Sense and Sensibility 2026 Review: Where Has All the Color Gone?

evemrileyauthor

Sep 29

6 min read

Updated: Oct 5

Keep hold of your bonnets = the latest wave of period dramas is set to hit a screen near you! I've just seen Georgia Oakley's 2026 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, and I have thoughts: Here is my take on this tasteful, earthy adaptation of a sweet, colorful classic.

Elinor and Marianne look out of a window at the viewer. Marianne is frowning. Still from Sense and Sensibility 2026 featuring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles.

A Quick Synopsis:

Sense and Sensibility focuses on the lives of sister Elinor (sense) and Marianne (sensibility) as they navigate grief, love and the pitfalls of regency society.

The Dashwood sisters live on a sumptuous Sussex estate with their parents. When their father passes away, he leaves the house to his son, John. The grieving Dashwood women are forced out of their home to live in a rural cottage.

Elinor (Daisy Edgar-Jones) leaves behind Edward Ferrars (George MacKay), a gentleman with whom she has formed a quiet attachment. Meanwhile, Marianne (Esmé Creed-Miles) falls head over heals for the romantic John Willoughby (Frank Dillane), eschewing Colonel Brandon (Herbert Nordstrum)'s steadfast affection.

After Willoughby quits the countryside without warning, Elinor and Marianne follow him to London where they both suffer heartbreak. Eventually, each finds a balance between the head and the heart, and with it her own Happily Ever After.

My Take on the Performances

Daisy Edgar-Jones's Elinor is great. She is the queen of subtle acting and self-contained characters who somehow betray every emotion; and her performance as a young person suddenly thrust into the head-of-the-family role while pining after an unavailable man is totally believable. My introverted self is smiling! Esmé Creed-Miles' cooler, grungier Marianne took me a little while to get used to, but she grew on me and I liked her chemistry with Daisy's Elinor. Compared with the 1995 adaptation their sisterhood felt less saccharine and more like a complex relationship between very different people.

Still from Sense and Sensibility (2026) with Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles. Marianne lies on the bed listening while Elinor talks. Marianne wears a white nightgown.

Oakley's adaptation showed the female characters letting their hair down (literally) when they are in their own company in the countryside - the growing complexity of Marianne and Elinor's bond really encapsulated that wildness. However, partly because of the scripting decisions, it felt like some of the moments of sisterly closeness didn't come across as clearly in the dialogue as in the acting. Their disagreements dragged across scenes and created a bit of a disconnect. The genuine love and warmth between Marianne and Elinor is the beating heart of Austen's narrative, and with different writing/ directing choices it could have come across even more strongly.

A real standout performance for me was Fiona Shaw as Mrs. Jennings. She stole every scene she was in (and my whole heart, too). She is warm and funny and a real breath of fresh air - to the point where I resented Marianne and Elinor's snide comments about her. Protect Mrs Jennings!!

At the other end of the spectrum, both of Marianne's love interests had a cold, somewhat wolfish quality which made for an uncomfortable watch. Colonel Brandon looks, well, exactly as his author intended; like a retired soldier pushing 40. Autumn de Wilde's recent adaptation of Emma dealt with The Regency Age Gap Problem by significantly reducing it; here, it feels starker than I remembered. Herbert Nordrum spends much of the film peering at a diminutive Marianne like he wants to eat her.

Still from Sense and Sensibility (2026) with Herbert Nordrum as Colonel Brnadon. A soft, warm, candelit background. Colonel Brandon looks off to the side. He has a beard and long hair and wears a coat with a high collar.

Similarly, Franlk Dillane's Willoughby is not as disarming as, say, Greg Wise's portrayal. Without that himbo charm and apparent innocence, the gut-wrenching reveal that Willoughby is in fact an utter shit loses its drama. Dillane doesn't look like he'd pull the wool over any mother's eyes. A related issue is that the rumbling tension between Willoughby and Colonel Brandon reads more as awkwardness than anything else - we really needed some more butter-wouldn't-melt from Frank!

Still from Sense and Sensibility 2026. Willoughby (Frank Dillane) wears a yellow waistcoat nad a dark jacket. He has dark hair that is longish and curling. He looks at the viewer side-on. He is leaving the Dashwoods' cottage.

KEY DIFFERENCES From the Novel:

A More Gothic Feel

This adaptations swaps rolling Devonshire for windswept moors. It's a grungier aesthetic echoed by the moodier lighting and the messier hair choices (much bemoaned, by some historical accuracy purists; I'm not at all against it particularly for the parts of the story where the women are living together at the cottage and are able to be a bit wilder). Even the dancing has had an upgrade; think less period drama and more Rock concert. I think the Gothic elements were interesting - particularly when it comes to Marianne's characterisation. Borrowing elements of Gothic to a romance felt true to the source material; Austen herself did this in novels like Northanger Abbey. However, it did rather suck some of the color and warmth out of the adaptation - although not always at the expense of the sparkling wit and genuine heart that are core tenets of the cozy Austen experience.

