In their description of the film, Warner Bros. refer to "Emily" as the "imagined life of one of the world's most famous authors, Emily Brontë, a rebel and misfit, as she finds her voice and writes the literary classic Wuthering Heights."
The plot description goes on to explain: ""Emily" explores the relationships that inspired her – her raw, passionate sisterhood with Charlotte and Anne; her first aching, forbidden love for Weightman, and her care for her maverick brother whom she idolises."
Given how little is known about the life of the real Emily Brontë, it is safe to say that this film is a work of speculative fiction, rather than a tell-all about the author's life. "I've taken inspiration from certain elements from "Wuthering Heights", and also the biographies that I read, and put those pieces together to create a narrative, which is not a biopic. It's more like its own thing," O'Connor says.