Ms Willen seems to suffer from a narcissism that leads her to appear self conscious. Such a self involvement causes us to feel nothing but annoyance for this lady who wears hats and twirls around in nursing homes to indicate manic highs. The least she could do was to research the matter before playing a character allegedly being under the throes of mania. As it stands, Stef Willen merely comes across as mentally challenged woman who is so addled that she doesn't correct this boyfriend when he calls her EM. If my name was Amanda I'd sure as hell think that shortened it would lead to AM. If the name was Emily this oversight could be overlooked. Add in the gratuitous sex scenes and Willen's manly shoulders and you have a real lemon on your hands. It is no wonder that this was the last acting gig given to Willen.She should stick to short films such as Long Ago-- Christy Wegener's unsung masterpiece about a self conscious lesbian(played by Stef Willen) who has a rat tail and such.

This movie failed on many levels. Mostly, it was utterly humorless and it lacked any intelligence. The actress, Stef Willen, was strangely masculine and seemed more creepy than mentally ill. She was unlovable with her wacky hats and phony expressions,and it made no sense that he male lead would tolerate her. There was no exploration of mania other than she likes to sky dive or buy one way tickets. Absurd. The sex scenes were gratuitous and yucky. Why an aspiring actress would so degrade herself for this lousy film is sad. I hope never to see Stef Willen's bad acting and annoying face in any other film. This was a missed opportunity. A waste of time.

EM is a true movie about Bipolar. You see how the character of Amanda grows and you feel her strength. She is true what she is going through,"Amanda says some people get more pain than others" it imply s why suicide comes to play. Amanda, dominates in every scene she is in. All I could say at the last scene, she is so Brave. If you look at all the other characters they take a back seat to her. Amanda goes through her life a lot by being alone. Yet each character has learned from her presence. Bipolar has a stigma in the society today but many are extremely bright people. I find in many ways ignorance no matter how educated or successful and not want to learn of things that don't fit in their lives.

This film is a true work of art! Predominately told with visuals it is as if you are watching a series of paintings unfold. There is a poetic minimalism to this film which is rarely seen in contemporary American cinema. "Em" is a subtle, honest and beautiful meditation on what it is like to love someone who is mentally ill. This is not your "look at my Oscar moment" type of mental illness but rather something that is deeply truthful. There is not one manipulative or false moment in this movie which is saying a lot given the subject matter. Everything about this film operates on a visual level and the acting is no exception. The two leads are unbelievable at using subtle facial expressions to convey pivotal character beats. These types of subtle performances can be easily overlooked but this is behavioral acting at its best! Almost immediately you can see the planning and artistry that went into this film. From each shot which is meticulously framed and lit to the color progression, right down to the effectively minimal score which is carefully placed. There is an incredible attention to detail in every aspect of this film. However, this is not a film for everyone as it assumes patience and sophistication on the part of the audience. Nothing is obvious or spelled out in fact we don't even know the two main characters names until about 20 minutes into the film. From frame one this film sets its own rules and strictly follows them making "Em" a unique and cohesive work of art!