Jane Austen Wrecked My Life – A Reel Alternatives Film Screening

1. In her utterly charming debut, writer-director Laura Piani draws from Jane Austen’s works while crafting a wholly contemporary romantic comedy that stands on its own merits.

As a clerk in the legendary British bookshop in Paris, Shakespeare & Co, Agathe (Camille Rutherford) loves her job. But there are faint stirrings of discontentment when she realizes how long she has been surrounded by stories of others’ desires and adventures instead of chasing her own. Perpetually single, she hopes to find a romance like those in the novels of her favourite author, Jane Austen, in which love triangles, ardent admirers, and reckless unrequited crushes abound. Supported by her encouraging — and conspicuously rakish — best friend Felix (Pablo Pauly), Agathe leaves for a Jane Austen writing residency. Upon arrival, she meets a distant relation of the author, the handsome — and haughty — Oliver Lowe (Charlie Anson). Between the writing obligations, realizing that she may miss Felix, and constantly running into the intriguing Mr. Lowe, Agathe’s life has taken a stressful, yet strangely familiar, turn….

France | 2024 | 94m | French (with English subtitles) and English
Director: Laura Piani
Cast & Crew – Camille Rutherford, Pablo Pauly. Charlie Anson, Annabelle Lengronne
Content advisory: Nudity