the new merged performance categories.

At the Bifas 25th edition, Wells’ Aftersun has 16 nominations – the second-most ever for a film at the Bifas, behind only Saint Maud’s record 17 from 2020. Wells is nominated for best British independent film, director, screenplay, debut director and debut screenwriter; while Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal are nominated in the new best joint lead performance category.

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The author of Wuthering Heights is no sickly recluse in actor turned director Frances O’Connor’s sensuous, spine-tingling feature debut

“How did you write Wuthering Heights?” demands a rattled Charlotte Brontë (Alexandra Dowling) in the opening moments of this inventive, urgent gothic fable that, like Andrew Dominik’s misunderstood Blonde, could hardly be mistaken for a drearily factual biopic. “It’s an ugly book,” Charlotte complains as her sister Emily (Sex Education’s Emma Mackey) swoons beside her, a three-volume edition of the offending text (“full of selfish people who only really care for themselves”) propped next to a medicine bottle at her elbow. When Emily replies that she simply put pen to paper, Charlotte is unassuaged, insisting that “there is something…”. Only later, when the literary torch is passed on and she can make peace with her own ghosts, does Charlotte start to realise what that “something” is…

Punctuated...

Warner Bros starting Frances O’Connor’s ‘Emily’.

Sony Pictures Entertainment’s family comedy Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is the widest opener at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, as horror franchise Halloween comes to a close with Universal Pictures’ Halloween Ends.

Released in 656 locations, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is based on Bernard Warner’s 1965 children’s story of the same name, and its prequel The House On East 88th Street, about a crocodile that lives in New York City.

The film is directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck; it combines computer animation – including for the crocodile – with live-action. Canadian pop star...

Today we present interviews with the director and leading actors of Emily, the new film which tells the imagined life of one of the world’s most famous authors, Emily Brontë. It stars Emma Mackey as Emily, a rebel and misfit, as she finds her voice and writes the literary classic Wuthering Heights.

We loved the film, a lot – read our review here.

The story explores the relationships that inspired her – her raw, passionate sisterhood with Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling – “The Musketeers”) and Anne (Amelia Gething – “The Spanish Princess”); her first aching, forbidden love for Weightman and her care for her maverick brother whom she idolises.

The film also stars Adrian Dunbar (“Line of Duty”) and Gemma Jones.

Fae Clerey interviews, the film is out now.

Emily Interviews

The post Emily Interviews – Emma Mackey, Oliver Jackson-Cohen & Frances O’Connor on their acclaimed biopic appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Biopics of our great ladies of literature seem to fall into one of two camps, either holding the authors at a remove and peering at their lives with careful reverence or reimagining their realities as twee picture postcard fantasies and patronising them with a love interest to keep things interesting. Mercifully, Frances O’Connor’s Emily is a different creature altogether; raw, vulnerable and brave; captured with bold strokes and brimming with female rage. I loved her.

Emily (Emma Mackey) is feeling the pressure to put away childish things such as hopes and dreams and follow in her sisters’ footsteps by going out to work and supporting the family. Her brother Branwell may be free to follow his artistic whims but the three surviving sisters have to be more pragmatic. Their days of running free on the moors with the wind wuthering at their backs are far behind them and the...

Dir: Frances O’Connor. Starring: Emma Mackey, Fionn Whitehead, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Alexandra Dowling, Amelia Gething, Adrian Dunbar, Gemma Jones. 15, 130 minutes.

“How did you write it?” asks Charlotte Brontë (Alexandra Dowling) of her sister Emily (Emma Mackey). “How did you write Wuthering Heights?”. This is where actor-turned-director Frances O’Connor begins her feverish reimagining of Emily Brontë’s brief life – not at the start but at the very end, Emily a wasted figure nearly consumed by tuberculosis. For O’Connor knows how tantalising that question of “how” can be to us.

Wuthering Heights was the only novel Emily wrote before her death, aged 30, in 1848. We don’t know much of who she was beyond those pages – she documented little about herself, and even her surviving diary entries diverge frequently into fantasy. The film, written and directed by O’Connor in her feature debut, stays faithful to that fervent sense of imagination. Having...

Director Frances O’Connor shows author’s creative path to writing Wuthering Heights through the two great loves of her life

Frances O’Connor had her performing break back in 1999 playing Fanny in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, in which she famously went toe-to-toe on screen with Harold Pinter who was playing her uncle Sir Thomas Bertram. Now she has made a really impressive debut as a writer and director with this study of Emily Brontë, intelligently played by the Franco-British star Emma Mackey. It’s beautifully acted, lovingly shot, fervently and speculatively imagined, although Mackey’s portrayal, excellent as it is, may be smoother around the edges and less windblown than the real thing.

This is a sensually imaginative dive into the life of the Wuthering Heights author: it is a real passion project for O’Connor, with some wonderfully arresting insights. The film conforms to time-honoured...

This evening the Everyman Borough Yards in London was the scene of the premiere of Emily, Frances O’Connor’s directorial debut.

The film tells the imagined life of one of the world’s most famous authors, Emily Brontë, starring Emma Mackey as Emily, a rebel and misfit, as she finds her voice and writes the literary classic Wuthering Heights.

