On the other hand, there's also cousin William Elliot (Henry Golding), a claimant to her father’s baronetcy who is making advances toward her amid her conflicted feelings for Wentworth. In the meantime, the situation in the Elliot household is tough given how her spendthrift father Sir Walter Elliot ( Richard E. Following eight years of heartbreak though as Wentworth returns into her life, this time as a Captain in the navy and with considerable wealth, in search of a wife, the past feelings come rushing back again. Unmarried at 27, Anne refuses to marry until she falls in love again. In Persuasion, we meet Anne Elliot ( Dakota Johnson) as she describes how she was persuaded to turn down a marriage proposal from the handsome but penniless sailor Frederick Wentworth (Cosmo Jarvis) eight years ago.

To not sound like someone who is stuck in the yesteryear, I agree that adapting Austen or any other authors from her generation today requires inspired storytelling that feels relevant to the times we live in but that can't involve an Austen lead describing someone as a 'total 10' or saying how she's now become 'friends with her ex.'

While there's no denying that Jane Austen purists have found most of the films that have been adapted from the author's books unworthy, with Persuasion, the feeling may become stronger given how the film tries to modernise an already modern source material.

Dakota johnson jane austen