Emma Mackey’s come a long way since she dip-dyed the ends of her hair pink. The actress is best known for her breakout role as edgy sweetheart slash feminist genius Maeve Wiley in the Netflix series Sex Education. You’ve probably seen her more recently as Physicist Barbie in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie (along with two of her Sex Education co-stars!). The rising star’s making waves as she keeps growing her resume, but some of her best work is in past movies and TV shows you may or may not have heard of.
The Season 3 finale of Sex Education moved Maeve to our side of the pond, leaving Mackey’s future on the show unclear (and as a Maeve stan, I’ll admit I was scared). We can all breathe a sigh of relief: Season 4’s trailer shows Maeve alive and well. The final season will be released on Sept. 21, 2023, and I don’t know about you, but I’m planning to finish it by Sept. 22. Though we’ll be saying goodbye to Maeve, the rest of Mackey’s filmography has plenty of indie gems that will help us navigate a cinematic landscape post-Sex Education. Check out these underrated projects from Mackey’s resume that prove she’s more than just Maeve.
Emily
Mackey got to bring one of Maeve’s literary heroes to life in this speculative biopic! Emily tells the story of Emily Brontë (played by Mackey), the renowned poet and author of the haunting classic novel, Wuthering Heights. Not much is known about Brontë’s personal life, so the film’s plot is half truth, half fiction (there’s no proof that the affair between her and William Weightman, for example, ever actually happened). It was released exclusively in Ireland and the U.K. in October 2022, making this the perfect indie drama for English majors and book lovers. Emily is available to stream on Hulu.
Death on the Nile
Remember that viral video of Gal Gadot tossing champagne off a yacht? Mackey was there too. The clip comes from the 2022 murder mystery movie Death on the Nile, based on Agatha Christie’s book of the same name. As the title suggests, multiple people die on a river cruise down the Nile River. Mackey plays a scorned ex-lover who is both an unwelcome passenger and a likely suspect. I’ve always thought Mackey is the best actor in Sex Education, but this movie really shows her chops! Death on the Nile is also available to stream on Hulu.
Eiffel
Mackey spent her entire childhood and adolescence living in France, so you could say she was born to star in a movie about one of the most recognizable Frenchmen of all time. Rumor has it that Gustave Eiffel built the Eiffel Tower in the shape of the letter A as an homage to his childhood sweetheart, Adrienne Bourgès. Eiffel took that rumor and ran with it. The film depicts a fictional affair between a now-adult Eiffel and Bourgès (played by Mackey). The movie was a blockbuster in France given its iconic subject and its French dialogue. Turn on your subtitles and take a romantic trip to 1800s Paris. Eiffel’s dubbed version is available to stream on Prime Video.
Tic
In 2019, Mackey starred in this short film as a woman who goes on a first date with a man who has Tourette’s Syndrome. It’s a dark comedy that plays into the stereotypes about Tourette’s as experienced by the film’s director, Josef Bates. It’s simultaneously hilarious and educational; it looks like Mackey’s projects have a pattern! You can watch Tic on YouTube.
The Winter Lake
Another pattern in her projects? Dramatic mysteries that may or may not include murder. The Winter Lake is a 2021 film about a manipulative girl named Holly (played by Mackey) who’s desperately trying to hide a big secret from her new neighbor. Mackey does a scarily good Irish accent the whole time. The Winter Lake is available to stream on Prime Video.
I’ll be adding these movies to my Letterboxd profile while I wait for Season 4 of Sex Education to come out.