This is going to contain spoilers, so if you haven't read the book, or watched the movie and you don't want spoilers, go do that first.
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| Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth at the beginning of Netflix's 2022 Persuasion |
This Persuasion (2022) starring Dakota Johnson and Cosmo Jarvis, is visually beautiful. The scenes of sweeping cliffside romance, the seaside and the melancholy. The classical music lilting you along on the journey as you watch the women walk towards the Great House in Uppercross beneath umbrellas with lanterns through the rain. It's stunning, it's perfection and then it's jarringly modern and comical with acts that aren't funny. It's trying to be two different movies, one that takes itself seriously and loves the romance and drama of Austen's novel set in the Regency era we've all come to know and love through her works, and the other poking fun at the strictures and restraints of life in that age while making Anne a modern 30 something who is drunk, rude and unhappy. It is constantly undercutting itself in both regards. It's a true shame.
Austen is well aware of the unfortunate rules of her society and discusses in a nuanced way what a difficult life it is for women who often have to take into consideration financial security when they consider marriage. She sketches out all the ways that this can be injurious to a person and the different ways you can go about making good and bad choices for yourself about marriage. I do not need a modern attitude fitting for 2022 saying "an unmarried woman is not a problem to be solved". First of all, don't lecture me about it, show me in the story. Stop telling me what to think. Second, in this era, an unmarried woman is actually a problem to solve. Anne has two options for leaving her family as she tells us in the beginning, marriage or death. And she wants to be married, very specifically to Frederick.
Yet, this movie keeps going on about why should women want to marry. There is no discussion of the hard choices necessary for women at that time. In fact, in the book, we watch all these different types of marriages play out and we watch how it can be equally bad to marry just for financial stability as it is to marry someone for love who leaves you penniless and widowed. The point is that you need to take all of the different factors into consideration to make the best choice for yourself.
I personally would prefer you never lecture me on how you want me to think, but rather sketch out circumstances that make me agree with your line of thinking. But if you must lecture me on 2022 values, for heaven's sake, do it in a modern retelling of Persuasion.
And it was a beautiful scene until they ruined it with more modern dialogue.
The kind of disappointment that this movie was can be adequately explained by simply watching the first two minutes of the movie. It opened with such a beautiful scene, Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth as young lovers on the cliffside obviously enamored of each other as she tells you she was once persuaded to give him up and we watch a single tear streak down his face. It's gorgeous and it had my hopes up that this would be a truly beautiful movie. And then it disappointed me because the next sentence was, and I quote "Now, I'm single and thriving; I spend my time drinking fine wines, enjoying warm baths, and lying face down on my bed. Like I said, thriving." This movie has gotten a lot of flack for being too modern. I have to agree to an extent. If you want to modernize Persuasion then do a modern retelling. If you want it set in the Regency era, do us a favor and don't make Anne Elliot a rude, drunk person who discusses exes and nearly pees on screen. I do not watch period dramas to watch people pee in the woods in their long skirts, or to watch sisters discuss "self-care," or have the man you're pining after go from being an "ex" to being a friend and all the horror of that. I watch period dramas for the romanticism captured so beautifully in the opening scene, for the longing, for the painfully adhered to propriety and the knowledge that by staying true to your morals you'll have a happy ending at the end of the story in the most romantic and beautiful of English settings.
If you want Anne Elliot to talk about being "single and thriving" in a facetious way and have it actually be funny, then I implore you to make it a modern retelling of the story. This adaptation flickered from beautiful to modern in the most odd ways and it failed to be romantic because it was jarringly modern and it failed to be funny because it was weirdly regency/romantic. It was neither thing and the audience felt the push and pull of both these mismatched tones throughout the whole movie. Just when you'd think ok, it's just a quirky and fun adaptation of Persuasion, it's kind of funny, just roll with it, it would become sweeping and romantic and regency again. Just when you were about to lose yourself in the drama of manners it would spring modern bullshit on you. It kept clashing with itself and it was an unfortunate state of affairs. Either movie could have been great. I would have been happy to watch both. But both tones constantly clashing with each other did not leave a satisfactory result.
