Sense and Sensibility

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Sense and Sensibility
• a review of Sense and Sensibility completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 20 October 2026.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Following the unexpected death of her father Mr Dashwood, Elinor Dashwood (Daisy Edgar-Jones) becomes her family’s rock, managing the meagre finances they are left with, helping tutor her youngest sister Margaret (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) and gently guiding both her mother (Caitriona Balfe), who has little idea of how the world works, and her high-spirited sister Marianne (Esme Creed-Miles), who has impassioned opinions of how the world should work, as they all attempt to navigate not only their grief but also the immediate arrival of Mr Dashwood’s son John (Tom Brooke) and his awful wife Fanny (Stacy Martin) who have come to take over their home. As the Dashwood sisters try to reconcile their new situation, Elinor begins a beautiful friendship with Fanny’s kind-hearted brother Edward Ferrars (George MacKay), but the relationship is halted by Fanny’s hostility and Mrs Dashwood’s acceptance of an offer to rent a modest cottage in Devonshire. As the sisters settle into their new life, Marianne falls in love with the dashing rogue John Willoughby (Frank Dillane), ignoring all warnings about his character, while the older and more serious Colonel Brandon (Herbert Nordrum) harbours a quiet love for her from afar. Meanwhile, Elinor follows her head instead of her heart when she learns that Edward is constrained by secret obligations he made to a young lady years earlier. As the sisters each navigate their own painful romantic trials, a graver reality soon reminds them that no matter where life leads they are lucky to have each other and they soon come to realise the importance of balancing both emotion and intellect in order to have any chance of happiness at all.

Grief; Loss of fortune; Betrayal; Injustice; Illness; Gender inequality; Social ambition; The pursuit of and perils of seeking love in 18th century English society.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• Margaret plays with a child who accuses her of stabbing him with a toy sword.
• One man drags another from a room in a rage.
• A man is challenged to a duel. Pistols are fired but no one is injured.

Material that may scare or disturb children

• Nothing further noted for this age group.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Marianne catches a fever on her way back from London and it looks as though she may not survive the night. Elinor tearfully begs her not to die and leave her alone. While not scary, the scene may be distressing for some viewers.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

• None noted.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• A character is called a “worldly woman” by someone who sought to justify his affair with her. It is explained that she was abandoned while pregnant and that both she and the child died.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• Elinor and Edward kiss.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• Characters drink wine at dinner and wine is often served or seen sitting in the background during social visits.
• A character offers Marianne a bottle of wine to help ease her sorrow.
• Elinor takes the bottle when Marianne refuses it and drinks a liberal amount. She is shown hungover the following morning.
• Marianne drinks brandy near a fireplace in an effort to warm up.
• A drunken Willoughby arrives to visit Marianne.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• A character is called a “vain, manipulative panderer”.

In a nutshell

Sense and Sensibility is a romantic drama based on the classic 1811 love story by Jane Austen. It features striking nature-based cinematography, period dialogue and contrasting English backdrops. The film is suitable for families but will likely lack interest for children under the age of 11 and will be best enjoyed by mature audiences and Jane Austen fans.

The main messages from this movie are that neither emotional restraint and logic nor impulsive passion and vulnerability lead to finding happiness, rather both intellect and feeling are needed in order to navigate life’s uncertainties; and that true wisdom and growth are often gained through the challenges of lived experience.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Empathy
• Compassion
• Integrity
• Honour
• Love
• Resilience.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• How passion without wisdom or boundaries can lead to self-destructive decisions.
• How toxic social pressures and greed can place financial gain over human worth.
• How it is important to look at a person’s actions, especially if these differ from their words.
• How laws favoured men and how women were given no means of livelihood, often becoming completely dependent on male relatives.