I imagine there’s a number of women out there who might say, “Jane Austen wrecked my life.”
Perhaps they wasted years pining for a Mansfield Park Edmund. Or maybe they were left brokenhearted after getting hoodwinked by a Sense and Sensibility Willoughby. Or maybe they’ve just been longing for a Pride and Prejudice Darcy to show up and declare, “In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
Agathe Robinson isn’t sure which of the Regency-era novelist’s books impacted her love life the most, but she feels a bit like Anne Elliot in Persuasion: an old maid with no romantic prospects.
Worse still, because Agathe is so caught up in her failed romantic endeavors, she’s never achieved her aspiration of becoming a writer, either. Sure, she’s written the beginning of several romantic novels. But she always seems to hit a writer’s block when it comes to finishing them. She keeps hoping for that perfect, Austen-esque ending—both in life and in her stories.
So when she receives an invitation to the Jane Austen Residency, a two-week writers workshop hosted by the author’s descendants, Agathe can hardly believe it.
It’s the perfect opportunity. What better place to complete an Austen-inspired romance novel than on an estate much like the one Austen herself once lived and wrote?
But of course, it’s never quite that simple. Once again, Agathe’s desire for her own happily ever after gets in the way: Just before she sets out, Agathe kisses her best friend, Félix. And once she arrives at the residency, she swiftly falls for Austen’s great-great-great-great nephew, Oliver.
Perhaps Agathe isn’t so much like Anne Elliot as she thought. But will these romantic entanglements inspire her writing or create an even bigger writer’s block?
As the film progresses, we learn that Agathe’s struggle to put words to paper isn’t entirely due to her messy love life. When she was younger, Agathe was involved in a car crash that killed both her parents. Since then, she’s avoided riding in cars. And that means she hasn’t been back to visit her family’s seaside home, the place she first discovered her love of writing.
However, through the encouragement of Félix and her sister, Mona, Agathe overcomes her fear of driving and makes the journey from Paris to the Jane Austen Residency in England. From there, Oliver pushes her even further, eventually helping her realize that she needs to overcome her fear of returning to her old home as well.
Although things sometimes get complicated, it’s clear that Agathe loves her family and friends—and that they love her, too. After their parents died, Agathe and Mona moved in together to support each other through that difficult time and to raise Mona’s new baby.
The writers at the residency sometimes disagree, but they all support and encourage one another throughout the program.
A woman uses an I Ching book (a Chinese manual of divination that uses the concept of yin and yang) to answer questions about Agathe’s future.
We see one couple having sex. There is male and female nudity elsewhere, and we see several women in corsets and petticoats. Agathe accidentally sends a sexually explicit voice message to Félix after kissing him. Oliver says his ex-girlfriend (whom he lived with) cheated on him with men and women. Several couples kiss. People talk about sex quite casually.
Félix and Mona each have multiple sexual partners, which becomes an ongoing joke. Mona’s young son joins in on these jokes, noting that there’s never a “strange man” in Agathe’s bed. (Agathe avoids one-night stands because she is hoping to fall in love before she has sex again.) Elsewhere, Mona and her son watch a nature video about lions mating, which is perhaps inappropriately descriptive for a child that young.
Oliver carries Agathe home after a night of drinking, putting her in her bed. She invites him to have sex, but he declines since she is heavily inebriated.
Agathe is inspired to write the first chapters of her novel after seeing a picture of a naked man at the bottom of her sake cup. She envisions this man (with no clothes) approaching her in the restaurant and embracing her.
Agathe is embarrassed when she walks into someone’s room without clothes after mistaking it for a bathroom. An elderly man, whose family believes is experiencing cognitive changes, wanders around his family’s estate without trousers on a few occasions.
Agathe explains that her parents crashed the car that killed them because her dad had a stroke while driving. Oliver says he was suspended from his job after he damaged property in a violent outburst. Agathe sometimes trips over herself.
A woman on the radio says she feels responsible for her ex’s death, since he took his own life after she cheated on him and left him.
[Note: Most of the profanities listed here are spoken in French with English subtitles, but there are a few spoken in English.]
There are a dozen uses of the f-word and seven uses of the s-word. We also hear “a–,” “d–n,” “h—” and “p-ss.” God’s and Jesus’ names are each abused once. Two different people make rude hand gestures.
People drink, vape and smoke cigarettes throughout the film. A woman undergoing IVF treatments says she won’t drink alcohol, but she does ask for a cigarette. Elsewhere, Agathe begins smoking again to calm her nerves about driving, even though she had struggled to quit the habit before. Félix gives Agathe an unnamed medication to help her sleep. Oliver says he can’t sleep without medication.
Oliver and his mother worry for his dad, an elderly man who is experiencing cognitive changes but who refuses to see a doctor.
A llama spits in Agathe’s face. A woman vomits offscreen on two occasions, once due to nerves and once due to a hangover. Mona shoves Agathe’s face into a bowl of pasta as a joke.
Agathe insults Oliver in French before learning he can speak the language. (She apologizes.) People lie. A writer at the retreat is rude during a discussion, repeatedly interrupting another writer to push her opinion that authors should use their writing to make political statements. (Oliver’s dad pours water on the woman in response, not quite aware that it’s inappropriate to do so.)
So when I first saw the title Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, I immediately thought this would be a film I’d enjoy. I figured it’d be a cute little romcom with lots of jokes about Jane Austen’s novels. But I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t immediately inform potential viewers that this is nothing like a Jane Austen novel.
For starters, the content here has well earned its R-rating. There’s nudity, sex and plenty of f-bombs. So if you were hoping to take your teenage daughter to see this flick, you’ll probably want to hold off.
The story itself isn’t bad. It has moments of genuine sweetness and certainly hits the light romantic-comedy touchpoints. But if Mr. Darcy were reviewing this film, he’d probably have this to say: “In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I abhor and loathe Jane Austen Wrecked My Life.”
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
