Love & Friendship Parent Guide

Audiences have clear expectations about movies adapted from Jane Austen novels: the heroines will be likeable, their suitors will undergo some kind of test to demonstrate that they deserve them, and the story will end happily ever after. Love & Friendship, a witty adaptation of Jane Austen’s lesser known novella, Lady Susan, subverts most of these expectations.

Love & Friendship is the story of Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale), a scheming, manipulative widow in straitened financial circumstances. Since upper class women of her day had no respectable means of earning an income, Lady Susan has been forced to rely on her charm. Luckily, she possesses charm and wit in abundance, compensating for the fact that she is no longer young (but still beautiful). Having become involved in an adulterous relationship with Lord Manwaring (Lochlann O’Mearain) while on a visit to his estate, Lady Susan feels the need of a strategic retreat and invites herself on a visit to Churchill, the estate owned by her brother-in-law, Charles Vernon (Justin Edwards). And this is where the story takes off.

Once at Churchill, Lady Susan executes her plan for the conquest of her in-laws. She will ingratiate herself with her sister-in-law, Catherine (Emma Greenwell), by doting on her children. And she will appear to be the world’s most gentle, retiring widow and make Catherine’s brother, Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel), regret that he ever believed any unsavory rumors about her. All is going swimmingly until Lady Susan’s daughter, Frederica, runs away from her finishing school, only to be followed to Churchill by Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett), a wealthy, babbling fool who believes himself to be in love with her. Can Lady Susan pressure Frederica into marriage with Sir James while maintaining Reginald’s interest?

Director Whit Stillman, who also wrote the screenplay, deserves credit for an excellent adaptation of an epistolary novella. Turning letters into a movie script is a challenge but Stillman manages to keep the energy of the plot, depict the characters’ feelings and motivations, and, most importantly, maintain Lady Susan’s incisive, ironic voice. There are moments where the verbal exposition feels a bit clunky, but these are few.

Plaudits also go to the cast, particularly Kate Beckinsale. Even though Lady Susan is outrageously selfish and astoundingly hypocritical, even though she cruelly manipulates her daughter, Beckinsale manages to make her character at least somewhat sympathetic. We may not like the things she does, but her courage and determination in the face of her financial desperation are at least understandable. Beckinsale also manages to lie, rationalize, and justify her behavior with a perfectly straight face, bringing Jane Austen’s delicious verbal irony to the screen with real brilliance.

This delightful period piece benefits from having very little in the way of content issues. Adultery is briefly mentioned but never seen and there is little else that will concern parents. The biggest issue in this film is Lady Susan herself. Her selfishness, dishonesty, and disloyalty are character traits that will usually appall most audiences. But viewers who are looking for a comedy of manners, who enjoy witty dialogue, and who want to expand their knowledge of Jane Austen’s works, will be charmed by this deliciously clever adaptation of Love & Friendship.