‘L&F’ Has Award Season Buzz

Whit Stillman’s Love & Friendship had critics talking (with a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score) and now with award season coming up, there is no surprise that it’s being talked about.

Scott Feinberg writes for the Hollywood Reporter that Kate Beckinsale is on Oscar shortlists for her portrayal of Lady Susan in Love & Friendship.

On one end is the first film the now-43-year-old made in America, 1998’s Last Days of Disco, an original story about New York party girls in the ’80s, and on the other is 2016’s Love & Friendship, an adaptation of a little-known Jane Austen novella about a widow constantly scheming for ways to attract rich husbands for herself and her grown daughter in 18th century England. The former put Beckinsale on the map. The latter had its world premiere at Sundance in January, opened theatrically in May, received notices that still are among the year’s best and landed her on many best actress Oscar shortlists. Interestingly, both are comedies of manners written and directed by Whit Stillman, co-starring Chloe Sevigny and centered on Beckinsale playing characters she lovingly calls “difficult women.”