a dissection of emily blunt's entire filmography.
from a retired fangirl.
We all have something in our lives that we’re not the proudest of and i’ll be the first to admit my flaws: I once had a stan account dedicated to Emily Blunt. Now that is out of the way, I’m sure you’ll trust that this in depth analysis of Emily Blunt’s entire filmography is very trustworthy.
The Devil Wears Prada is a classic. A film that will never get old. However, I feel that most people actually have no idea that Emily Blunt was in this film. Or at least, they don’t recognise that the Emily Blunt in the 2006 hit The Devil Wears Prada is also the Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place, Mary Poppins Returns and The Girl on the Train. I mean, its really not difficult - both her and her character have the same name. Regardless, I’ll let it slide that maybe you didn’t recognise her because she was once a red head and now rocks the blonde look. Emily Blunt played Emily Charlton in The Devil Wears Prada, and yes, her character isn’t the one we root for but remember, the boyfriend in this film is the real enemy, not Emily Charlton.
“Florals? For Spring? Groundbreaking”. The Devil Wears Prada has become a cult classic over the years as new generations discover it for the first time and older generations rewatch it for the thrill of it all. If you haven’t watched it, stop whatever you’re doing and watch it immediately! But if you have watched it, then you understand why I kicked this article off by mentioning this film first - it sets precedent for just how good Emily Blunt is.
A Quiet Place is probably the film that brought Emily Blunt to most people’s attention. It is one of the most unique, and dare I say best, horror movies of the 2010s. Without a doubt, her performance in A Quiet Place deserved an Academy Award and at the very least deserved a Golden Globe nomination but no, women in horror always seem to be snubbed and we have just come to accept it.
Though the film is in the genre of horror, it is also romantic and incredibly heartwarming. One of the best scenes in A Quiet Place is the moment shared between Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and Lee (John Krasinski) dancing in the basement. I shed a tear every single time. The movie is a cinematic masterpiece. Every moment is carefully thought out and beautifully executed. The contrast between family and fear, love and abandonment, is what keeps your heart racing throughout. Horror is best done when it becomes personal. When you can see the human element to the thought processes of survival in the circumstances given, it becomes terrifying to watch as a viewer.
The most criminally underrated sci-fi/romance movie title goes to The Adjustment Bureau. I have absolutely no idea how this movie has gone under so many people’s radar. It stars not only Emily Blunt, but Matt Damon and Anthony Mackie too. The movie follows an affair between a politician and a dancer and the forces that try to keep them apart. It was probably the first film in the sci-fi genre that made me fall in love with the confusion of it all.
Reader discretion: I was unmedicated when the following events took place.
So, I did go and see Mary Poppins Returns in the cinema everyday for 3 weeks in a row. Not my finest moment, I will admit, but I absolutely adored that film. As a former musical theatre kid, there will never be a soundtrack that gets released to a musical that I will not learn every single lyric to. I think my obsession for Mary Poppins Returns was also rooted in the fact that I used to be a die-hard Hamilton fan and so the idea of Emily Blunt and Lin Manuel-Miranda not only working together, but singing together, was my idea of heaven. Full offence, how can you not think A Cover is Not the Book is one of the best movie performances of all time? That song is the sole reason I have the Mary Poppins Returns score on vinyl.
I also loved Mary Poppins Returns so much because it truly showed the world that 1) Emily Blunt is a British treasure and 2) she is a triple threat! Now listen, do not be that person that thinks they are too old for Mary Poppins. You are not and never will be too old for Mary Poppins and that is fact.
And before you ask, yes I do know the choreography to Trip a Little Light Fantastic. Once a theatre kid, always a theatre kid.
Yes, yes, Emily Blunt has starred in a Disney Musical prior to starring in Mary Poppins Returns but I don’t like to think about it too much: Into the Woods, the glorious musical Stephen Sondheim gave us. Now, I have all the respect in the world for Sondheim, what I don’t have respect for is Emily blunt being cast as James Corden’s wife in Into the Woods. I don’t know how many times I need to say this but James Corden doesn’t need to be in every musical, please!!! Anyway, back to the more important topic: Emily Blunt. Do I think this was her best work? no, not really but she served so hard with Chris Pine in their minute long romantic affair.
Sicario is so special to me. The role Emily Blunt has in Sicario was initially pushed to be rewritten for a man but Villeneuve got involved in the film and stood his ground in the decision that Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) would remain a female role. The movie is directed by Denis Villeneuve and if you know absolutely anything about film you know this man does not direct bad movies. Sicario is beautiful from start to finish with the cinematography and the raw emotion portrayed throughout. For those of you who are not fluent in Spanish (I’m not either), Sicario translates to “hitman”. So without giving too much away, if you’re in to action thrillers, watch Sicario and prepare to have your life changed.
My two favourite Academy Award Losers in a film together? so true. Sunshine Cleaning, starring Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, is probably one of the weirdest movies I’ve ever watched but I love it. The premise of the film doesn’t really sell it, I’ll be honest. Two sisters cleaning crime scenes so that one sister can afford to send her son to private school isn’t a plot line that has me at the edge of my seat waiting for the release but it was fun to watch to extremely talented actresses share so much screen time with each other.
If you love rom-coms and haven’t watched The Five-Year Engagement, then retract every statement you’ve ever made about loving rom-coms. The Five-Year Engagement, starring Emily Blunt (of-course), Brie Larson, Jason Segall and Chris Pratt, falls into the category of “feel good trash”.
Emily Blunt has quite the filmography but nothing, absolutely NOTHING, will compare to her performance in Oppenheimer. So there I am, 10:45am in North London, waiting to see Oppenheimer as part one of my Barbenheimer double feature. As I previously mentioned, I was once Emily Blunt’s biggest fangirl. So when she gave the performance she gave, the performance she delivered, during Oppenheimer… Oh, I was so proud, that is MOTHER! Oppenheimer is the final unlocked level for Emily Blunt’s academy award campaign. She is collecting genres and range like infinity stones. She has shown us her final form, she is the best.