As it was this weirdly spiced-up version of Persuasion with its new, modern Anne was awful. This Anne is modern and feisty. This Anne says what she thinks and does what she wants, propriety be damned. This Anne would never have given up Frederick if she really loved him. This Anne announces to whole dinner parties that Charles Musgrove used to want to marry her first. Why would this Anne have ever let anyone persuade her what to do? It makes no sense. The book character was persuaded into a lot of things she didn't really want to do, out of a lot of things that made her happy, and only learned how to stand up for herself at the end. That's what makes her story so compelling, that she grows after all those years of longing and pining, she finally has a second chance to stand up for herself and go after what will really make her happy. She isn't drunk, rude, or improper, she just learns how to say no to things that won't make her happy and finally gets what she wants. This new Anne didn't grow, she just was improper throughout. That being said, there were many things I did like about this version.
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| The Elliot family in Netflix's Persuasion 2022 |
Ok we've already talked about the opening scene. So, let's go a bit chronologically for a moment. I like the way we meet her father looking into the mirror surrounded by his many portraits of himself. Likewise we concisely meet Elizabeth proud of herself and her father dismissive and cruel towards Anne. I enjoy that we find out her family is broke when the creditors barge into the home and literally take cakes out of Elizabeth's hands. It's a bit odd in tone, but I found it amusing.
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| Lady Russell in Netflix's Persuasion 2022 |
Now we meet Lady Russell. And honestly she doesn't need to be in this version of Persuasion at all. We could've put the blame on the Persuasion not to marry Frederick on her family. The opening scene concisely sets up for us that Anne has given up Frederick with no mention or need of Lady Russell. She persuades Anne of nothing else later so she's truly unnecessary. Anne decides on her own to be slightly distrustful of Mr. Elliot and also persuades herself to be slightly into him without Lady Russell's encouragement. Lady Russell is strikingly blunt in all of her scenes with Anne's family in a way that would've been improper, she makes loud pronouncements about what they must do, she makes faces at their behavior across the table at Anne. And she accomplishes nothing in later scenes. Later Lady Russell is the source of Anne believing that Frederick is engaged to Louisa and it would've been the easiest thing to have that misinformation come from Mary.
It seems Lady's Russel's purpose is to be improper. To be loud, and a bit forward and abrasive and to discuss having affairs while traveling in foreign countries, all of which I could've done without. Especially since we discuss our foreign affairs right after Louisa falls and we're supposed to be concerned she'll never recover, not be laughing about travelling to have affairs. Since we do have Lady Russell in this movie, it would have been nice if she'd had more point, perhaps persuaded Anne of more things or into considering Mr. Elliot or mentioned even once that she'd persuaded Anne not to marry Charles Musgrove perhaps.
The only thing I do like is that Lady Russell's presence allows Anne to tell us in conversation that she's still not over Frederick because aside from her mother and Lady Russel, Frederick Wentworth is the only person who ever really saw her, understood her and loved her. I do like that detail. And I don't mind that Lady Russell tells her she was wrong then, but needs to move on now. But other than that, she really isn't given enough to do in this movie's plot. And honestly since we have Anne constantly talking to camera we could have had her tell us directly. My preference would have been that she tell her rabbit, whom she also converses with, but I didn't get much say in the direction of this movie.
I appreciate that Anne understands why Frederick wouldn't write to her after he's made a bit of money a few years after they broken engagement, saying that "he respects himself too much to beg. He didn't fight for me because he could never value a love that wasn't offered freely." And I rather love the thought that she has followed his career through newspapers and news of the navy. But I hate that she talks to camera to tell you about it. She continues talking to camera throughout the movie and it's obnoxious.
