Persuasion<\/a>, there\u2019s been a certain degree of backlash amongst fans. Austen\u2019s final novel, the complaints went, was one of her most beautiful and melancholic works \u2013 and by adapting it as a Fleabag-esque comedy full of modern-day parlance and cheeky glances to camera, the text is stripped of much of its nuance and complexity.<\/p>\nFollowing the negative response, director Carrie Cracknell urged fans to wait for her film\u2019s release such that they could give it a proper chance. But my suspicion is that few will be won over by the final product when it arrives on the streamer next week: this is an awkward and rather lifeless adaptation that\u2019s almost completely devoid of genuine emotional intensity.<\/p>\n
The broad strokes of the story will be familiar to many: eight years ago, Anne Elliott (Dakota Johnson) called off her affair with young naval officer Frederick Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis) at the behest of her family, owing to his inferior social status. Anne has spent much of the intervening time pining for her lost love, and so when he unexpectedly emerges back into her life \u2013 still single, and now rich and successful \u2013 she\u2019s rather thrown by the possibility of rekindling their romance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n