Jane Austen returns to the big screen with fewer polished drawing rooms and considerably more mud, rain and emotional chaos. Georgia Oakley’s Sense and Sensibility puts Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles at the centre of a lively new adaptation where romance matters, but the relationship between the Dashwood sisters matters even more.
Film details
- Title: Sense and Sensibility
- Premiere date in the Netherlands: 15 October 2026
- Director: Georgia Oakley
- Runtime: 132 minutes
- Genre: Drama, romance
- Country: United States
- Language: English
- Subtitles: Dutch
- Age rating: 9+
- Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esmé Creed-Miles, George MacKay, Frank Dillane, Caitríona Balfe, Fiona Shaw and Herbert Nordrum
- Where to watch in Rotterdam: KINO, LantarenVenster and Cinerama
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What’s the vibe?
After the death of their father, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood lose both their comfortable home and the financial security they assumed would always be there. Suddenly, marriage is not simply a romantic question. Money, inheritance and social position are tangled up in every choice.
The two sisters respond very differently. Elinor keeps her emotions tightly controlled, even as her feelings for Edward Ferrars become increasingly complicated. Marianne has little interest in restraint and throws herself towards love with considerably more enthusiasm.
Georgia Oakley, who previously directed Blue Jean, pushes the sisters outside the immaculate drawing-room version of Austen. Hair blows loose, hems get dirty and characters move through windswept fields and beaches. The camera stays close enough to make the emotions feel immediate rather than preserved behind Regency glass.
Daisy Edgar-Jones gives Elinor an understated quality, while Esmé Creed-Miles has attracted particular praise as the impulsive Marianne. And while several men compete for romantic attention, the film increasingly makes the case that its most important love story is between the sisters themselves.
Trailer
Check out the trailer below.
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Why you might like it
- Eyes: Wild Devon landscapes, natural light, analogue film grain and costumes that look lived in rather than freshly removed from a museum display.
- Heart: The bond between Elinor and Marianne becomes the emotional centre, giving the familiar romance a strong story about sisterhood underneath it.
- Mind: Austen’s questions about money, marriage and women’s limited economic independence remain surprisingly easy to recognise more than two centuries later.
Critical reception.
Sense and Sensibility has received a generally positive response, although critics are divided over whether this new version can escape the enormous shadow of Ang Lee’s beloved 1995 adaptation.
Rotten Tomatoes currently gives the film 78% from 46 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.1 out of 10. Its consensus praises the decision to bring the sisters’ relationship to the foreground, while acknowledging that Oakley’s version may not replace earlier adaptations in viewers’ affections.
Metacritic currently gives the film a score of 72 out of 100, indicating generally favourable reviews.
Time Out awarded it four stars, praising Oakley’s more physical, untamed approach to Austen and arguing that the film creates an identity of its own. Variety also responded positively, describing it as a confident and naturalistic adaptation, even if its emotional palette is more muted than the 1995 version.
The Guardian was more reserved with three stars, finding plenty to admire in the performances and presentation but arguing that some of Austen’s emotional force has been lost. The New York Post went considerably further in the other direction, criticising the film as gloomy and lacking the warmth and humour expected from the story.
Esmé Creed-Miles has emerged as one of the most consistently praised elements, with reviewers highlighting the energy and vulnerability she brings to Marianne. Daisy Edgar-Jones receives quieter praise for the restraint required by Elinor, while Fiona Shaw has also been singled out for bringing comic life to Mrs Jennings.
No major awards have been announced yet, although the film arrives at the beginning of the autumn awards season.
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Scene to watch for
Watch what happens whenever Elinor and Marianne escape the interiors and head into the landscape.
Oakley uses wind, rain, fields and coastline as emotional extensions of the sisters. Marianne seems almost powered by the weather around her, while Elinor constantly appears to be trying to keep herself composed inside it.
Those sequences also make the difference between this adaptation and more polished Austen productions immediately visible. Apparently Regency England contained quite a lot of weather.
Recommended pairing
An autumn walk before the film feels almost mandatory. Find somewhere windy, let your hair become mildly impractical and then reward yourself with tea and cake before heading inside.
Afterwards, go somewhere cosy and discuss which Dashwood sister you are. Anyone answering "completely balanced between both" is probably an Elinor pretending not to have feelings.
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Need-to-knows
The screenplay was written by Australian novelist Diana Reid, author of Love & Virtue. This is her first produced feature screenplay.
Rather than radically rewriting Austen, Reid and Oakley have concentrated on making the emotions feel recognisable to a modern audience. The dynamics may involve inheritances, estates and Regency courtship, but unreturned messages, questionable romantic judgement and becoming attached to someone who clearly requires a warning label remain timeless.
The film was shot on analogue film rather than digitally. Cinematographer Arnaud Potier and Oakley wanted the image to feel organic, particularly when capturing weather, landscapes and changing natural light.
It was also filmed entirely on location rather than relying heavily on studio sets. Locations include Dartmoor and Mothecombe Beach in Devon, Kingston Russell House in Dorset and several historic properties elsewhere in southern England.
Costume designer Grace Snell uses clothing to tell part of the Dashwoods’ financial story. Dresses are reused and altered as the family’s circumstances change, while differences in colour, fabric and silhouette help distinguish Elinor’s restraint from Marianne’s more expressive personality.
