“Respect Rather Than Reverence”: Inside the Making of a Grittier ‘Sense and Sensibility’
Georgia Oakley’s new film adaptation of Jane Austen’s *Sense and Sensibility* gives the Dashwood sisters a more grounded, moody world, with unpressed gowns, a cramped cottage and candlelit rooms. The approach marks a deliberate departure from the polished luxury of many period adaptations and offers a fresh take alongside Ang Lee’s influential 1995 film.
Screenwriter Diana Reid said she centred the story on the sisters’ relationship, treating their romances as a reward for their shared journey. She retained some of Austen’s lines, matched the novel’s cadence in new dialogue and reshaped the male characters’ ages and backstories. Costume designer Grace Snell, cinematographer Arnaud Potier and production designer Francesca Di Mottola helped realise Oakley’s coming-of-age vision; the film was released in cinemas on 16 October.
In short
- The new adaptation gives Austen’s story a grounded, lived-in look.
- Reid puts the sisters’ relationship at the centre.
- Its approach sets it apart from the 1995 film.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
A grittier, less polished adaptation can make the Dashwood sisters’ economic insecurity and emotional growth feel immediate, while bringing fresh attention to their relationship. A new interpretation also lets audiences encounter Austen from a different angle rather than treating an influential earlier film as definitive.
The case against
The polished elegance of earlier adaptations can express the social formality and wit that are central to Austen’s world, and viewers may feel that a grittier style shifts the balance of the story. Changing characters’ ages and backstories or making romance secondary could also move the adaptation further from the novel’s original emphasis and disappoint those who value its familiar interpretation.
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