Jane Austen Wrecked My Life – A Romcom for the BookTok Crowd
Written by Dr Zoe Crombie.
Romance novels of all kinds, it’s fair to say, are having something of a moment. BookTok influencers and their many acolytes discuss novels to suit all tastes, from risqué ‘dark romance’ offerings to genteel classics, particularly those from Jane Austen and her imitators. As the biggest literary influence on the cinematic romcom (only rivalled by Shakespeare) with films like Bridget Jones’ Diary borrowing explicitly from her oeuvre, it makes perfect sense to finally have a film that addresses the impact of her work on the psyches of avid readers.
In a landscape filled with renewed interest in romantic literature, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, a film about the havoc an excess of fantasy can wreak on reality, feels particularly timely. This bilingual French romcom, starring Camille Rutherford as a lovesick bookseller and writer who attends a Jane Austen writing residency, captures this tension well, finding humour (as so many in the genre do) in the disconnect between romantic daydreams and real-world dalliances. Taking place between the cosy French bookshop and a gorgeous British retreat, with period dress up opportunities aplenty for our main characters, the film also indulges in the trappings of Austen texts and modern romance novels alike.
A sweet throwback to golden age romcoms like You’ve Got Mail and Four Weddings and a Funeral, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life delivers on the lament of its quirky title.
20th-26th June
