There can be nothing worse than siblings. That’s it really. It’s a statement that could only be expected from a single child.

The idea of sharing stuff: the same space, the same air, parents; it’s enough to make you give constant thanks to your own parents for having the good sense to stick with just the one offspring.

Imagine then, coming from a family such as Emily Brontë did, that was about as competitive as an Olympic village.

This film, that has actress Frances O’Connor making her directorial debut, explores the life and loves of the middle Brontë sister.

Living in a reasonably sized abode in rural Yorkshire are the Brontës, consisting of three sisters Emily (Emma Mackey), Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling) and Anne (Amelia Gething) and brother Branwell (Fionn Whitehead).

All four of them share a passion – to write, but only silly stories to keep themselves entertained.

When a dashing new curate – Mr Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) joins the community, his arrival soon turns the heads of the three sisters, especially that of Emily’s.

His arrival marks the transition into womanhood for Emily, and all the complexities that come with it. She is ready to love and be loved, but is this the right time?

British born Aussie O’Connor has already had previous with classic English literature, having played the lead in the 1999 version of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.

And although taking on a period piece like this would be considered a challenge for a first film behind the camera, O’Connor knocks it out of the 19th century park.

Much of her success is down to the performances, with Mackey top of the list. Her Emily is an emotional tour de force, as she awkwardly makes her way into adulthood. Hers is a heroine who you can only root for from the start, delivering a truly heartfelt, nuanced performance throughout.

But the cast can’t take all the credit, as the script is top notch too, that sees not only Emily’s journey into womanhood, but also relationships with all her siblings develop too, as well as that with hunky curate Weightman.

Then there’s the look and feel of the film, which just does enough to make it stand out from the classic crowd. It has that gloomy look that is standard for the course with most of these films, but O’Connor throws a few ideas of her own into the mix, such as an editing technique that’s often on the snippy side.

There are also a number of memorable scenes, such as the one involving the mask, and another involving a sheet, that help give this period film an identity all of its own, as well give the film its necessary emotional weight, with it ending quite weighty indeed.

Of course Wuthering Heights itself – the only book that Emily ended up writing – has become a timeless classic, and has been adapted numerous for the big screen, but Emily’s own story is lesser told, and is sublimely brought to life here by O’Connor in what is a mightily impressive debut.

But like her subject, if it’s Connor’s only film that she directs, she would have delivered something of true quality and beauty into the world that she can be immensely proud of. But on this evidence, we sincerely hope she’s got far more to give.