Jane and Emma is a 2018 American period drama film following a fictionalized friendship between

Emma Smith Emma Hale Smith Bidamon (July 10, 1804 – April 30, 1879) was an American homesteader, the official wife of Joseph Smith, and a prominent leader in the early days of the Latter Day Saint movement, both during Smith's lifetime and afterward as a ...

, the wife of

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

, and

Jane Manning James Jane Elizabeth Manning James (1822 – April 16, 1908), fondly known as "Aunt Jane", was one of the first recorded African-American women to enter Utah. She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and lived with Joseph S ...

. The film was directed by Chantelle Squires and written by Melissa Leilani, Tamu Smith, and Zandra Vranes. It stars

Danielle Deadwyler Danielle Deadwyler (born May 3, 1982) is an American actress. She began her career appearing on Atlanta stage, notably the 2009 production of ''For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, For Colored Girls'', and mad ...

as Jane and

Emily Goss Emily Berlese Goss (born 1990) is an American actress who has played parts in theatre, television and film. She is also a voiceover artiste and a producer. She won three Best Actress awards for ''The House on Pine Street'' (2015). In '' Season o ...

as Emma, alongside Brad Schmidt as the Prophet, Joseph Smith.

Plot

Jane is a Black pioneer in 1844 who walks hundreds of miles to return home to see Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...

. On her way to the Smith home Jane is attacked by bandits. She escapes and continues on her way. Smith lands in trouble with local hooligans, and is murdered. When Jane finally makes it to the Smith family home it is a dark and stormy night. She arrives to find Emma in the dark protecting the body of her late husband, Joseph. Jane offers comfort and companionship to Emma in her darkest hour. The two women stay in the home with a loaded pistol and take turns keeping watch. In the morning members from their church arrive to give help and prepare the body for burial.

Cast

Jane Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...

Emma Emma may refer to: * Emma (given name) Film * Emma (1932 film), ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown * Emma (1996 theatrical film), ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow * Emma (1996 TV film), '' ...

*Brad Schmidt as

*K. Danor Gerald as Issac James *Clotile Yanna as Angela Manning *Yolanda Woods as Mama

Production

Casting

Jeff Johnson, Robert Milo Andrus completed casting for the stars and main characters of the film. Gayle Minkevich-Jensen did casting for all extras.

Filming

Filming took place in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

and onsite in

Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its ...

Release

The film was released in theaters on October 12, 2018, with a subsequent release to DVD, and streaming on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

Vudu Vudu is an American digital video store and streaming service owned by Fandango Media, a joint-venture between NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. The company offers transactional video on demand rentals and digital purchases of films, ...

, and

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

Reception

Sean P. Means of ''

The Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

'' gave the film 3/4 stars, describing it as an "intimate and intense approach to a historic event" that portrays an "abiding friendship" between two women. Means praised the director and screenwriter for their focus on historical accuracy and attention to detail. He also commended the lead actors for their understated intensity in their respective roles. Matthew Brooks, a writer for KSL, gave the film a positive review for its portrayal of the strong friendship between Jane and Emma. Brooks highlighted the clever script and solid acting as the movie's main strengths, with Danielle Deadwyler's portrayal of Jane Manning being particularly noteworthy. He also praised Emily Goss's acting and the film's balance in presenting Emma Smith as a gentle woman who must also be a community leader. He noted that the film's nonlinear narrative style may be a weakness, but ultimately found that the movie's emotional climax was fulfilling.

External links

Jane and Emma
on

IMDB.com IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

References

{{Reflist 2018 drama films 2018 films African-American drama films Cultural depictions of Joseph Smith Films about friendship Films set in 1844 Films shot in Illinois Films shot in Salt Lake City Mormon cinema