FILM

Thu 13th Oct 7.45pm: LOVE & FRIENDSHIP (U) 2016 FR/IR/NE 93 minutes, written & directed by Whit Stillman.

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny. Based on the Jane Austen novella ‘Lady Susan’ and set in the 1790s, earlier than most Austen tales, Whit Stillman’s exquisite comedy concerns beautiful young widow Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale)… The deliciously scheming and manipulative Lady Susan has come to Churchill, the estate of her in-laws, to wait out the colourful rumours about her dalliances circulating through polite society. Whilst ensconced there, she decides to secure a husband for herself and for her eligible but reluctant school-girl daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark). ‘A narrative of duplicity, desire and fortune-hunting zips along, propelled by Lady Susan Vernon, a charmer and schemer played with verve and precision by Kate Beckinsale. A less than grief-stricken widow, Susan has the kind of amoral poise that might make her a suitable alpha on “Real Housewives of the Home Counties” circa 1800. Her smile is as radiant as her motives are murky, and she leaves a trail of wreckage and confusion in her wake.’ NYTimes.