Movie: Sense and Sensibility

Making a movie based on a Jane Austen novel must be fraught with danger.

Not only do you have to deal with lovers of the famous English writer’s words but also with comparisons to previously made movies.

Makers of the latest offering based on Sense and Sensibility, of one of Austen’s most loved books, no doubt had some sleepless nights.  But reaction to the movie suggests they need not have worried too much.

Sense and Sensibility follows the lives of Elinor (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and her younger sister Marianne (Esmé Creed-Miles) after the death of their father.

Their mother Mrs Dashwood (Caitríona Balfe) has no money and their very comfortable family estate, Norland Park, is now owned by John (Tom Brooke), Mr Dashwood’s son from a previous marriage and closest male relative.

The arrival of John and his stingy and uncaring wife Fanny (Stacy Martin) add to the Dashwood family’s discomfort and uncertainty.

The only saving grace for Elinor is the arrival of Fanny’s brother Edward (George MacKay) who is the complete opposite to his sister.  The developing relationship between the two is interrupted when Mrs Dashwood accepts the offer of a new home by the kindly but `rough around the edges’ Mrs Jennings (Fiona Shaw).

So the Dashwood family, which also includes youngest daughter Margaret (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), move to a very modest and rundown seaside cottage in Devon.

While the accommodation, and their life in general, is very different to their old home the family tries to make a go of it supported by Mrs Jennings and her family.

Given her feelings for Edward, Elinor is especially upset about the move and while Marianne does her best to console her sister, her own life takes a surprising turn after an unexpected encounter with dashing bachelor John Willoughby (Frank Dillane).

Marianne falls in love with Willoughby which worries Elinor as she believes her sister is too cavalier with her affections, and is overlooking the upstanding Colonel Brandon (Herbert Nordrum), who appears to be entirely devoted to her sister.

Sense and Sensibility then follows the many emotional ups and downs of the sisters in their pursuit of love and happiness.

Needless to say this production will be compared with Ang Lee’s 1995 film which played to critical and box office success.

According to director Georgia Oakley she wanted her Sense and Sensibility to be grounded, naturalistic, earthy and stripped back. She wanted a film about the lives of people who felt deeply alive, not fusty literary characters, and she wanted to foreground the dynamics of the central relationship between Elinor and Marianne.

“I was drawn to the relationship between the sisters,” she explains. “They represent these two opposing forces that a lot of women have within themselves that are always at war. As a writer, Austen seemed to understand power and gender dynamics. The fact that the central love story was between the two sisters—I think Austen was really writing about the two sides of herself that were often in disagreement with each other, and she splintered them out into these characters.”

For Oakley, there was another important character to highlight: the natural world. Putting her stamp on Austen, the filmmaker was determined to emphasize the textural details of the story to make the Dashwood’s environments feel that much more real.

As she explains, as a result the Dashwood women, particularly Marianne, aren’t simply well manicured ladies bound up inside immaculate mansions—they are fully realised people of flesh, hair unkempt, sometimes barefoot, leading full and rich lives.

At the same time the movie features all those ingredients of an Austen period drama including London and a grand ball.

Both leads do a great job in bringing their characters’ emotions to life. Edgar-Jones’ Elinor is stoic, measured and composed and willing to hide her feelings while Creed-Miles’ Marianne is just the opposite. She’s emotional, risk-taking and not afraid to share her thoughts.

Dillane is believable as the dastardly Willoughby as is Nordrum as the brooding, emotionally challenged Colonel Brandon and MacKay as the kind, honourable and reserved Edward. Shaw’s Mrs Jennings steals every scene she’s in and is a delight to watch.

Like all Austen movies, Sense and Sensibility is likely to be a must for fans of her books interested to see a new adaptation and for those who enjoy an English period drama.

Sense and Sensibility releases in Australian cinemas on October 15.

*Photo credit: Courtesy of Focus Features / © 2026 FOCUS FEATURES LLC..