WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY: Poetry Most Comedic & Steamy

Director Madeleine Olnek has been striving since college to paint a portrait of Emily Dickinson more comical than dignified. A myth had persisted for decades that she was a recluse for her ways until her many writings were unearthed. When read, Olnek was fascinated to discover that Emily’s life was far more intriguing and steamy than previously thought.

The overabundance of research that was bringing about new perspectives of historical figures was enough to inspire her to weave the most unorthodox and gleeful of portrayals of Emily, embracing the absurdity, frustrations, and sensuality of the poet with refreshing vigor.

The Real Emily Revealed

Olnek wastes no time digging into the more irreverent side of Emily Dickinson, earnestly played by a modest Molly Shannon. The writer appears bewildered of the world, trying to hold her firm face without revealing too much of a reaction to the cruelty of the era. Had she been frank, she’d be frowned upon from not only the writing world but demeaned by the rest of society for her preference in women. Her best friend Susan (Susan Ziegler) was married to Emily’s brother Austin (Kevin Seal), but Emily still favored Susan greatly. And by favor, I mean experimenting with kissing that led to the bedroom, an affair unaware to Austin.

Emily’s relationship with Susan is substantiated by a plethora of letters that reveal a coupling correspondence. Most of her poems are written for Susan, sometimes directly by outright calling to Sue. When alone with Susan, Emily’s words take action when she turns giddy and vivacious, where makeout sessions are not tender trickles of kisses but full-on explosions of pent-up passion. How could they resist when Susan is literally right next door, creating a giddy tension of the taboo?

This is where Olnek’s direction particularly shines in finding the quirky nature that casts off the more quaint perceptions of Emily. She wastes no time in going straight for a scene where Emily engulfs and ravishes her true love when the curtains are drawn and she has the house to herself.

An Affair Most Giddy

More impressive is Olnek’s framing and tone that always keeps a firm tongue in cheek. Staging Emily’s life is the vocal Mabel Todd (Amy Seimetz) as a lecturer who spins the rumors that would cement the image of Emily’s passable life for decades. These stories are juxtaposed with Emily’s wilder side to great effect in showcasing two sides of her hidden secrets.

Even more scandalous when posed against her talks was the reveal that Todd had never met Emily but did have an affair with Austin, making her words all the more amusing for how easily this material could have been spun into a crazy soap opera.

While Emily’s sexual side is the most scandalous, even more hilarious are her dealings with scrutinizing men of the literary community of the era. Some of them are pompous upstarts that look down on Emily’s works while others are aged relics hard of hearing in their waxing of the old. Olnek’s film portrays these figures as arrogant and buffoonish but relies more on Emily’s ability to maintain face for the true comedy of these scenes. This nature of putting up with such attitudes is both funny and frustrating; hilarious for how doltish these men appear and bitterly aggravating for how much Emily put up with.

This is why the cast is so perfect in how they never seem to be trying hard for laughs. They know this material is absurd for telling a different tale of what we previously knew about such a writer that they never step too far out of their roles. They’re playing it earnest enough to let the comedy bleed in naturally, an area where Molly Shannon is a master at letting the humor wash over her, putting a dignified face on a story of sex behind closed doors and truths that went unspoken.

Conclusion: Wild Nights With Emily

There are a number of different ways that Emily Dickinson’s untold story could be portrayed in this film, from a tragic affair to a screwball comedy that turns up the absurdity to Drunk History levels of hysterics. But there’s a refreshing nature to how Olnek gives Dickinson a certain dignity while embracing her truths that were buried in her work. And so I laughed with Wild Nights With Emily not just because of Emily’s wild side that brings blush but also for the very human take on the poet that makes her more interesting, as it does ground her. It’s very much the type of film that would’ve made me more intrigued in English to know that one of the most famed poets was less of a quiet recluse and more of a secretive lesbian.

How wild did you find Wild Nights With Emily? Let us know in the comments below.

Wild Nights with Emily was released in cinemas on April 12.