Boasting a beautifully calibrated tone, it’s wickedly droll and choicely acted by the entire ensemble.
Jane Austen adaptation is an unexpected delight.
Kate Beckinsale is a becoming widow without means in an adaptation that reinvigorates the breeches, buttons and bows cliches.
Add a dash of true romance, dialogue that cuts like a knife and a cast that includes Stephen Fry and Chloë Sevigny and you have a very civilised treat in store.
Kate Beckinsale is deliciously acerbic in Whit Stillman’s fifth film in 26 years – a mashup of two early Jane Austen stories.
Even among the iconic Austen adaptations that have graced the big and small screens down the years, this may well be the finest.
Kate Beckinsale and Whit Stillman interview: On the vindication of Jane Austen in Love & Friendship
General release. Check local listings for show times.
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Monday June 27, 2016, until Thursday June 30, 2016. More info: www.filmhousecinema.com