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Camille Rutherford as Agathe, Pablo Pauly as Felix in ‘Jane Austen Wrecked

My Life.’ Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

A French film about English author Jane Austen? No, a delightful contemporary French comedy, partly in English, about a young French would-be author who admires Jane Austen but who can’t seem to finish any of the novels she herself starts writing. However, an invitation to a writers’ retreat at the Austen family home in England raises hopes that her writer’s block situation could change, as well as the possibility of bigger changes in her quiet life.

With far more emphasis on the comedy side, writer/director Laura Piani has concocted a clever, contemporary, bi-lingual comedy romance centered on Agathe Robinson (a wonderful Camille Rutherford), a young half-French, half-English woman who works in Parisian bookstore that specializes in English literature, where her ease in both French and English a plus.

Agathe (Camille Rutherford), the charming protagonist of Laura Piani’s pleasant romantic comedy Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, dreams of being a writer. A bookseller in Paris, she spends her days roaming the stacks and absorbing the words of literary greats. But like many aspiring authors shy about their talent, Agathe only scribbles in her spare time and refuses to let anyone read her work. When her best friend and colleague Felix (Pablo Pauly) discovers one of her drafts, he submits an application to a prestigious writing residency established in Austen’s name on Agathe’s behalf. Once she’s accepted, her decision to attend changes her life.

With ample charm, Piani fashions a film that is both an ode to the 19th century literary figure and a love letter to writing. Jane Austen Wrecked My Life doesn’t reinvent the rules of the rom-com, but it does find ways...

Agathe Robinson is beset by two classic problems: horrible writer’s block and a woeful inability to find a good man. No wonder she’s so wild about Jane Austen. But, despite the title of Laura Piani’s fresh romantic comedy “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” the heroine of this story isn’t totally at the mercy of the beloved Regency-era author’s work.

Her problems might be classic, and very much like the kind pulled out of “Emma” or “Pride and Prejudice,” but Piani doesn’t push too hard to make Agathe’s (Camille Rutherford) experiences fit firmly inside an Austenian plot, and the result is less outright homage than sprightly companion. That doesn’t stop Agathe from announcing early on that she’s “not living in the right century!”

Though, given what this century has thrown at her, we can hardly argue with such a statement. In Piani’s film,...

With the 20th anniversary re-release of Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice adaptation, Jane Austen is having a moment back in the mainstream. That moment is set to continue with the French romantic comedy Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, a film that — despite having very little to do with Austen’s actual literature — feels like the type of film that will absolutely delight fans of the iconic author.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life Review

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life follows an aspiring writer who, dealing with troubles in her love life in Paris, takes refuge in a writer’s residency in England run by the Jane Austen estate, only for her own romantic exploits to begin to mirror those of the residency’s namesake’s creations. It’s not the first time that there’s been a film with this sort of premise (The Jane Austen Book Club springs to...

A diet of romantic literature is a recipe for disappointment in real life, argues French director Laura Piani with “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” about an aspiring writer who’s convinced she was born in the wrong century, if only because she still believes in things like soulmates and courtship. Part homage, part referendum on all those love stories that make it look easy, Piani’s just-jaded-enough alternative fills the regrettable gap left by such feel-good classics as “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and the Austen-inspired “Bridget Jones’s Diary.” Sony Pictures Classics plans a limited release for May 23, going wide a week later.

At a time when practically the entire rom-com genre has gravitated to streaming, this bilingual theatrical offering from Sony Pictures Classics feels like the best kind of throwback. Presented as a lighthearted farce, complete with characters stepping (naked) through the wrong doors and a tense cross-country ride,...

Sony Pictures Classics has unveiled a new theatrical release date for Jane Austen Wrecked My Life.

French writer-director Laura Piani’s romantic comedy will now arrive in select theaters on May 23, 2025. The romantic comedy that bowed at the Toronto Film Festival last year will then go wider nationwide a week later on May 30.

Piani’s feature-length debut had originally been scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 16, where it would have gone head-to-head with the release that weekend of Lionsgate’s Hurry Up Tomorrow starring The Weeknd and Jenna Ortega and New Line’s Final Destination: Bloodlines, the latest chapter in the popular horror franchise.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life centers on an aspiring author named Agathe, played by Camille Rutherford of Anatomy of a Fall, who finds herself in romantic entanglements straight from the pages of Jane Austen novels. Agathe who works in the legendary Shakespeare & Co. bookshop in Paris and,...

Sony Pictures Classics has pushed back the US release of TIFF 2024 premiere Jane Austen Wrecked My Life by one week to May 23, with nationwide expansion scheduled for May 30.

Laura Piani’s French-language romantic comedy feature starring Camille Rutherford from Anatomy Of A Fall opened in France in January through Paname Distributionand has grossed more than $750,000, drawing more than 100,000 admissions.

Icon Film Distribution will distribute in the UK.