The modern phrasing feels out of place and obnoxious, especially when it comes immediately after direct quotes from Austen, such as, "We were not all born to be handsome" followed by "it is often said if you're a 5 in London, you're a 10 in Bath." What rubbish! It doesn't feel funny, it just feels out of place and irritating.
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| It seems I'm not the only one who thinks this dialogue doesn't fit the movie. |
Their clothes aren't really appropriate. Wearing modern looking button-downs, ruched sleeves on Anne on her fancy dresses, coats that are drop waisted not high waisted. Gem colors instead of the pale pastel gowns that were fashionable in upper society in the Regency era. I do appreciate that they wear their clothing more than once since that would've been realistic, but I wished the cut of the clothing on Anne was a little bit more Regency and a little less 1910 in places. Is it the end of the world that the clothes aren't right? No. But they are right often enough that it's distracting to me when they get them wrong. Again, they could've placed this in any era and not been confined by the Regency setting. I don't know why they chose it if they didn't want to stay within it's language and clothing.
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| What era does this outfit belong to? Not the Regency era. |
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| Anne wearing black to meet her rich cousins the Dalrymple's |
For instance they have Anne wear black to meet the Dalrymple's. You don't wear black unless you're in mourning. It's ridiculous. It's distracting. And then she tells this odd story about a nightmare about a giant octopus. It's painfully awkward. Then Mr. Elliot saves it a bit. And this is how she decides that maybe she's charmed by him, is that he's not the worst company of all time. This smacks of desperation. I can't stand it.
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| Anne wearing all black to meet her cousins. |
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| Mr. Elliot wearing black because he IS in mourning. |
I love that Anne speculates about what Frederick might think about seeing her again on the journey to Uppercross. Is he still angry with me? What if he's been pining for me day and night all these years? I also love that Anne travels with a rabbit companion on the way to Uppercross and indeed throughout the movie. I love that it's never mentioned and that she never discusses it or explains it to you, but that she's often holding it for comfort. I prefer her talking to it than to camera as well.
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| Anne and her rabbit companion in Netflix's 2022 Persuasion |
I enjoy that she knows exactly what Mary will say in order and is completely right. I think in a more modern retelling of Persuasion this version of Mary would be delightfully funny to hate. Even though this still feels modern I love her complaining about the flowers "my in-laws sent me that lovely bouquet, isn't that sweet, they'll only rot of course and then I'll feel even worse than if they hadn't sent anything at all. How unkind is it to remind a dying person of decay?" I love how melodramatic that particular line is. I actually laughed at this. As well as "I'm so close to death I can feel my organs decomposing."
Mary comes the closest to pulling off the modern thing. It suits her character best to rail on men and other subjects more modern like being an empath and that's why she can't tolerate sitting with her children when they're ill. It's much closer to being funny without being jarring because it's in line with who she is as a character. But I hate when she goes on about self-care and gratitude. I want to escape this century's nonsense not hear more of it in a faux regency setting.
Charles Musgrove is much more patient with Mary and I like seeing that in him in this version. He carries her when she's tired and tries to remind her to be more grateful. It's cute actually.
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| Mary and Charles Musgrove from Netflix's 2022 Persuasion |
Louisa is much more likeable in this movie, which makes it harder to watch her be stupid and nearly die, and also harder to forgive Frederick for leading her on when he only wanted to make Anne jealous. It does seem an odd choice to have Louisa try to persuade Anne to take Frederick and then come to Anne later and ask permission to have him for herself. It doesn't seem to jive with the sweet-hearted character they've created Louisa to be in this version. She also doesn't seem like the impetuous person who would jump off a large wall unadvisedly in this version, so her jump comes out of nowhere.
