‘Sense and Sensibility’ Screenwriter on Book-to-Screen Changes and Why Jane Austen Is So Adaptable: ‘She’s Almost Like Shakespeare’

Screenwriter Diana Reid says the new film adaptation of Jane Austen’s *Sense and Sensibility* centres on the love between the Dashwood sisters, a dimension she felt earlier screen versions had not fully explored. Her interpretation stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles and is now in cinemas.

Reid, who is primarily a novelist, first doubted a new version was needed because she admired the 1995 film. After rereading the novel, she chose to preserve elements that still resonate while adapting others for modern audiences, with some scenes and characters cut to give the sisters’ relationship more room. She also says Marianne’s relationship with Willoughby feels strikingly current, describing his behaviour in today’s terms as love-bombing followed by ghosting.