Critic Reviews

The film is at once old-fashioned and refreshingly, realistically up to date in its take on modern courtship.

There’s a salve-like quality to Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, a balm for any battered romantic’s soul. It may be utter fantasy, but it’s the kind of escape you’ll want to revisit again and again, like a favorite Austen novel.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life feels destined to become a quintessential Austen-adjacent classic. The film lives up to its playful title with a thoughtful blend of the author’s sense and sensibility.

What could be a basic struggling artist's journey of self-discovery and inspiration has many nuances and idiosyncrasies, making for a thoroughly off-the-beaten-path narrative that provokes thought despite some minor loose threads.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is both pleasantly diverting and sneakily wise.

Agathe is concave in both posture and spirit, but she feels right for this muted world of amorous contemplation, of long, uncertain glances met by equally long, equally uncertain glances. By the end, romance in the abstract becomes something much more real — and we can’t help but fall for all these characters ourselves.

What rescues the movie from being mere flimsy fun is Rutherford’s performance. She gives Agathe’s waywardness a gravity, a hint of darkness.

The true draw in Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is Agathe, a compelling protagonist whose passion for literature and love keeps us sufficiently engaged.

The film does occasionally struggle with getting England right. We are always aware that this is a French film-maker looking through the window at the crumpets on their doilies. But there is a mischievous intelligence at work that complements the embrace of sometimes broad misunderstandings.

Modestly scoped, sometimes sweetly dopey, and sincerely moving, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is a charmer.