Love & Friendship

Set in the 1790s, Love & Friendship follows Lady Susan Vernon, a recently widowed woman whose beauty and charm have made her a subject of gossip among the upper classes. With her financial position uncertain after her husband's estate is sold, she takes refuge at the home of her late husband's relatives, where she intends to wait out the scandal and secure a future for herself and her daughter Frederica. Susan sets out to arrange advantageous marriages for both of them, though Frederica is reluctant to cooperate. Her plans draw in the wealthy but foolish Sir James Martin and the charming Reginald DeCourcy, and her manipulations become increasingly complicated as events unfold.

The film is an adaptation of Jane Austen's epistolary novella Lady Susan, written and directed by Whit Stillman. It is his fourth feature, following Metropolitan, The Last Days of Disco and Damsels in Distress. Kate Beckinsale leads the cast as Lady Susan, with Xavier Samuel, Morfydd Clark, Emma Greenwell, Tom Bennett and James Fleet in supporting roles.

Released in May 2016, the film was made for about 3 million dollars and took roughly 21 million dollars worldwide, a strong return relative to its cost. Audiences are more reserved: on IMDb it holds 6.4 out of 10 from over 26,000 votes, and on TMDB 6 out of 10 from around 600 votes, while the film critics' rating stands considerably higher at 8.2 out of 10 from 217 reviews.