Love & Friendship is a 2016 film directed by Whit Stillman. It is based on Jane Austen’s novel Lady Susan, written around 1794. The movie stars Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel, and Emma Greenwell. The story follows Lady Susan, a recently widowed woman, as she works carefully to find wealthy husbands for herself and her daughter. Although the film is based on Lady Susan, it was released under the name Love and Freindship, which is the title of one of Austen’s earlier, less well-known stories.

The film first showed at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. It was released in North America on May 13, 2016, by Roadside Attractions and Amazon Studios. The movie received praise from critics and was successful at the box office, though it was not shown in many theaters. At its peak, it was shown in 826 theaters during its second week of release.

Plot

In the 1790s, Lady Susan Vernon, who recently lost her husband, seeks to find a wealthy husband for herself and a wealthy match for her only daughter, Frederica, to improve their financial situation. After being forced to leave the Manwaring estate because of her relationship with the married Lord Manwaring, Lady Susan and her unpaid companion, Mrs. Cross, move to Churchill, the home of her brother-in-law, Charles Vernon, and his wife, Catherine Vernon (née DeCourcy). Lady Susan openly shares her plans during visits with her trusted friend, the American Mrs. Johnson.

Catherine and her younger brother, Reginald DeCourcy, know Lady Susan has a reputation for being skilled at attracting attention. Influenced by his kind but unexciting brother Charles, Reginald agrees to consider Lady Susan as a potential partner. Soon, he becomes interested in her. However, when Reginald’s father, Sir Reginald DeCourcy, learns of this, he warns his son against marrying Lady Susan, fearing it might damage the family’s reputation. Reginald claims their relationship is not romantic, but they soon develop feelings for each other.

Frederica, Lady Susan’s daughter, who attends a boarding school her mother cannot afford, runs away and is expelled. She arrives at Churchill with Sir James Martin, a wealthy but foolish man. Upon arriving, he explains he had trouble finding the estate because he was looking for "church hill," a church or a hill.

Frederica tells Reginald she does not want to marry Sir James because he is "silly," but she fears her mother’s insistence on finding her a husband. Surprised, Reginald decides to speak to Lady Susan about Frederica’s wishes. After a confrontation, Reginald decides to leave. However, Lady Susan resolves the situation with him and then plans to punish him for his disloyalty.

When Lady Susan and Reginald are in London, she delays their marriage, claiming society does not yet approve of their relationship (possibly because she is much older). Later, Lady Susan’s secret relationship with Lord Manwaring is discovered when Lady Manwaring finds out the two are meeting in private, arranged by Lady Susan’s friend, Mrs. Johnson. Lady Manwaring asks her guardian, Mr. Johnson, to confront them.

Reginald arrives with a letter from Lady Susan to Mrs. Johnson and overhears Lady Manwaring crying. She emerges with Mr. Johnson, who says he cannot help her. In desperation, Lady Manwaring takes the letter Mrs. Johnson holds, recognizing the handwriting. She insists her husband is with Lady Susan, but Reginald claims he has just left her and that she is "completely alone," as even the servants have been dismissed. Lady Manwaring becomes suspicious and asks a footman to describe what he saw. The footman says he saw Lord Manwaring arrive and enter the house after Reginald and the servants left.

Lady Manwaring reads the letter, which reveals Lady Susan asked Mrs. Johnson to welcome Reginald into her home and "keep him there all evening if you can, Manwaring comes this very hour." Reginald leaves in anger, and Mr. Johnson scolds his wife for her connection to Lady Susan (who later says of him, he is "too old to be governable and too young to die").

Reginald narrowly misses Lord Manwaring as he leaves and confronts Lady Susan, who says they cannot marry because he no longer trusts her.

Reginald returns to his sister Catherine’s home. Lady Susan marries Sir James, and Reginald falls in love with Frederica, and the two are soon married. Later, Sir James tells Mrs. Johnson he is happy about becoming a father, having learned the day after his marriage that his new wife is pregnant.

Sir James later speaks warmly about his new friend and long-term guest, Lord Manwaring, who stayed at Lady Susan’s home and shared a love of hunting with him.

Production

In May 2013, Whit Stillman said he would make a comedy set in the past. In July, it was confirmed that Stillman was making a film based on Jane Austen’s novel Lady Susan, called Love & Friendship. Stillman wanted to film the movie in Britain or Ireland. Unlike other Austen novels, Lady Susan has rarely been made into a film. In the late 1990s, after reading Northanger Abbey, Stillman found Lady Susan in the same book and became interested in its story. He believed the novel was too good to be ignored. Stillman thought the book had strong qualities but was hard to understand, which made it less popular with filmmakers. At the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Stillman said the film’s story was clearly inspired by Jane Austen, but its visual style was influenced by the movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which stars Michael Caine and Steve Martin.

In February 2014, Amanda Dobbins of New York magazine reported that Sienna Miller was cast as Lady Susan, and Chloë Sevigny would play Alicia, Lady Susan’s friend. Miller later left the project, and Kate Beckinsale took her role in 2015. Beckinsale and Sevigny had worked together before on Stillman’s The Last Days of Disco. Xavier Samuel and Stephen Fry joined the cast as Reginald and Mr. Johnson. Other actors included Emma Greenwell as Catherine Vernon, Morfydd Clark as Frederica, Jemma Redgrave as Lady DeCourcy, James Fleet as Sir Reginald DeCourcy, Tom Bennett as Sir James Martin, and Justin Edwards as Charles Vernon. Stillman said Morfydd Clark was the first actor cast, followed by James Fleet and Jemma Redgrave. He also said he met with two other actors for the role of Sir James Martin before casting Tom Bennett.

