‘Finding Emily’ Just Became One of the Best-Reviewed Rom-Coms in Years, and Critics Can’t Stop Gushing

Romantic comedies have spent much of the past decade fighting for genuine critical respect, often dismissed as disposable counterprogramming rather than films worth serious attention. Streaming has kept the genre alive commercially, but truly acclaimed entries have felt increasingly rare on the big screen.

That drought appears to be breaking in a big way this week, with one small British import quietly emerging as one of the most beloved films of the entire year.

‘Finding Emily’ has been Certified Fresh at 95% on the Tomatometer with 40 reviews, according to Rotten Tomatoes, ahead of its August 28 theatrical release. That score, per Forbes, makes it the highest-scored romantic comedy of 2026, tying ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ for one of the best overall critic scores of the year across any genre.

Directed by Alicia MacDonald and written by Rachel Hirons, the film follows a lovesick musician who’s accidentally given the wrong phone number for his dream girl, prompting him to team up with a driven psychology student to track her down. What follows sparks a campus-wide frenzy that ends up testing both characters’ hearts and ambitions in ways neither of them expected.

The film stars Angourie Rice and Spike Fearn in the leads, alongside Minnie Driver, Ella Maisy Purvis, and a supporting cast rounded out by Yali Topol Margalith, Timothy Innes, Kat Ronney, and Nadia Parkes. Produced by Working Title Films under Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, with Focus Features and Universal Pictures handling distribution, the British production runs 110 minutes and carries a PG-13 rating for sexual references, language, some crude material, and drug references.

Rotten Tomatoes’ own critics consensus praised the film as a rom-com that satirizes modern social mores with good-natured wit, highlighting the chemistry between Rice and Fearn as a key strength that makes a familiar formula feel genuinely fresh. That kind of consensus is notably rare for the genre in recent years, where critical acclaim and box office success rarely align this cleanly.

The film’s reception hasn’t just been strong on Rotten Tomatoes, either. According to Wikipedia’s aggregation of critic reviews, ‘Finding Emily’ has earned a 73 out of 100 score on Metacritic based on early critic reactions, indicating “generally favorable” reviews across the board.

Interestingly, the film already had a life overseas before its wider U.S. release this week, having debuted in the U.K. earlier this year through Focus Features’ international distribution arm. That earlier release appears to have helped build the kind of positive word-of-mouth that’s now translating into its stateside critical reception.

With 14 other films also opening on the same August 28 release date, including ‘Coyote vs. Acme,’ ‘The Dog Stars,’ and ‘Buddy,’ ‘Finding Emily’ faces a genuinely crowded marketplace despite its impressive reviews. Still, for a modestly budgeted British rom-com competing against splashier studio fare, landing among the best-reviewed films of the entire year is exactly the kind of critical validation that could help it find its audience through positive buzz alone.

Given how rarely romantic comedies break through with this level of critical acclaim, ‘Finding Emily’ looks poised to become one of the genre’s genuine surprise success stories of 2026.

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