Perfectly timed with the impending release of three of his greatest films on a Criterion set, we’ll be getting a new feature from Whit Stillman this summer. Love & Friendship, based on Jane Austen’s unfinished novella “Lady Susan” stars Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny, and today we have the first trailer ahead of an Amazon/Roadside Attractions release.
Naming it one of the best films of Sundance, we said, “Master of poisonous tongues and vicious schemes in the world of the rich and the poor, Love & Friendship is perhaps writer/director Whit Stillman‘s most potent mix of comedy and social commentary. He’s got Jane Austen to thank, whose novella ‘Lady Susan’ serves as the inspiration for this tale of Lady Susan Vernon (a pitch-perfect Kate Beckinsale), a widow with a flirtatious reputation, determined to well re-marry well at whatever the cost. Often laugh-out-loud funny and downright mean at the same time, Stillman is in top form here.”
Check out the trailer below and, for more, read our interview with Stillman from Sundance for the film also starring Xavier Samuel, Morfydd Clark, Emma Greenwell, Tom Bennett, James Fleet, Jemma Redgrave, Justin Edwards, Jenn Murray, and Stephen Fry.
Beautiful young widow Lady Susan Vernon visits to 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 a future for her eligible but reluctant daughter, Frederica. In doing so she attracts the simultaneous attentions of the young, handsome Reginald DeCourcy, the rich and silly Sir James Martin and the divinely handsome, but married, Lord Manwaring, complicating matters severely.
Love & Friendship opens on May 13th, 2016.