Sense And Sensibility ★★★★

Released: 25 September 2026

Director: Georgia Oakley

Starring: Daisy Edgar jones, Esme Creed Miles, George MacKay, Fiona Shaw

The 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1811 novel, Sense and Sensibility directed by Ang Lee is widely regarded as a definitive (if not the definitive) version, with Emma Thompson’s screenplay winning an Oscar for it. She also starred as the elder Dashwood sister, Elinor, alongside the luminous new talent that was a young Kate Winslet, who played Marianne. Their respective suitors were Hugh Grant who had just exploded as a heartthrob after Four Weddings and a Funeral and the beloved Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon who had to fight the dashing but caddish Willoughby played by Greg Wise, for Marianne’s affections. The film was a big success at the box office, was critically acclaimed and is still much loved by audiences worldwide. So, the announcement of a new adaptation was greeted with some apprehension. 

The early signs were not promising. The poster featured Daisy Edgar -Jones and Esme Creed-Miles as the new Dashwood sisters, running wild in the countryside, their long hair flowing behind them. Where were the bonnets? Why were Austen heroines running wild like Cathy from Wuthering Heights? Then there was the tagline, “No one knows your heart like a sister.” Austin purists were not impressed. The whole point of the book, they sniffed, is that Marianne does not know her sister’s heart because Elinor conceals her emotions.

However, the promotion of the film, when it began, indicated that Working Title and Focus Features were confident of their product. The London premiere was an exquisitely pretty and elegant affair with a lush, countryside-themed green grass carpet and many guests in period costume. The cast was sent far and wide to do talks and give interviews. It’s been 30 years since the last film, they argued. There is always room for new interpretations of a classic work. They’re right.

This adaptation holds its own against other versions. It’s not a remake of the 1995 film. It’s a youthful, fresh take on a great literary work which keeps the language and social mores of the book but makes the story accessible to a modern audience. As such, it’s an utterly charming delight. 

The story centres around the young Dashwood sisters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret (Bodhi Rae Breathnach, last seen in 2025’s Hamnet). Elinor represents sense, calm judgment and reason, although it is to be noted that she does feel strong emotions, but has just learnt to govern them. Marianne is the sensibility; romantic, full of passion and open about her needs and wants. After the death of their father, their circumstances are much reduced and they are forced to downsize to a cottage in the wilds of Devonshire and live very much on charity. Not having the option of a career or the right to own property, they are in need of husbands who can provide for them. They are surrounded by a menagerie of characters who want to either help or hinder them in this ambition. 

The book was Jane Austin‘s first novel to be published. Under the guise of a simple plot of women seeking marriage, it is, as many Austins books are, a clever and incisive exploration of human nature and the mores of society. Like the characters of the two sisters, it’s a story of concealment and openness in the wider world they live in. There are many layers under the genteel conversations and formal conduct, many secrets, lies and devious machinations to secure material advantage. As such, there are depths to be mined in the back stories of each character, including the supporting ones. and it is not surprising that the story is a dream for actors and filmmakers, alike to work with.

Director Georgia Oakley and screenwriter Diana Reid (it’s the first screenplay by the novelist), on the whole, mine these depths effectively. They have created a warm, intimate, engaging, humorous, heartbreaking and very believable world. There’s also a woman’s touch to this film which is, at once, both intangible and hard to pinpoint, and omnipresent. It’s in the framing of every shot. It’s in the lived in feel of the clothes the characters wear, especially the three sisters, it’s in the closeups of the sisters as they share the joys of falling in love and the anguish of heartbreak. It’s most present in the way Elinor rescues Marianne from humiliation at a ball. Every woman who has had to save a sister or friend from themselves will recognise that scene. 

Daisy Edgar Jones knew her assignment. She delivers an intelligent, thoughtful Elinor who endeavours to do the right thing but is not so distanced from her feelings that the conflict between her desires and propriety doesn’t flicker sadly across her face and in her eyes for anyone who cares, to see it. George Mackay, is one of the best actors working today and makes for an appealing Edward Ferrars who, despite his shy, controlled disposition is grappling with a similar inner conflict.

Colonel Brandon is aged 30 in this film rather than 39 as he is in the book, to make the relationship between him and the teenage Marianne more palatable. He is played by Norwegian actor Herbert Nordrum, complete with lush facial hair. Both he and Frank Dillane as Willoughby don’t have as much screen time as Mackay to fully develop their characters. Therefore the romantic triangle with Marianne doesn’t have the impact it should and their stories are too rushed to invest in. Dillane is also too obviously a cad from the start and there’s no real sense of yearning in Nordrum‘s Colonel Brandon. Fiona Shaw meanwhile is a scene-stealing Mrs Jennings, the garrulous, well intentioned, big hearted but clumsy and unfiltered relative who helps the sisters. Shaw attacks her role with gusto and her eye catching costumes are a sight to behold.

The film is visually very appealing with nature and animals playing a big part in setting character for the humans. Despite some quibbles, this is a crowd pleasing, welcome addition to the Jane Austin cinematic universe.