‘Hilarious’ period drama on Disney+ has 96% rating and fans are loving it
Love & Friendship, which is available to stream on Disney+, was a huge hit among critics upon its release and has continued to attract new fans nearly 10 years on.
Kate Beckinsale stars in the romantic comedy(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Nearly a decade after hitting cinemas, one movie continues to draw fresh audiences who are rushing to witness a story about a woman leveraging her wit and allure to secure what she desires for herself and her child.
Love & Friendship (2016) chronicles the scheming and recently bereaved Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) as she pursues both a fitting spouse for herself and a wealthy union for her daughter, Frederica.
Lady Susan misleads everyone she encounters, whilst attempting to guarantee a financially sound future for herself and her offspring. Numerous admirers applauded the movie’s wit, with one Reddit user commenting they discovered it: “Hilarious and perfectly cast.”
Additional users commended the film’s meticulous approach to period-appropriate attire, with one noting it featured “great costumes” that displayed the “rarely-done transitional period between Georgian and regency fashions”.
Love & Friendship has received great reviews(Image: CHP)
The picture also proved enormously successful amongst reviewers when it debuted, earning a remarkable 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, which calculates critics’ scores to produce an overall percentage.
The platform’s critics consensus states: “Love & Friendship finds director Whit Stillman bringing his talents to bear on a Jane Austen adaptation – with a thoroughly delightful period drama as the result.”
One critic praised the film for its unexpected depth of character, remarking: “Though the corseted bodices and full skirts suggest an Oscar bait-y period drama, Stillman quickly establishes Love & Friendship as an out-and-out comedy.”
Originally penned by Jane Austen around 1794 but not published until 1871, the film is based on a book called Lady Susan, not Love & Friendship, which is actually another tale authored by Austen.
Given its relative obscurity, Whit Stillman was the first to bring it to the big screen. Upon reading the book, he found himself “fascinated” with the narrative, declaring that it “was too good to not be known”.
Love & Friendship can now be streamed on Disney+.
