The most promising prospects, at least initially, seem to be Fanny’s far kinder brother Edward Ferrars (George MacKay), a dashing if shy man, and John Willoughby (Frank Dillane), who no one would accuse of shyness. Willoughby’s brash, roguish quality is in fact what draws the attention of the hopeless romantic Marianne, whereas Edward’s gentility is what attracts practical Elinor. Neither is exactly what he appears, however, and the courtships of all are interrupted by the mysterious and brooding colonial war hero, Colonel Brandon (Herbert Nordrum).
The notes will be familiar for even those who have never read or seen another adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, but it is how the filmmakers play them which give the movie a genuine grace and warmth. At the start of the movie, the lost Dashwood home of Norland Park seems perpetually bathed in sunset’s magic-hour glow, no matter the time of day. The grounds are drowned in a sea of unconquerable grass; it’s a vision where the natural urges that Marianne is forced to contain, and that Elinor dutifully sets aside, are constantly threatening to erupt beneath their feet. Whereas many modern Austen movies have rediscovered the author’s sardonic wit missed by most high school classrooms, or have upped the romantic sweep into a tumblr daydream, this film takes place in a kind of autumnal snow globe, save fallen leaves have replaced white powder. It’s picturesque but in a sweetly forlorn way, a bit like being an adolescent literally constrained by the clothes around your neck.
The aforementioned Creed-Miles best encapsulates this with an Austenite heroine who has not been modernized, but still reveals a fire and anger at her predicament that might catch some viewers familiar with the character by surprise. It’s a performance that promises audiences will see more of the young thespian down the line, and which intriguingly becomes more the heart of the movie than her sister Elinor’s own constant need to sacrifice her own happiness.
Daisy Edgar-Jones, who was so impressive in Fresh, makes for a serviceable and appropriately anguished Elinor, the good daughter who can more easily see Mr. Willoughby for the cad he is. But the love story between her and MacKay’s bashful Edward seems fairly pro forma in a movie better preoccupied with sensibility than sense. Yet perhaps in a stronger sense, the film shrewdly seems to evade some of the narrative beats that have become quoted and meme’d favorites among Austenites since 1995. Without giving too much away, the confrontation between the ruthless Fanny and enterprising Lucy Steele (Ceara Coveney) is discreetly avoided onscreen, as is a famed double wedding sequence.
But then the romance seems nearly secondary in a film more intrigued about the sisterly affections that tie Elinor and Marianne together than the men who could, theoretically, separate them forever. It is the sisters’ love that is most paramount to surviving in this film’s vision of a Darwinian English marriage system, and it is sweeping in its big-hearted feeling. Whereas certain romantic sequences might feel like a box to check, the agony Elinor and Marianne take on for one another, shouldering grief and joy as a team, imbues the movie with literally bittersweet chemistry. And even then, the film can still make its own innovations to the traditional love stories, including an unexpectedly giddy and wry resolution to the Willoughby and Brandon rivalry. Fiona Shaw’s Mrs. Jennings, meanwhile, is a delightful scene-stealer.
Ultimately, this 2026 rendezvous makes for another charming visit with the Dashwoods. The conversation is lively, the atmosphere happy in its own delicately hushed way, and the presentation exquisite. I have doubts if it will be one I will be speaking wistfully about in another 30 years, but at the end of the day I don’t think it is made for those already hung up on the Willoughbys of our youth. For those younger audiences who have never met the Dashwoods, or perhaps only in a 12th grade classroom, this Sense and Sensibility will become the standard. That’s worth getting swept up in.