Pablo Pauly, Charlie Anson and Annabelle Lengronne round out the key cast on the story of a Paris bookseller who dreams of being a successful writer and gets caught up in a romantic...

Gold Derby's top news stories for March 6, 2025.

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"I'm very, very good at screwing up." Sony Pictures Classics has revealed an official US trailer for an indie film titled Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, a fun romantic comedy from France also titled Jane Austen a gâché ma vie. This first premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival last fall, and just played at the 2025 Santa Barbara Film Festival, and already opened in France in February. Arriving in US theaters this May. A desperately single bookseller, lost in a fantasy world, finds herself forced to fulfil her dreams of becoming a writer in order to stop messing up her love life. The film follows Agathe, a hopelessly clumsy yet charming young woman who works in the legendary Shakespeare & Co. bookshop in Paris. She dreams of being writer but also having a romantic relationship like those in Jane Austen's books. Will she be able to pull off both? The charming indie stars Camille Rutherford,...

Icon Film Distribution has acquired UK-Ireland rights to French director Laura Piani’s romantic comedy Jane Austen Wrecked My Life from The Bureau Sales.

The English and French-language film set between Paris and the UK stars Anatomy Of A Fall’s Camille Rutherford as an aspiring French writer at the Jane Austen Writers’ Residency in England where life and literature collide as she attempts to finish her novel and get her sentimental life back on track.

Already scooped by Sony Pictures Classics in Toronto for a North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and worldwide airlines, the film...

The 2025 Santa Barbara International Film Festival has announced the lineup for its 40th anniversary event, with 52 percent of the films directed by women. The 12-day extravaganza will raise funds for Los Angeles wildfire relief to help the community that has been devastated by the deadly infernos.

Sbiff will run from Feb. 4 to Feb. 15 — that’s one day longer than usual in honor of its four-decade mark. The festival will showcase movies from 60 different countries, including 33 world premieres and 74 United States premieres, and a majority come from female directors. In addition, there will be tributes to talented artisans, panel discussions, and free community education and outreach programs.

“As the tragic events in our sister city of Los Angeles were unfolding, we debated about moving forward with Sbiff,” said Roger Durling, Sbiff executive director. “Film has always been a conduit for comfort and renewal, and film festivals play a vital role in fostering a sense of connection.

Laura Piani, the director of Jane Austen’s Wrecked My Life, takes us into a world where the echoes of literary history meet the harsh realities of modern life. The film is set in the beautiful Parisian bookstore Shakespeare & Co., where we meet Agathe, a bookseller in her 30s caught in the web of her romantic dreams and writing goals.

Piani tries to make a tapestry that pays homage to Austen while also dealing with the existential absurdities of modern love with a narrative that jumps between silly comedy and serious introspection.

Agathe’s quest is not just a search for a romantic partner but also a deeper search for self amidst the clamor of social expectations. In the middle of England, at a writer’s residency with a lot of Austen history, the main character faces the gap between her idealized ideas of love and the unsettling facts of her single life.

Exclusive: UTA has inked French writer-director Laura Piani for representation following her debut feature, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life (Jane Austen a Gâché Ma Vie), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life follows an aspiring author, Agathe, whose love life begins to mirror the entanglements of Jane Austen’s novels. The film stars Camille Rutherford, Pablo Pauly, Charlie Anson, and Annabelle Lengronne. Jane Austen Wrecked My Life offers a breezy yet insightful exploration of love, heartbreak, and the tendency to live as a supporting character in one’s own life. Sony Pictures Classics picked up the title for distribution across North America, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe ahead of its premiere at TIFF.

Before embarking on a career as a writer in film and television, Piani pursued screenwriting studies at the Conservatoire Européen d’Écriture Audiovisuelle while working as a bookseller at the iconic Shakespeare & Co.

The Marrakech Film Festival unveiled its 2024 lineup on Thursday and set that Luca Guadagnino would replace Thomas Vinterberg as its jury president. The other jury members will be Andrew Garfield, Jacob Elordi, Virginie Efira, and Ali Abbasi. Vinterberg “had to excuse himself for family reasons,” festival organizers said.

The Marrakech fest on Thursday also unveiled the lineup for its competition, 11th Continent, and Moroccan Panorama sections, as well as gala and special screenings. In the competition, 14 films will compete for the Étoile d’Or, or Golden Star.

The 21st edition of the fest in Morocco will also honor Sean Penn, David Cronenberg and, posthumously, pay homage to Moroccan star Naïma Elmcherqui. The Marrakech fest takes place Nov. 29-Dec. 7.

Check out the full lineup for the 2024 edition below.

Competition

Across The Sea (LA Mer Au Loin)

by Saïd Hamich Benlarbi / France, Morocco, Belgium

with Ayoub Gretaa, Anna Mouglalis, Grégoire Colin, Omar Boulakirba,...