The story explores the relationships that inspired her – her raw, passionate sisterhood with Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling – “The Musketeers”) and Anne (Amelia Gething – “The Spanish Princess”); her first aching, forbidden love for Weightman and her care for her maverick brother whom she idolises.

The film also stars Adrian Dunbar (“Line of Duty”) and Gemma Jones.

Emily will be released in cinemas on 14th October by Warner Bros. Pictures. Colin Hart and Scott Davis were on the red carpet, seeking inspiration in the London ether.

Emily Premiere Interviews

The post Emily Premiere Interviews – Emma Mackay,...

There are no flirtations with the fourth wall in Frances O’Connor’s “Emily.” There is no synthpop on the soundtrack. No one ranks the relative attractiveness of the Brontë sisters on a scale out of 10, or attempts, bustle be damned, to twerk. Yet despite lacking all markers of the recent trend for girlbossified costume drama, the directorial debut from O’Connor — an actor who is no stranger to corsetry herself after “Mansfield Park” and “The Importance of Being Earnest” — gives us a strikingly current take on the Brontë behind “Wuthering Heights.” Unlike many a literary biopic, it feels anything but pagebound. If “Emily” were a book, however, it would be a fresh reissue of a Penguin Classic, with its timeless orange cover unobtrusively updated to be crisp and covetable all over again.

In attentively reimagining Emily Brontë as a new woman unluckily born into old days, O’Connor’s chief ally is her star,...

Emily, the directorial debut for Mansfield Park and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence star Frances O’Connor, is one of the more remarkably assured first efforts in recent memory. Shot with breathtaking beauty and acted with extraordinary emotion and grace, this exploration of the life and development of Emily Brontë is tremendously enveloping. Emily looks deep into Brontë’s life story for evidence of what that really means. While it is unclear how much of the film is historically accurate and how much is conjecture, O’Connor’s account of the author of Wuthering Heights feels respectful and well-reasoned.

Emma Mackey (Sex Education) plays Emily Brontë as an intelligent, emotionally fragile figure attempting to figure out where she fits in both her family and the world-at-large in 1800s England. She lives with her mostly dour father, her younger sister Anna (Amelia Gething), and older sister Charlotte. Hovering on the outskirts is...

Despite writing one of the most rugged and enduring novels in all English literature before her 30th — and final — birthday, Emily Brontë spent the whole of her life in a suffocating environment that saw her brilliant imagination dampened at every turn. It was dampened by the patriarchy scared of her talent (“Wuthering Heights” was of course published under a pseudonym), by the individual men who knew her personally, and even sometimes by her own sisters, two of whom survived childhood to become accomplished writers themselves. Vindicating as it might be that Brontë’s one great book is still read widely some 200 years later, her remarkable victory over death pales in comparison to the poetic irony of her legacy: Few authors of any age have ever so inflamed public imagination by the mere fact of their existence.

In that light, it’s easy to appreciate why Brontë’s life so naturally...

If you’ve ever wondered what inspired Emily Brontë to write Wuthering Heights, you’re not alone – and Frances O’Connor has made a film about it. The actor turns writer-director with the imaginative period drama Emily, premiering at Toronto International Film Festival. Sex Education star Emma Mackey puts in a spirited performance in a feminist, revisionist spin on a much-loved author.

We meet Emily along with her sisters Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling) and Anne (Amelia Gething), when their happy but sheltered existence is enlivened by the arrival of a new parish priest, Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). It’s hard to know which sister he fancies the most, and this uncertainty keeps both audience and Brontes guessing. When a romance develops, it’s intense and invariably heartbreaking – perhaps a little too tragic in its design, with one contrivance too many. Nonetheless, O’Connor’s film is very entertaining as it elaborates on the...

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She was an impenetrable figure: shy, reclusive, suspicious of new friends and more at home in the Yorkshire moors than any village or city. She was also brilliant — a gifted poet whose foray into fiction, Wuthering Heights (the only novel she wrote before her death in 1848), spins a tale so eccentric and passionate that it’s gathered a febrile following since its publication.

Emily Brontë, the second youngest of the accomplished Brontë family, was an abstract figure. Details of her life are scant. (Most known testimony was provided by her overbearing older sister, Charlotte.) She was not a fastidious diarist and existing journal entries blur the lines between fact and fiction. In other words, Emily, a virtually unknowable person, is the perfect subject for a film.

The English-Australian actress Frances O’Connor (Mansfield Park) knows this, and that’s why her directorial debut Emily...

Emma Mackey is starring in a new fictionalized biopic about the life of Emily Brontë, best known for writing "Wuthering Heights." Before she appears alongside Margot Robbie in "Barbie" in 2023, the "Sex Education" star will play the iconic writer in the period drama, which will imagine Brontë's theoretical relationship with William Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), a real-life figure who was an associate of her father. While Brontë's personal life is famously enigmatic, the film will imagine a more dramatic backstory to the writer's life.

Bronte was born in 1818 and died of tuberculosis at the age of 30. Along with her sister Charlotte, who wrote "Jane Eyre," she is now one of the most beloved writers of her era. A relative recluse during her life, she has proven a difficult subject from biographers, and most of what's known about her is taken from her sister Charlotte's writing.

"My sister's disposition was not...