I absolutely hate that Anne is often drunk. That she shouts at Frederick from across the way through the open window in her underwear and then hides and drops a whole gravy boat on her head in her drunken state. I hate that she is drunk at the dinner when she finally spends the evening at the Great House in Uppercross and that she rudely announces to the whole table that Charles first wanted to marry her. It's so tacky. It never would've happened with her character even in a modern setting, but in this setting, it's outrageously improper and it makes me like her less. Combined with the fact that she refuses to sit next to Frederick you can see why he's visibly hurt by her behavior. So it actually makes sense that he'd tell the whole table defensively that he's ready to marry anyone who is kind to him. Is it still horrible? Yes, but you can't blame him in this version.
You feel Frederick is justified in being angry and hating Anne a little at this point. So you have no problem with him paying such attention to Louisa who is sweet and kind and lovely. In fact, I think we can actually see Frederick being in love with Louisa and not Anne in this version. Louisa is everything proper, sweet, kind and attentive, unlike Anne in this version. I still feel sorry that she has to play piano and watch Frederick dance with the lovely Louisa in such an attentive and romantic fashion. But you also feel she deserves it a little after being so unutterably rude.
I do find it amusing that Anne meets Frederick again for the first time in 8 years with jam on her face and a bread basket on her head talking about how handsome Frederick the sailor is. It's cute, and funny with the children being so entertained even if it's inappropriate. It's charming so I give this one a pass.
This shows that Anne drinks too much, is inappropriate and rude, but really very much drunk too often.
I love the scene where she's playing Marie Antionette in the woods with the bluebells and that when the kids get too agressive with beating "the bad Queen" with sticks, Frederick saves her. And she's so unjustified in asking him not to be angry. Which is why I like him the better for saying "what would you want me to be?" and when she has no answer, just walking away. I hate that she uses the word "ex" about Frederick. It's so painfully bland and insulting almost as a way to describe someone you're still so desperately in love with.
All the scenes with the children are completely adorable, the way she plays with them and they laugh with her. I love that she plays Marie Antionette with them. I love that she plays Captain Wentworth right before she meets him. I love that she asks the little boy James to hug her so tightly she can't feel her body anymore. It's a touching and beautiful way to talk about how sad she feels without telling the camera for once.
As much as I loved the scenes with the children I'm equally appalled by the fact that they have Anne wander off into the woods where we watch her get ready to pee and that's how we have her overhear Frederick and Louisa talk about Anne being proud and too easily persuadable. I do not watch period dramas to remember that people need to pee. I hate this as an addition to such a nuanced and beautiful story about when it is and is not appropriate to be persuaded into and out of things and when it is and isn't a good idea to marry.
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| I'm so appalled that they included this, I honestly don't even know what else to say. |
The Universe has a plan, though, we are told. Apparently the plan is for the Universe to annoy us throughout this entire film with ridiculous anachronisms. It feels like they tried to add the humour and style of Bridgerton to this simply because it was popular and well received, not because it would suit this film. As far as other influences on this movie, it feel obvious that the 2007 Persuasion was a large influence. We have Harville recognize the name of Anne Elliot and we see more of Frederick's feelings, like we do in the 2007 version. The ending with her reading the letter and running after Frederick also seems inspired heavily by the 2007 version.
I always appreciate seeing a bit more of Frederick's feelings. So I appreciate seeing Captain Harville instantly recognize her and knowing that he's been privy to many conversations about Anne and how much Frederick was in love with her.
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| I appreciate that we see a lot more genuine emotion from Frederick in this Netflix 2022 Persuasion |
I do like when she talks to Benwick about poetry about how it's a tragedy that poetry can only truly be enjoyed by those who have suffered true loss and at the same time that it's not safe for them to read so much poetry. They have to remember that they are young and must rally and move on somehow. I like the honesty in this exchange.
Mr. Elliot is smug, arrogant, openly not a gentleman, and yet Anne is more smitten with him in this version. Elliot tells Anne he doesn't want to lose his title to a new son through Mrs. Clay. It's a ridiculous thing to admit to her.
