SPOILERS ALERT!!!
Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
I think it’s fair to say that every September, it’s a time to celebrate Jane Austen. That was certainly the case when I was in Bath last year and I saw a theatre production of ‘Emma’. It’s also because the world-famous Jane Austen Festival gets to be held annually in Bath.
So, that means an opportunity for another adaptation of a work by Jane Austen to be released in September, whether it’d be on TV, film, theatre, etc. And I don’t mind that. It’s a lovely opportunity to check out a new production of one of Jane Austen’s famous works.
At this point in time, a new TV production of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is going to be released on Netflix for December 2026. It’s likely I’ll be checking out that production sometime, especially for Christmas viewing. I’m sure I’ll be sharing a review on the series when it’s out. 🙂
But of course, there have been many adaptations of Jane Austen’s works over the years, particularly with ‘Sense and Sensibility’. There have been three TV adaptations of the story from 1971, 1981 and 2008, and of course there’s the 1995 film starring Emma Thompson.
I’m more familiar with the 1995 film, especially as I saw it last year at the cinema to celebrate its 30th anniversary. But I have seen the 1981 and 2008 TV adaptations by the BBC to know that there are various takes on the story, whether they’re highly praised or not. 🙂
Of course, the 1995 film is likely to be a winner for many people considering it’s the one that gets shown very often in the public eye. But it’s always fascinating to come across different adaptations of the story to find out whether they work well as adaptations or not.
That’s certainly the case for me when checking out the latest 2026 film adaptation of ‘Sense and Sensibility’ at the cinema recently. I enjoyed the 2026 film adaptation of ‘Sense and Sensibility’. 🙂 For the most part, it tells the story pretty well as I expect it to do.
With that said, having seen the 1995 film and the 1981 and 2008 TV productions, there’s going to be the situation where you spot certain differences in how the plot is structured in a film as well as how the characters are developed based on the actors’ performances.
In no way am I saying the storytelling is awful and that the performances of the cast are awful. Far from it! But you do see certain aspects of a plot changed and/or omitted in a film adaptation as well as how actors portray their characters compared to other TV/movie versions.
For one thing, there’s an emotional outburst from Elinor when she interacts with Edward Ferrars after learning he’s engaged to Lucy Steele. There isn’t a scene depicting Colonel Brandon meeting Elinor Dashwood to provide a church offer for Edward Ferrars’ situation.
That’s more or less said by Elinor to Marianne via exposition and is off-screen. I feel that needs to be in the film in order to establish Colonel Brandon’s presence, especially since he doesn’t seem to appear a lot in the 2026 film compared to Alan Rickman in the 1995 film.
There’s also a climactic scene between Brandon and Willoughby where they have a duel with pistols. That’s not in the 1995 film, but traces of Willoughby visiting Mrs. Jennings’ home at night where Marianne is ill is something I saw from viewing the 1981 TV version.
The duel is also in the 2008 TV version, but it’s something that happens earlier in ‘Part Three’ of that adaptation than at the end, and it’s with swords, not pistols. I wonder whether the 1995 film is closer to the original ‘Sense and Sensibility’ book more than the 2026 film.
Thankfully, there’s no funny laugh by Elinor in the 2026 film when she finds out Edward Ferrars isn’t married to Lucy Steele at all. 😀 That’s a relief as far as I’m concerned, as I wouldn’t want that repeated since Emma Thompson did the funny laugh in the 1995 film.
In terms of the film’s cast, there’s Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor Dashwood and Esmé Creed-Miles as Marianne Dashwood, the two main leads. Both actresses are very good. It was intriguing to see their interpretations of the characters compared to other versions.
There’s Caitríona Balfe as Mrs. Dashwood, George MacKay as Edward Ferrars, Herbert Nordrum as Colonel Brandon, Frank Dillane as John Willoughby, Fiona Shaw as Mrs. Jennings and Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Margaret Dashwood. There’s Stacy Martin as Fanny Dashwood, Tom Brooke as John Dashwood, Turlough Convery as Sir John Middleton, Chloe Pirrie as Lady Middleton, Bethany Slater as Mrs. Palmer, Eliot Sumner as Mr. Palmer, Ceara Coveney as Lucy Steele and Forrest Bothwell as Robert Ferrars. All are excellent in the film.
Admittedly, a lot of these actors I’ve not come across before, but they’re clearly very talented. The direction by Georgia Oakley is also good when watching the film, though there’s quite a earthy ruggedness in the 2026 film compared to the 1995 film’s lighter tone.
The 2026 ‘Sense and Sensibility’ film has been an enjoyable film to check out at the cinema. It’s certainly different compared to the 1995 film, but I found it a refreshing take as a film adaptation of the 1811 book by Jane Austen and it’s certainly worth watching. 🙂
Fortunately, there aren’t any bare bums nor nose bleeds as there was in the 2020 film ‘Emma.’. 😀 There’s a brief scene where Marianne is in the bath, which did surprise me as it’s a Jane Austen film adaptation. But then it happened in 2007’s ‘Northanger Abbey’ too.
It was interesting to see Marianne injure her ankle when she and Margaret were on the beach compared to the 1995 film when walking up on a hill in the pouring rain. Marianne also tried to get Willoughby’s attention, even after learning he was engaged to someone else.
It’s also good to see how Elinor and Marianne are portrayed as more or less the same age compared to the 1995 film where Elinor (played by Emma Thompson) is clearly older than Marianne (played by Kate Winslet). 🙂 That’s more in common with the 2008 BBC TV version.
I’m sure I’ll be seeing this film again with my parents at the cinema sometime soon. 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
