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One of my great joys in life is a phenomenon I call “the Jane Austen media loop.” It begins when I pick up my copy of Jane Austen’s collected works (stolen from my mom – sorry, Mom!) and read a novel. I then proceed to watch nearly every available screen adaptation of that story, and then, if I’m really in deep, I read the novel again.
Because Austen is one of the most enduring writers in the English language, there are plenty of movie and television retellings of her work to go around. And luckily for us, 2026 is bringing even more, including a film version of Austen’s first published novel, “Sense and Sensibility,” directed by Georgia Oakley and playing in theaters now.
The novel “Sense and Sensibility” follows two sisters with very different personalities as they navigate romance and their family’s shifting social status. Elinor Dashwood is responsible, temperate, and practical, while her younger sister, Marianne, is passionate, immoderate, and unrestrained. When their father dies, Elinor and Marianne’s half-brother inherits the family estate, and the young women, along with their mother and youngest sister, are forced to rent a small cottage on a distant cousin’s property. These circumstances throw them into a different social circle with new acquaintances of all sorts, including jovial but inelegant cousins, stiff upperclass snobs, and a small parade of potential suitors.
When a story has been told and retold for more than 200 years, it can be a challenge to make a new adaptation feel worthwhile. But Oakley succeeds in covering some new ground, while still staying (mostly) true to the source material.
Promotional trailer for “Sense and Sensibility” (2026). (Credit: Focus Features via YouTube)
The 2026 remake offers a shift in tone that is decisively more dramatic and less subtle than adaptations of the past. Love is declared more passionately, social missteps are met with more overt cringes, and a duel is even added to the story (gratuitously, if you ask me). The greatest benefit to this emotionally heightened version is that it allows for a deeper and more complex relationship between Elinor and Marianne. Sharper, more confrontational dialogue creates more intense conflict between the sisters, followed by a more satisfying resolution. The original novel is as much about sisterhood as it is about romance, and this adaptation, more than any other, puts that relationship front and center.
Oakley gets away with this more dramatic take in part because the leading cast is excellent, with Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Normal People”, “Twisters”) as a pragmatic but steadfast Elinor, and Esme Creed-Miles (“Silver Haze”, “Hanna”) as a tree-loving, romantic Marianne. Fiona Shaw (“Killing Eve”, “Harry Potter” franchise) is a hilariously interfering and deeply likeable Mrs. Jennings, and the trio of love interests are delightful and persuasive.
And while most of Austen’s novels are set primarily in the countryside with brief, contrasting sojourns into London or Bath, this adaptation draws a thick line between the beautiful, quiet rural Devonshire and the crowded, bustling balls of London. Characters refer pointedly to the differences between London and the countryside, with hardly anything positive to say in favor of the metropolis. Though Elinor and Marianne are starkly different, they’re both much more at home in rural environs. Calm, introspective Elinor is contented by the quiet simplicity of country life, while Marianne takes great pleasure in long, muddy walks – ideally during a thunderstorm – and the freedom afforded by open spaces. The film offers a largely idealized vision of rural life, but it does emphasize the importance of rurality to Austen’s characters.
A version of the film’s poster with the tagline “No one knows your heart like a sister.” (Credit: Focus Features via IMDb)
One element of Jane Austen adaptations that I find fascinating is the distance between modern audiences’ interpretations of the novels and Austen’s likely intentions as an author. The books do primarily revolve around romance and family relationships, so readers are not wrong to consider them to be romantic stories. But Austen’s books are also filled with pointed observations and social commentary on the English upper classes, as well as critiques of the expectations and limitations placed upon women at the time.
This critical lens – Austen would most accurately be described as a proto-feminist – is a large part of the reason the novels still speak to us. But it can also get buried under the balls, corsets, and estates that are the trappings of upper-class British life in the 19th century. This way of life, and its strict social norms and hierarchies, are so distant from our own modern perspectives that these days we are prone to think of Austen’s close social observation as a form of escapist fantasy – more akin to “Bridgerton” than to anything more analytical or serious.
My favorite adaptations manage to retain this sharpness, while still giving audiences an opportunity to swoon. In some ways, Oakley errs on the side of fantasy: lush shots of the English countryside, soaring violin scores, and ornate dance sequences give the film a sense of sparkling, curated beauty that is far removed from plain old reality. But Oakley’s increased attention to the relationship between Elinor and Marianne, and particularly the choice to give Elinor a bit more rage and expression than previous adaptations, allow Austen’s original pointed commentary to shine through.
“Sense and Sensibility” is now playing in theaters.
This article first appeared in The Good, the Bad, and the Elegy, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder focused on the best, and worst, in rural media, entertainment, and culture. Every other Thursday, it features reviews, recommendations, retrospectives, and more. Join the mailing list today to have future editions delivered straight to your inbox.
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The post The Latest ‘Sense and Sensibility’ Adaptation Dials Up the Drama appeared first on The Daily Yonder.
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