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| Mr. Elliot is charming only in a very arrogant way |
I love the scene on the beach where Anne and Frederick finally talk. He tells her "I've lived with a thousand different imagined versions of you over the years, some to rail against, some to cherish." He tells her there's no-one quite like you. He basically tells her he wants her in his life no matter what form that takes and he feels he can only have friends. He admits that his resentment had created a prison. It's clear he wants more and she takes it as he only wants to be friends. I love that he tells her he always thought what would Anne do here because she's calm and focused and thoughtful and smart and good in emergencies.
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| Honestly this was so disappointing |
After the accident I love that Frederick admits he knew Louisa was infatuated and he did nothing to discourage her and that he believes he led her to believe he was a person who would catch her. It makes more sense that he would feel responsible for her behavior since he seems to have led her on more in this version and she seems less wild and willful in general.
When she finally is told that Frederick is engaged we get this scene of her crying in the bath, telling us, "I've always imagined myself confronting this moment with grace. I would astonish myself and others with my quiet dignity, my ability to endure. Statues would be erected in my name. In memory of Anne Elliot who suffered cosmic loss yet really held it together quite impressively." But the sad part is that the Anne Elliot from Austen's Persuasion really did and we loved her for it and this Anne does not confront it with grace or quiet dignity. She is loud and drunk and rude and talks to camera throughout it all. We almost don't feel sorry for her, because her own rude behavior has driven Frederick away. In the book, and in every other adaptation I've seen Anne does face all of this hardship with quiet grace and dignity. In this version she's a drunk and it's really sad.
Whereas in other versions we know very much how Anne feels and Frederick is more of a mystery, I love that in this version we see Frederick's feelings much more clearly. We see him hurt, and angry and pining after her, almost but always not quite able to say he still loves her.
But really does Anne need to believe that Frederick is engaged? Don't they have enough obstacles? The 8 years of estrangement, the not knowing that each other is still in love with the other, the family still not respecting Frederick, his resentment and hurt over the past, her distraction with Mr. Elliot? Do they really need her to believe that he is engaged while he thinks she's engaged? It's really too much.
But I do like the ending though. I like that Captain Harville lets her know that Benwick and Louisa are engaged. I love that she reads Frederick's letter, since it's such a lovely letter, and that she runs to find him (and it doesn't take her five minutes to get there, sorry 2007). "I have thought many times about how to tell you this, but the pain of love unrequited rendered me silent. Tell me not that I am too late. My love for you has never faltered." The way they embrace is so lovely. With relief and disbelief and happiness and the way you feel when you finally come home after such a long absence. The song at the end is hauntingly beautiful and lovely. And I adore the last scene of Frederick and Anne on the cliff, reunited at last.
All in all, this movie could have been two separate and good movies, a modern comedy version of Persuasion that I would've enjoyed and the sweeping romantic version of Persuasion that this movie flickers in and out of throughout. Either version would've been better than the mismatched tone of doing both at once, trying to lecture us on modern morals while bouncing back and forth between being a romantic period drama and a story of a drunk modern heroine. It could have been great and instead it was greatly disappointing.
If you want to see where I rank it amongst the other Persuasion adaptations, or amongst all the Jane Austen adaptations, you can find them below.
And if you still want more...
Detailed Discussions of all the Austen Movie Adaptations
To see my ranking of Every Jane Austen Movie Adaptation, go here.For my discussion/ranking of all the Pride and Prejudice adaptations, you can go here.
For my discussion/ranking of all the Persuasion Adaptations, you can go here.
For my discussion/ranking of all the Emma Adaptations, you can go here.
For my discussion/ranking of all the Sense and Sensibility Adaptations, you can go here.
For my discussion/ranking of all the Mansfield Park Adaptations, you can go here.
For my discussion/ranking of all the Northanger Abbey Adaptations, you can go here.
For my discussion of the Lady Susan Adaptation (Love and Friendship), you can go here.
For my discussion/ranking of all the "Not-Quite-Austen's" you can go here.
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