New Sense and Sensibility movie delves deep into the sisterly bond at the heart of Austen's classic

Christine Pagulayan · CBC News

· Posted: Oct 16, 2026 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

It is the eternal question of the prestige drama. Do we really need another period piece? Do we really need another Jane Austen adaptation? More specifically, do we need another version of Sense and Sensibility?

For audiences familiar with director Ang Lee's 1995 Sense and Sensibility, the question might feel pointed. All of Austen's works have been adapted for the screen, and Sense and Sensibility alone has had at least five earlier adaptations.

Now comes director Georgia Oakley's Sense and Sensibility, which hits theatres Oct. 16. Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor Dashwood and Esmé Creed-Miles as her sister, Marianne, and written by Diana Reid, this version doesn't try to out-romance the 1995 film.

Instead, it delves deeper into their sisterly bond and the financial insecurity that limits their choices.

WATCH | The official trailer for the 2026 film:

A new lens on the Dashwood sisters

After their father's death, the Dashwood estate passes to their half-brother, leaving the women with limited financial security and forcing them to move to a more modest home. In Austen's time, women's prospects depended heavily on the goodwill of male relatives or the security of marriage, making this sudden loss of status and stability especially precarious.

The film's visual world moves with them: away from the controlled elegance of the drawing room and out into the open countryside, amid weather, mud and unkempt fields.

They garden, go on long walks, run on the beach and wade through ponds. While Elinor finds peace in sketching and skipping rocks, Marianne is often seen lying in fields, watching the clouds.

Esmé Creed-Miles as Marianne Dashwood, left, and Daisy Edgar-Jones as her older sister Elinor sort through their belongings as they prepare to leave their family home. (Universal Pictures)

That rougher setting makes their vulnerability physical as well as financial — and brings their shared experience into view.

Elinor's restraint can conceal how deeply she feels and Marianne's openness leaves her more exposed to heartbreak. Throughout the film, circumstances bring each of them to see the other's perspective.

'The sisters are the constant'

"They really wanted to centralize the love story as being the two girls," Edgar-Jones said of Oakley and Reid's approach.

She also told CBC News that working with her longtime friend Creed-Miles felt effortless.

• Persuasion modernizes Jane Austen for a new generation — but does it lack sense and sensibility?

"I had an idea of who I thought Elinor was, but it wasn't until I really started acting those scenes with Esmé's Marianne that I really understood her," she said.

Creed-Miles says their friendship quickly helped them find a "familial, sisterly, best friend sort of energy." She says she "couldn't have gotten through the project" without Edgar-Jones's support.

WATCH | Sense and Sensibility's modern take:

The sisters are each other's confidantes, critics and support system.

Canadian author Natalie Jenner, whose novel, The Jane Austen Society, draws on Austen's work and life, sees that connection as one reason the book continues to resonate.

"If your family relationships are strong, you feel emboldened to take on anything," Jenner said. "The sisters are the constant. And that sense of constancy and a North Star is something that you can always go back to. I think that taps into a modern need for community and stability," she told CBC News.

A different kind of Brandon and Willoughby

Marianne’s love interests are John Willoughby, played by Frank Dillane, left, and Colonel Brandon, played by Herbert Nordrum. (Universal Pictures)

The new film's male characters offer a departure from the archetypes established in Ang Lee's 1995 adaptation.

In an interview with CBC News, Herbert Nordrum explains that he played Colonel Brandon as awkward and difficult to read, focusing on the character's internal struggle to express his feelings. This contrasts with Alan Rickman’s 1995 performance, which gave Brandon a sense of gravitas and a devotion to Marianne expressed through quiet, powerful gestures.

• Why Jane Austen is as relevant as ever

In the 1995 adaptation, Greg Wise portrays Willoughby as a dashing romantic hero, making his betrayal all the more shocking. In the 2026 version, Frank Dillane told CBC News he wanted to emphasize Willoughby’s sweeter qualities — "his joy, his exuberance, his lust for life, poetry and romance" — while still letting his questionable actions speak for themselves. He aimed to portray him as a rounded young man who makes mistakes and falls in love.

He jokes that Willoughby's grand romantic gestures would now be called "love bombing," while his habit of ignoring Marianne's letters is the period-drama equivalent of "ghosting."

In Ang Lee’s 1995 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman) carries Marianne Dashwood (Kate Winslet) through the rain after finding her gravely ill. (Sony Pictures Releasing)

What Austen means to audiences now

While Lee's film is lush and sweeping, Oakley's is quieter and more grounded. It doesn't try to replace the older version; it's asking what these stories can mean to audiences now.

Jenner says Austen's characters endure because they're trying to find happiness without losing themselves. "You've got to know what makes you happy," she told CBC News, "and stay true to that."

• The everpresent influence of Jane Austen

• 70 facts you might not know about iconic British novelist Jane Austen

She introduced her own daughter to Austen's books and films when she was seven or eight. Jenner wanted her to meet characters who were "strong-spirited" and full of "intellect, brightness, vivacity, kindness, curiosity."

Jenner says she believes younger audiences are craving more naturalistic depictions — a shift she noticed through conversations with her daughter, now in her mid-20s.

Elinor (Edgar-Jones) and Marianne (Creed-Miles) share a quiet moment in a field of tall grass. (Universal Pictures)

She says that coming out of the pandemic, there's been a longing for a return to nature and the simple warmth of picnics, books and blankets, which has seeped into the visual style of modern adaptations.

Jenner believes that Austen doesn't belong to one decade or one aesthetic. Her stories offer romance, but also friendship, family, community and the difficult work of figuring out what kind of life will make you happy.

The question of whether the world really needs another Sense and Sensibility remains.

Audiences may well find that it does, not because of a desire to surpass previous versions, but because Austen's story is timeless enough to invite a completely new interpretation.