People who like movies and books have both enjoyed Pride & Prejudice movies over the years, and many people have loved the book for even longer. Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first in 1813. It has been adapted for film many times, most notably in 1995 and 2005. And as their overbearing mother keeps reminding them, a woman’s greatest chance at a comfortable existence at the time was through an advantageous marriage.
Our heroine Elizabeth Bennett reminds us, “It is a reality commonly accepted that a single man in possession of a decent fortune must be in want of a marriage.” Pride & Prejudice is sometimes misunderstood as a romance while in fact, it is a work of satire because of its examination of such universal topics as love, marriage, and social class, on which Austen offers insightful criticism that continues to be appreciated today.
Fire Island on Hulu and Persuasion on Netflix, both of which were inspired by Jane Austen’s novels, are two fantastic examples of contemporary retellings that can be turned to when in need of a Jane Austen fix. The narrative of a group of LGBT friends spending their summer vacation on New York’s famous Fire Island, Fire Island embodies all the subdued sexual tension of Joe Wright’s 2005 Pride & Prejudice interpretation.
Persuasion is a more traditional retelling, remaining largely faithful to the universe Austen created. This film presents a new interpretation of Anne Elliot, one of Austen’s most recognizable protagonists. Check out our selection of 15 similar movies if you enjoyed Pride & Prejudice and want to see more like it.
1. Love & Friendship
Just in case you can’t get enough of Jane Austen, this film is based on her novella Lady Susan. The film follows Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale), who relocates to her in-laws’ estate in the hopes of finding a suitable suitor for her daughter (Chloe Sevigny), as she tries to find the right guy for her.
Whit Stillman, who adapted the novella, has indicated that he envisioned Beckinsale in the role of Susan even though she was too young at the time. According to Indie Wire, he said, “One of the perks of not having finance and struggling for financing is that you have an extremely long casting process,” which allowed him to take his time and get fantastic results. One of Becksinsale’s best roles, according to the publication, and it has a fantastic tale.
2. Emma
It’s hard to find a more attractive, intelligent, and affluent woman than Emma Woodhouse. She is also really intrusive. Anya Taylor-Joy plays the feisty matchmaker of the Regency era in Emma, which is based on Jane Austen’s classic 1815 novel of the same name.
Emma needs a new buddy after her governess and closest companion leaves to get married. Soon, Emma’s attention is drawn to Harriet Smith (Mia Goth), a young and naive girl whom she plans to bring up through the social ranks. Emma meddles in Harriet’s love life and persuades her to reject the proposal of a local farmer despite the respectable Mr. Knightley’s (Johnny Flynn) best efforts to prevent it.
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A close friend of Emma’s is severely insulted by Emma, much to the dismay of her social circle and Mr. Knightley. Like any good Jane Austen adaptation, Emma teaches us timeless lessons about the intersection of love and social status.
3. Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility, like Pride and Prejudice, is a film adaptation of a classic Jane Austen novel that has been adapted multiple times. Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet play the Dashwood sisters in our favorite film adaptation, with Thompson also serving as producer. Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman also star in Sense and Sensibility as major characters.
The sisters Elinor (Thompson) and Marianne (Winslet) Dashwood are left destitute after the death of their father. The only way for the Dashwood sisters to improve their circumstances now that their older half-brother has inherited the family home, property, and the future is through marriage. Missed connections, unrequited feelings, and a mash-up of social misunderstandings are all present, but in typical Jane Austen fashion, everything works out in the end.
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4. Bridget Jones’s Diary
This 2001 romantic comedy from filmmaker Sharon Maguire is both deserving of the Austen association and more than wonderful enough to stand on its own. The book it was adapted from is a modern version of Pride and Prejudice. Bridget Jones, played by Renée Zellweger, is a 32-year-old woman who, at the beginning of the new year, resolves to alter her relationship with eating, dating, and smoking, and to document her progress in a diary.
Her aspirations may be derailed, however, by her attraction to her smarmy boss, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), and her mixed feelings toward a childhood friend, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth).
