“It may surprise you to hear it, but A Quiet Passion, the biopic about Emily Dickinson from the rather rarefied British director Terence Davies, would make a helluva double feature with 8 Mile.

The disses dropped from the second floor of the Dickinsons’ Amherst home mangle and maim anyone who dares enter her cypher, be they suitors, fans, editors, or, in time, members of her own family. Cynthia Nixon’s Emily hurls barbs with the precision of ninja stars in a “one for the ages” performance, making this, in a very strange way, a movie that screams for audience participation.”

Read more of my “A Quiet Passion” review at Vanity Fair.