YMMV / My Name Is Emily

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • It's possible to interpret the scene where the young Emily is taught the other definition of 'weird' as a true start of her alienating herself from her peers. In revenge for the other kids picking on her, she starts to believe that she's more intelligent and superior to those around her. Part of her difficulties in socialising seem to come from that - especially since she looks down on her foster parents for no good reason.
  • Emily seems to hate June her foster mother at the start, claiming she's killing her with all the kindness. Could it be that Emily's abandonment issues prevent her from allowing her to accept June's care - because she's convinced everyone will eventually leave her? Over the course of the film she suffers a Heel Realization and realises that June is exactly the parent she needs.
  • Emily could have also realised that Robert's lessons and teachings may have done her more harm than good - considering how antisocial she became, and how ignorant she was of other people's feelings.
• Americans Hate Tingle: Despite the film's warm reception in Ireland, it was met with indifference in Canada screenings and So Okay, It's Average in America.
• Best Known for the Fanservice: The film received rather a lot of media attention for one scene that featured a hundred people running into the sea in the nude. It's one shot that lasts five seconds.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The above-mentioned group nude scene is a bit out there. It's used as part of a montage showing how Emily's father became a successful writer and motivational speaker but the film probably would have survived without it. The scene itself was part of a charity-promotion as it was billed as "The Ultimate Ice Bucket Challenge".
• Dancing Bear: If the film is mentioned, it's for how it was directed via eye-recognition software. However, it's arguable that the film still has a lot of merit on its own.
• Jerkass Woobie: Emily is cold and antisocial, not to mention slightly rude to the one guy trying to help her. But the girl has lost her mother and father all before the age of sixteen. It's implied she was bullied before that as well.
• Narm: Some of Dr Golding's dialogue may take viewers out of the scene, due to Barry McGovern's voice being so heavily associated with the Barry's Tea commercials.
• She Really Can Act: Seeing Evanna Lynch play such a dark character is astonishing, and she really shows her talent at it.
• Unintentional Period Piece: Relatively minor, but the film was shot in 2014 and not released until 2016. It gets dated by Arden mentioning that he has a job in a video store. Xtra Vision was still around in 2014 but would start to slow down in business over the next two years, making Arden's choice of job slightly less plausible.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Robert stayed willingly committed in an asylum long after he recovered just to continue his research. As in he left his daughter in foster care while she was a teenager. While he is called out for this, he's still Easily Forgiven.
• The Woobie: Arden for being an abuse victim. His mother could count as well, since she seems afraid of her husband.