1818 - When Julia (Zawe Ashton) is rejected by London's most eligible bachelor, Mr Malcolm (Sope Dirisu) because she doesn't get a tick next to every item on his potential wife list, Julia seeks revenge for the humiliation. To do this, she, and her reluctant cousin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) persuade friend Selina (Freida Pinto) to trick Malcolm by chatting him up so she can ultimately reject him with her own list. Inevitably, she falls for him.
Whilst the Jane Austen comparisons are inevitable and to a degree justified, this is a sweet, witty story of love, society, manners etc boasting a terrific cast. Pinto is perfect, as is Ashton whilst Jackson-Cohen is hilarious as the man scared of horses and determined not to get dragged into Ashton's scheme and failing. One point, if I'm honest, whilst Dirisu is a fine actor, I'm not sure he was quite right for the 'Darcy' role.
