Film
Becoming Jane
A 2007 dramatization of Jane Austen's life as a young woman, imagining her formative romance with Tom Lefroy. It's a period romance that treats Austen herself as a heroine—caught between duty and desire, between security and art. For people who love Austen's novels and want to see the woman behind them; also works as a straightforward swoon-worthy romance with excellent costuming.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like period romances built on sharp dialogue and the slow awakening of a clever young woman who refuses to be pushed into a sensible marriage.
Skip it if the romance is fizzy and flirtatious rather than deeply felt, and if you want Austen's wit in full bloom, this offers its origins more than its sparkle.
What it asks of you: Settle in for a leisurely two hours of drawing rooms, letters and long glances, with gentle comedy and an unhurried pace.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Pride & Prejudice2005
Joe Wright's adaptation captures the wit and warmth of Austen's original, with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen creating one of cinema's great romantic sparring matches. If you loved the emotional core of Becoming Jane, this shows what Austen actually wrote.
But It's been adapted to death; this version feels familiar even if you haven't seen it. Some find the ending too rushed.
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society2018
Post-WWII romance between a writer and a man from the Channel Islands, built on letters and shared history. It has that same sense of a woman discovering herself through love and literature, with genuine warmth throughout.
But Gentler and slower than most modern films; if you want plot momentum, you'll find this meandering. Some dialogue feels a bit on-the-nose.
Atonement2007
The same year as Becoming Jane, Joe Wright made this lush period piece about how a lie between young people ripples across decades. It's far darker, but shares that obsession with how fiction and reality intertwine, especially for women.
But It's devastating in ways Becoming Jane isn't. The structure is complex and the ending won't comfort you; some find it punishing rather than cathartic.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Becoming Jane
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Bright Star2009
Both films treat a young artist's romantic relationship as central to their creative awakening, but Bright Star shows the cost when art and love cannot coexist peacefully.
Jane Campion's film about poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne: a love story between two artists that moves at an internal tempo, with barely any plot. It's almost silent at moments—the opposite of Becoming Jane's plot-driven approach—but shares that obsession with the moment love teaches you how to create.
But Excruciatingly slow and visually minimal in places. If Becoming Jane felt fast-paced to you, this will feel like watching paint dry. It's also much sadder.
More like this (8)
The Imitation Game2014
Another film about a brilliant person whose inner life doesn't match the world's expectations of them. Benedict Cumberbatch's Alan Turing is lonely and misunderstood in ways that echo Jane's struggle between conformity and authenticity.
But WWII codebreaker drama rather than romance; if you came for swoon, this delivers intellectual passion instead. Some historical liberties bother people.
Emma.2020
Autumn de Wilde's adaptation is witty, visually stunning, and genuinely funny in a way that reminds you why Austen still matters. Anya Taylor-Joy captures that mixture of self-assurance and vulnerability that Anne Hathaway brings to Jane.
But The humour is arch and modern; purists sometimes feel it bends the tone. It's also very aware of itself as a film, which isn't everyone's preference.
The Miniaturist2017
A Dutch Golden Age mystery about a woman in a marriage of convenience discovering secrets, agency, and herself. Like Becoming Jane, it's gorgeously shot and deeply concerned with how women navigate desire within rigid social structures.
But The pacing is deliberately slow and the mystery elements are ambiguous; if you need clear answers, frustration awaits. It's also quite dark.
Mansfield Park1999
Frances O'Connor's Fanny Price is a woman who refuses to compromise her principles for love or money—the inverse of what her world expects. It captures that stubborn integrity that drives Becoming Jane's Jane.
But Austen's least popular novel; many find Fanny's passivity unsympathetic. The 2005 film is visually cold compared to other Austen adaptations.
The Governess1998
Minnie Driver as a Jewish woman in Victorian Scotland posing as a Christian governess. It shares Becoming Jane's interest in intelligent women inventing themselves to survive, and the dangerous attraction between people from different worlds.
But It's darker and more explicitly sexual than Becoming Jane; it also deals with antisemitism and abuse. Not a comfortable watch, though a rewarding one.
Penelope2006
A gentler fairy tale about a wealthy woman who has to find herself before she can find love. It has the playfulness and romantic earnestness of Becoming Jane, with a really inventive visual style that keeps it from feeling saccharine.
But It's notably lighter and more fanciful; if you want historical grounding or serious stakes, this won't deliver. Some find it too whimsical to take seriously.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire2019
Both films are about a young woman's awakening through love—but this one suggests that authenticity and desire might not require sacrifice, a radical rebuttal to Jane's story.
A French film about two women—an artist and her subject—discovering love and ambition on an isolated island. It's sensual, intellectually alive, and utterly gorgeous. It captures that exhilaration of being seen and understood in ways Becoming Jane only hints at.
But It's a lesbian romance, which changes the shape of the story entirely. It's also much more explicit about sexuality and desire. Subtitled, and the pacing is its own thing.
The Affair2014
Both explore how we narrate our own romantic stories to ourselves, but The Affair suggests everyone's version is a lie we tell to survive.
A miniseries structured around the unreliability of memory: each episode retells the same events from a different character's perspective, each one convinced they're telling the truth. It captures the emotional truth of Becoming Jane—that version of events is always personal—but as a puzzle box rather than a romance.
But It's cynical where Becoming Jane is romantic. The repetition can feel tedious. Also, it's about infidelity and betrayal, which is a very different register from period drama swoon.
People
Cast
Anne HathawayJane Austen
James McAvoyTom Lefroy
Julie WaltersMrs. Austen
James CromwellMr. Austen
Maggie SmithLady Gresham
Joe AndersonHenry Austen
Lucy CohuEliza de Feuillide
Laurence FoxMr. Wisley
Ian RichardsonRichter Langlois
Anna Maxwell MartinCassandra Austen
Leo BillJohn Warren
Jessica AshworthLucy Lefroy
Directing
- Julian JarroldDirector
- Jeanette McGrathScript Supervisor
Writing
- Kevin HoodScreenplay
- Sarah WilliamsScreenplay
Production
- Gail StevensCasting
- Jeff AbberleyExecutive Producer
- Julia BlackmanExecutive Producer
- Nicole FinnanExecutive Producer
- Tim HaslamExecutive Producer
- Douglas RaeProducer
- Graham BroadbentProducer
- James FlynnProducer
- James SaynorProducer
- Morgan O'SullivanProducer
- Robert BernsteinProducer
Recommended by
Sense and Sensibility, Miss Potter, To Walk Invisible, Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen, The Buccaneers, Saimdang, Light's Diary, Mrs Brown, Colette, The Young Victoria, Jane, Miss Austen Regrets, Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel, Finding Your Feet, Restored, The Overstory, Mary Shelley, The Man Who Invented Christmas, Moll Flanders, Tove, Saraband for Dead Lovers