Emily St. James of Vox noted that Stillman’s choice of actors for the film was successful.

The film received money from Arte, the Irish Film Board, and the Netherlands Film Fund. Main filming was planned to start in summer 2014 but began on February 2, 2015, in Dublin. Scenes were also filmed in Donabate, a coastal town, and at Russborough House, which was used as the outside of two homes in the film. Howth Castle was used as the outside of “Churchill.” For three weeks, scenes were filmed at the Newbridge Estate. On March 16, 2015, it was announced that filming had finished. In a 30-minute interview released on YouTube in May 2016, Beckinsale said filming took 27 days. The film’s editing happened at the EGG Post Production house in Dublin and continued in France and the Netherlands.

Irish costume designer Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh created the clothing for the film. She used bright colors to show Lady Susan’s change from a widow in mourning to a confident society woman. In the countryside, Lady Susan wore mostly black, grey, and mauve, matching the mourning clothes of the time. In London, her clothes became brighter, and she wore more tight-fitting dresses. The bold colors Lady Susan wore contrasted with Alicia Johnson’s more subtle blues, gold, and bronze. Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh used these colors to show Alicia was not used to country life, as she came from the city. She also wanted Alicia to look “ornamental” and as if she spent a long time choosing her clothes. Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh said, “The best thing about this film is that all the characters are exaggerated versions of themselves, which lets us use bold colors and textures in the costumes.”

Mark Suozzo, a regular collaborator of Stillman, composed the music for Love & Friendship. French composer Benjamin Esdraffo added pieces, including the opening harp theme. The music was recorded in August 2015 at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, with Suozzo conducting the Irish Film Orchestra. Suozzo said the music brings the Georgian era to life through different musical styles. The soundtrack includes original songs and classical pieces by William Boyce, George Frideric Handel, Henry Purcell, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Antonio Vivaldi. It was released on May 6, 2016.

Release

The UK sales agency Protagonist Pictures worked with the film at the European Film Market during the Berlin International Film Festival. Amazon Studios bought the rights to show the film in North America and partnered with Roadside Attractions to release it in theaters. Curzon Artificial Eye managed the film's release in the UK. Love & Friendship had its first showing at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2016. The film was released in a limited number of US theaters on May 13, 2016, with only four locations, and then expanded to 826 theaters on May 26, 2016.

A short documentary called Behind the Scenes, which showed how the film was made and included interviews with the director and actors like Stephen Fry, was released in May 2016. The DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film came out on September 6, 2016, and it became available on Amazon Prime Video on October 20, 2016.

A book version of the film, written by the director Whit Stillman, was planned to be released alongside the film's wider release on May 13, 2016. In an interview with The New York Times, Alexandra Alter described the book as telling the story from the viewpoint of Lady Susan’s nephew, who tries to defend his aunt. The book includes 41 letters from Austen’s Lady Susan in an appendix. Stillman said he believed Lady Susan’s story was not complete and that the original book’s format had flaws. He convinced the publisher, Little, Brown and Company, to let him write the novel.

Reception

The movie Love & Friendship earned $133,513 from four theaters during its opening weekend in May 2016. The film has made more than $19 million worldwide, compared to a production budget of about $3 million.

Critics praised the film. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 97% approval rating based on 188 reviews, with an average score of 8.2 out of 10. The site’s summary says, “Love & Friendship shows director Whit Stillman using his skills to adapt a Jane Austen story into a charming period drama.” Metacritic gave it an average score of 87 out of 100, based on 36 reviews.

A.O. Scott, writing for The New York Times, highly praised Stillman’s direction.

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called the film “a hilarious, self-aware period comedy that is polished to a brilliant shine.” He especially praised actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Tom Bennett, whose character “nearly steals the film with his clumsy, grinning humor.”

Kim Newman of Empire gave the film a perfect score of 5 out of 5.

Richard Brody, writing for The New Yorker, said the film is “deeply satisfying.” He described it as a story showing how a society changes suddenly and dramatically through the actions of a woman who clearly understands her goals and how to achieve them.

A writer for The Economist praised Gwyneth Paltrow’s performance, saying she brought “charisma and magnetism” to the role of Lady Susan. The writer noted that Lady Susan uses her wit and charm to handle difficult situations, even when a secret letter exposes her personal relationships. The writer added that, despite some flaws, the film is a welcome addition to Jane Austen adaptations and is “visually stunning and light.”

Alonso Duralde of TheWrap wrote about the film’s Sundance premiere, saying Stillman updated Austen’s story with a modern twist, including a surprising ending that suggests behavior not typically seen in Austen’s works. He suggested Austen might have approved of this version.

Justin Chang of Variety said Gwyneth Paltrow’s role was “one of the most satisfying performances of her career.” He noted her ability to draw attention to herself on screen. Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter said the role does not have deep complexity, but Paltrow performed well in long speeches and showed her character’s self-awareness clearly.