The Bureau Sales has closed multiple sales on French romantic comedy and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Centrepiece selection Jane Austen Wrecked My Life .

Sony Pictures Classics swooped on North America and select territories earlier in the festival.

Writer/director Laura Piani’s debut feature has sold to Australia and New Zealand (Hi Gloss Entertainment), Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Splendid Film), Scandinavia (Scanbox), Spain (La Aventura Cine), Greece (Cinobo), Benelux (Vertigo Films Distribution) and Cis (Provzglyad).

Sony Pictures Classics acquired rights last week for North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and worldwide airlines on the modern riff...

“Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” a bookish romantic comedy from first-time French director Laura Piani, sold to Sony Pictures Classics ahead of its Sept. 9 world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the distributor announced Tuesday.

Sony Pictures Classics acquired all rights to the indie feature in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and worldwide airlines.

“We are thrilled to see this film entrusted to Sony Pictures Classics, a studio with a rich history of bringing Jane Austen’s world to life on screen,” The Bureau Sales, who negotiated the deal with SPC, said in a statement. “Their extensive experience with such stories ensures that Laura Piani’s debut will be handled with the utmost care and expertise. We look forward to the film’s journey and are confident that it will be a worthy addition to SPC’s distinguished legacy.”

“I am incredibly excited to partner...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North America and multiple territories on imminent Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) world premiere Jane Austen Wrecked My Life

Laura Piani’s Centrepiece selection premieres on Monday after Friday’s press and industry screening and has also gone to Sony Pictures Classics in Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and worldwide airlines.

Camille Rutherford from Anatomy Of A Fall stars alongside Pablo Pauly, Charlie Anson and Annabelle Lengronne as a hopelessly clumsy yet charming single woman working at a bookstore in Paris who gets invited to the Jane Austen Writers’ Residency in England.

Gabrielle Dumon served as producer.

Sony Pictures Classics has swooped in to acquire key world rights to Laura Piani’s debut feature Jane Austen Wrecked My Life ahead of a Sept. 9 world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

The U.S. specialty distributor will release the romantic comedy from France in North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, about an aspiring author, Agathe, who finds herself in romantic entanglements straight from the pages of Jane Austen novels, stars Camille Rutherford, Pablo Pauly, Charlie Anson and Annabelle Lengronne.

“We are thrilled to see this film entrusted to Sony Pictures Classics, a studio with a rich history of bringing Jane Austen’s world to life on screen. Their extensive experience with such stories ensures that Laura Piani’s debut will be handled with the utmost care and expertise. We look forward to the film’s journey and are confident...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired rights to “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” ahead of its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The studio will distribute the film in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and on worldwide airlines.

Laura Piani wrote and directed “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life,” which stars Camille Rutherford (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Pablo Pauly (“Three Nights a Week”), Charlie Anson (“Downton Abbey”) and Annabelle Lengronne (“Mother and Son”). The film is about Agathe, a desperately single woman who dreams of experiencing love akin to those in novels like ‘Persuasion,” “Sense and Sensibility” and “Pride and Prejudice.” She dreams of becoming a writer but instead spends her days selling books at Shakespeare & Company in Paris. After she’s invited to the Jane Austen Writers’ Residency in England, she confronts her insecurities to finally fulfill her ambition of becoming a novelist and...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all rights to Laura Piani’s Jane Austen Wrecked My Life ahead of the pic’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

SPC took rights in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe as well as worldwide airlines. The movie will debut at TIFF on Monday, September 9.

In the film, written by Piani, Agathe (Camille Rutherford), hopelessly clumsy yet charming and full of contradictions, finds herself in desperate singlehood. Her dream is to experience love akin to a Jane Austen novel and her ultimate aspiration is to become a writer. Instead, she spends her days selling books in the legendary bookshop Shakespeare & Company in Paris. Invited to the Jane Austen Writers’ Residency in England, she must confront her insecurities to finally fulfill her ambition of becoming a novelist and put an end to wasting her sentimental life.

Pic also stars...

Photo: Matt Holyoak exclusively for EmpireSince handing back the keys to the Tardis (though he’ll be on our screens until he regenerates into Peter Capaldi this Christmas), soon to be ex-Doctor Who star Matt Smith has been striking out in very different directions. He’ll be a strange character in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut How To Catch A Monster and is now set to step into Christian Bale’s fashionable loafers for an American Psycho musical.The Almeida Theatre in London's West End is working up the musical, with Rupert Gould directing a book written by Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark’s Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and lyrics from Glee’s Duncan Sheik.Like the Bret Easton Ellis book and, more likely Mary Harron’s 2000 film adaptation, the musical will follow the murderous mayhem of New York investment banker Patrick Bateman as he chops up rivals, prostitutes and anyone who gets in his way.

Soon to depart "Doctor Who" star Matt Smith is about to tackle a distinctly different character - Patrick Bateman.

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