It’s no surprise that Zellweger was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as the charismatic and engaging Bridget. Both Grant and Firth are excellent in their respective parts as Bridget’s drastically dissimilar romantic interests, allow the story to come full circle. Film4 describes it as “a joyfully frothy romantic comedy that benefits from clever writing, vibrant acting, and poignant characterization.” The success of Bridget Jones’s Diary demonstrates that the ideas and topics explored in Austen’s 19th-century classic remain relevant today.
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5. Becoming Jane
No one would blame you for wondering who the lady was who penned Pride and Prejudice. In the 2007 romantic drama, “Becoming Jane,” directed by Julian Jarrold, fans of the author can learn more about her private life. The film is a fascinating and intriguing look at what Austen’s life might have been like behind the scenes, despite the obvious liberties it makes with the facts.
Anne Hathaway plays a teenage Jane Austen in this film which was written by Kevin Hood and Sarah Williams from the novel Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Hunter Spence. Jane’s parents want to marry her off to Mr. Wisley (Laurence Fox), the affluent nephew of Lady Gresham, while she’s just 20 years old (Maggie Smith). Jane turns down Mr. Wisley because she thinks marrying him will stifle her imagination. Instead, she develops feelings for Tom Lefroy, a disreputable lawyer (James McAvoy).
Becoming Jane succeeds in humanizing the famous author by showing her as a multifaceted human being, despite being rife with supposition. “The truth of love’s disappointments enhances the film’s heroine, who never married in real life,” says Premiere Magazine. “This film puts a character from the past, nearly two centuries old, into live focus.”
6. Austenland
This film is perfect for those who wish to see the Pride and Prejudice canon expanded in a way that is both wacky and ludicrous. It follows Keri Russell’s character, a young woman in her twenties whose unhealthy fixation on the Colin Firth-starring Pride & Prejudice adaptation from the BBC is causing her serious problems. As such, she packs her bags and travels to the Pride and Prejudice-themed amusement park of Austenland, where visitors can pay to dress as their favorite characters from the Jane Austen novels and hopefully meet their own, Mr. Darcy. Even though Roger Ebert loathed it, genuine fans of cheesy rom-coms will want to record it and watch it again and again.
7. Bright Star
If you’re in the mood for a romantic tale, keep reading! John Keats and Fanny Brawne had a passionate three-year relationship that this video chronicles. This fictional play about Keats’s life is as poetic as the man himself. The action of story takes place in Hampstead in the year 1818. This is a narrative about love, grief, and the effort and trusts in one another that are necessary for a relationship to endure.
8. Belle
Dido Elizabeth Belle, a mixed-race woman born in 18th-century England, is reared in luxury by her aristocratic great-uncle and his wife, but she is never given the respect she deserves because of her appearance. The young idealist lawyer Dido falls in love with wants to bring about change in the world, but this puts her in an impossible position. It’s based on actual events.
9. Anna Karenina
Pride and Prejudice, released in 2005, benefits from having Keira Knightley in the starring role. Apart from Pride and Prejudice, her performance as the title character in Anna Karenina from 2012 is a shining illustration of her talent in historical pieces. Joe Wright, a filmmaker at the height of his craft, helms both pictures.
Set in Russia in 1874 and adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s novel of the same name published the following year, the story follows Anna Karenin, the wife of the imperial minister Alexei Karenin (Jude Law). Anna’s marriage to her cheating, much-older spouse is causing her unhappiness. Her affair with Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a cavalry officer, causes a stir in her social circle.
Knightley pulls out all of Anna’s intricacies, just as she does with Elizabeth Bennet. This only adds to her allure and makes her untimely end that much more tragic. Maclean’s Magazine said of Knightley’s portrayal, “A luminous Keira Knightley conveys more depth to Tolstoy’s heroine than you would ever believe.” As an added bonus, Wright matches the novel’s grandiose scope. Behind the Lens describes it as “enthralling,” “moving,” and “exhilarating,” calling it one of the best Tolstoy adaptations.
10. I Capture the Castle
The book is actually a witty and charming love story, despite having a title that seems like the name of a war novel. Set in 1930s England, the story follows the fortunes (or lack thereof) of a privileged English family living in a decaying castle. Desperate to maintain their wealth and social standing, the family comes up with a plan to do so.
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