Marianne (Esmé Creed-Miles) lies in long grass. Still from Sense and Sensibility 2026

Colonel Brandon confiding in Elinor about Willoughby

Fans of 1995 will remember a Colonel Brandon opening up to Elinor about his past with Willoughby (the scene that launched a thousand fanfics). There is no such scene here, simply a letter delivered to Elinor (who reads it alone). The face to face conversation happens between Marianne and Brandon later (when Marianne falls ill). The conversation could perhaps have deepened Marianne and Colonel Brandon's relationship - it is couched in their mutual experience of heartbreak. Sadly, the scene just didn't work for me. It disrupted the urgency of Marianne's illness and the earlier letter to Elinor removed any altruistic purpose from the conversation. We were left with Colonel Brandon unburdening himself to a young, ill, vulnerable person. Picture the scene: you are newly heartbroken, you're just back from catching your death on the moors and some guy corners you to talk about... his ex?! No thanks!

Ageing up Elinor

A choice that was made in 1995 and which I still back. Daisy's portrayal of Elinor definitely feels more late 20s than the original 19. Particularly to modern audiences, such a wise 19 year-old big sister could be a hard sell. This adaptation keeps the characterization believable and emphasizes the differences between Elinor and Marianne.

Key Similarities with The Novel:

Georgian attitudes to marriage

In his Guardian review, Peter Bradshaw notes that this new adaptation places a greater emphasis on Mrs Dashwood's detestation of appearing to be a "gold digger", even to her own financial ruin. The importance of a financially beneficial match are underscored throughout the film. The contractual side of marriage is really clearly emphasized in both Marianne and Elinor's initial relationships. This side of money is not exactly romantic, but it is important in Jane Austen's novels and her own life, particularly after her father's death forced her out of her home (which she could not inherit). And it is of course a concern to all of the characters in this book, and something they must all weight up alongside their feelings.

While I'm on the subject of money, I found Dillane's interpretation of Willoughby as "not manipulative" and simply thinking of his own financial situation alongside his feelings (like the Dashwoods must do) as, well, a bit baffling. If anything, the reverse came across in his performance. Let's not forget that Willoughby is heir to his aunt's estate and firmly ensconced in the center of his social world, while the grieving Dashwood women are pushed right to it's edges by the inheritance rules of the time.

The costumes

Costume Designer Grace Snell has (generally) gone for a slightly earlier feel to reflect when the novel was written, rather than it's 1811 publication. Expect something a bit closer to 2005 Pride and Prejudice than 1995 Sense and Sensibility.

Still from Sense and Sensibility (2026) Marianne (Esmé Creed-Miles) stands in a field in the Sussex estate. We can see a white house in the background, behind some deciduous trees.

My Takeaway:

Adapting such precise source material is no mean feat. Austen’s novels strike a deliberate balance between sardonic wit and genuine warmth; tipping too far in either direction risks an adaptation that feels either toothless or cold. Add to this the frankly cavernous shoes of an Emma Thompson x Alan Rickman x Kate Winslet predecessor, and the very crowded landscape of modern period dramas... look, it's not easy. Is 2026 Sense and Sensibility going to stick with me for many years to come? Perhaps not. But it was enjoyable, heartfelt and beautiful (in it's own wild, autumnal way).

My Star Rating: ★★★★☆

P.S. if you love romance with a large side of yearning, then The Escape might be for you! Liss and Dan meet while setting up a water sanitation project in the DRC and fall deeply in love. However, Dan then mysteriously vanishes off the face of the earth; no forwarding address, not even a phone number! A heartbroken Liss is left picking up the pieces, and work out what happened; even employing a private investigator! Years later, Dan tracks Liss down, and they must confront the past together.

During their separation, Dan confides in his brother about his feelings for Liss:

She wouldn’t live off me, and she could have had a much easier life if she hadn’t resisted the route her dad wanted her to take. Liss comes across as so confident, but maybe Jed’s wrong and she is jumpy about men. She mentioned a terrible history with guys, but didn’t tell me anything more. Oh! The irony. I rest my head on my arms on the table, and Jed squeezes my shoulder.

“What’s this about?”

I lift my head to look at him.

“It’s fucking terrifying. She’s it for me. I knew from the first moment I saw her. What if I’m not her it?”