Sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood must leave their Sussex estate to live with a distant relative, while facing both romantic and financial struggles. (from IMDb)

If you love movies - like I do - chances are you find yourself watching an assortment of genres, including ones you don't generally prefer. For me, the "chick flick" and musicals are often ones I don't tend to subscribe to, however, I'm actually a sucker for a good romantic story (especially if it's paired with comedy). Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, from 1811, has no shortage of screen adaptations, and 2026 brings audiences a new take on the story. So when it seemed like a sweet option to take my wife to see it on a date night, I found myself finally experiencing Sense and Sensibility for the first time.

We arrived a few minutes late, but within the first few minutes of an interaction between Elinor and Edward, I had a bit of that feeling that this wasn't really my thing. However, I let myself get drawn into the story, and before long, Austen's classic had won me over. Daisy Edgar-Jones has been pretty good in the previous films I've seen her in -- like Where the Crawdads Sing and Twisters -- so I was curious how she'd fare in a film like this. While I think she did a decent job, she felt a hair out of place in Austen's world (albeit just a smidge). I also get that the awkwardness between Elinor and Edward is intentional -- if not entirely required -- but there were some moments where their lip-quivering speechlessness was more distracting than endearing. However, being that I was unfamiliar with the source material, I soon found myself intrigued by the Dashwood sister drama and romantic pursuits. And while I had originally been interested in seeing how Edgar-Jones would do in this kind of film, I was surprised to find a newcomer's performance far more engaging.

Esmé Creed-Miles plays Marianne Dashwood and pretty much steals the show. Her performance is strong and she has a more lively role than the more central Elinor. Since Daisy has to play Elinor as more quiet and reserved, the more feisty and colorful Marianne feels like a much more interesting character to watch. I've never seen Esmé in anything before, but her work here definitely has me wanting to keep an eye on her for the future. IF's Fiona Shaw is also a scene-stealer as their distant cousin Mrs. Jennings, and Frank Dillane is perfectly controversial as Willoughby. Finally, I wasn't quite sure how I felt about George MacKay as Edward while watching, but he won me over well enough by film's end.

The PG rating is a nice change of pace for movies these days; it feels like every romantic story is automatically sexualized anymore, and anything family friendly is remarkably scarce (or not appealing to adults). While Sense and Sensibility is quite tame in nature, I still wouldn't really call it a family movie -- only because it's more about romance told in a dramatic fashion than "fun for the whole family," so to speak. There's no profanity (save for a use of "Good G-d," and there's brief kind-of nudity when we see Marianne's bare back as she's hunched over naked in a tub while bathing, but things are otherwise surprisingly reserved. There is a brief duel between two men, but there aren't any injuries, and sexual content is limited to some stories of a man basically being a womanizer. The absolute oddest thing about the film? The role of Mr. Palmer is played by a trans actress who is so very clearly not a man, but we're expected to buy that the character is a man. It's so distracting that, while I hadn't known ahead of time that the actor was a woman, I had a sinking feeling while watching that that was the case. (It wasn't until I later verified who she was on IMDb that I knew for sure.) It's such a bizarre choice for casting, too, and it lifted me right out of the movie every time she appeared on screen and spoke (she was clearly trying to lower her voice to sound masculine). It made it hard to concentrate on the scene itself.

While I can't compare it to previous versions of the story, or the book itself, 2026's Sense and Sensibility is a quality adaptation of the Jane Austen novel. The acting is solid, the score is lovely, the cinematography is artsy, and the story is moving. Even if these kinds of movies aren't your usual cup of tea, it's still a pretty good romantic drama that's worth a look.

- John DiBiase (reviewed: 10/26/26)