Kamp Student Radio

Prior to October 13, 2026, I had a very specific opinion about Jane Austen’s books. I had separated them into triads— the comedic trio, which is Northanger Abbey, Emma, and Pride and Prejudice and the boring trio, which would be Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and Sense and Sensibility. Boring is an unfair word, as the books are still good, but they did not catch my interest at the time of reading them, which was in early high school. In preparation for the new film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, directed by Georgia Oakley, I had my parents bring me the book when they were visiting. I finished it in two days and was completely blown away. The book is not boring in the slightest. It’s an entertaining and beautiful drama about sisterhood and love. Thus, I went into the movie theater excited, but with no expectations, not having interacted with any of the press tour. I cried through most of the film.

Sense and Sensibility is the story of the Dashwood family, mainly the sisters Elinor and Marianne, after their father dies and their house passes to his son from a previous marriage. The family is forced to relocate, but Elinor falls in love with her sister-in-law’s brother, Edward Ferrars, despite having to leave him behind. The family is warmly welcomed by the relations that own their new cottage and they meet Colonel Brandon, who develops very clear feelings for Marianne. At their new residence, Marianne falls while on a walk and is saved by John Willoughby, who she also falls in love with, but he leaves soon after on business. Elinor soon discovers that Edward is engaged to an acquaintance Lucy Steele right as the girls are invited to go to London with a distant relation. Here is where Marianne discovers that Willoughby is now engaged to an heiress and the girls leave London heartbroken. Colonel Brandon reveals to Elinor that Willoughby ran off with a widow and left her ill and pregnant, resulting in him being cut off from his family fortune. Marianne falls ill at a relative’s house on the journey back from London due to her heartbreak, but is nursed back to health by Elinor. The girls return home where Marianne and Brandon begin to fall in love and Elinor learns of Mr. Ferrars’ marriage. Edward comes to the house to speak to Elinor and reveals that his brother and Lucy Steele were married, not him, and they are free to be engaged.

“Sense” is meant as we understand it (good judgement), but “sensibility” is closer to our understanding of sensitivity or being swept up by emotion. Elinor represents sense and Marianne sensibility and I feel like the new film adaptation showed the contrast between the sisters beautifully. Marianne (Esmé Creed-Miles) is free-spirited, nature loving, and wildly passionate about art and the mysteries of love. Elinor (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is much more restrained in her feelings and acts regarding what is best for others, not for herself. Both girls get to have their moment of  (justified) emotional outburst, but the language each character uses is so different and representative of Austen’s characterization of them. The cinematography also does a wonderful job of showcasing the juxtaposition of sense and sensibility on the big screen. There are shots of powerful nature, having been filmed in the British seaside and forests. The manors that they shoot in are full of elegant displays of wealth, as customary for the time and the social circle the Dashwoods navigated. One of my favorite scenes takes place in London’s National Portrait Gallery, and the red walls with marble columns contrast the Dashwoods’ modest existence throughout the film. The costuming is wonderfully period-accurate (the hair is not), but what is important to me is the dresses are shown getting dirty. I appreciated that as someone who understands the pain of having to pick up baggy jeans to step over three inch deep puddles. It’s basically the same thing. It’s also representative of daily life in the English countryside. The choice to not style the girls’ hair in traditional Georgian style, like in many other Austen adaptations, appealed to me as a practical decision to show the Dashwoods’ demotion in class. I think it also did a good job of demonstrating the small protests from women of the era by not fully conforming to the imposed desire of dressing up.

The performances in the film are wonderful. It’s extremely hard to pick a favorite, as both Dashwood sisters are done incredible justice by Creed-Miles and Edgar-Jones. George MacKay plays Edward Ferrars’ with more of a contemplative air than Hugh Grant did in Ang Lee’s 1995 adaptation and I liked the writer’s choice to give him more characterization through a simple conversation with Elinor. When they first made eye contact, I burst into tears. They have a beautiful moment at the end of the film that felt very akin to the 2005 Pride & Prejudice adaptation starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. This makes a lot of sense, given that Focus Features produced both films, as well as the much acclaimed Emma. in 2020. Further, I liked how certain moments in the book that would be easy to omit were included, such as Willoughby gifting Marianne a horse or the duel that occurs between Brandon and Willoughby that’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it-line in the novel. There was adaptive liberty taken with these inclusions, but the beauty of adaptation is reworking source material to enhance its themes.

I also like the amount of animals shown in the film as an example of the wealth the Dashwoods had and then had to leave behind. It’s also darling to see a whippet on screen as someone who grew up with sight hounds. Further changes from the book would be the choice to age Colonel Brandon down from thirty-six to thirty and to age the Dashwood sisters slightly up. There is also less of an emphasis on the Dashwoods’ snotty sister-in-law Fanny, the odd Lady Middleton, and the covertly conniving Lucy Steele. This does end up taking away from the humor of Austen’s writing, but also allows for more focus on the relationship between sisters. Marianne and Elinor feel much more in tune with each other’s narratives, rather than focusing on one sister’s love stories and then the other.

Overall, I was very pleased with the adaptation and loved the experience of watching it in theaters. The theater was full of mostly middle-aged women, but simultaneously sparse, given that it was a Sunday afternoon. This was probably the best scenario to see the film in, due to my violent sobbing, and I checked to make sure my mom (the reason I love Austen), also enjoyed the film. She took my dad and he was the only man in the theater, which is quite fitting, in my opinion. TLDR: Go see Sense and Sensibility (2026) before it goes on Peacock during Oscars season and you get inundated with Obsession ads for their Oscar campaign that shouldn’t exist. 4.5/5