The Best Jane Austen Adaptations to Watch

Jane Austen has always been beloved for her clever, headstrong heroines, and we’ve seen it slipping off the page to the screen with remarkable ease. Each generation seems to find its own Elizabeth Bennet and its own Emma Woodhouse—reshaping Austen’s world. More than two centuries since her novels were published, we’re still returning to her stories again and again, in every form imaginable. It’s a testament to how ahead of her time she truly was—writing about love, society class and female independence.

With a fresh take on Sense and Sensibility set to hit screens soon, there’s no better time to revisit the adaptations that have done her legacy justice—the ones that captured her humour, her heartbreak and everything in between.

Here are the best Jane Austen adaptations to watch before the new film arrives.

Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and George Mackay, this 2026 rendition will follow the Dashwood sisters, namely Elinor Dashwood, as they navigate poverty, heartbreak and societal pressures after their father’s death. Set against the world of Georgian England, Elinor begins vying for the attention of various suitors. She ultimately falls passionately in love with Edward Ferrars, as her life plays out as an elegant negotiation between sense and sensibility.

A faithful adaptation of Jane Austen’s most beloved classic, Pride and Prejudice, follows Elizabeth Bennet—a witty, free-spirited heroine—as she navigates social expectations, family pressures, and love in 19th-century England. When she meets Mr Darcy—the last man she could ever marry—her life tilts on an axis, and she must decide what’s best for her when their lives become intertwined.

Before the 2026 edition, there was Ang Lee’s adaptation of the book. Starring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman, the film follows the Dashwood sisters as they deal with the death of their father, who leaves them penniless. When they move to a modest cottage, the two oldest daughters vie for the attention of various suitors in search of true love.

Known as Jane Austen’s “gothic parody”, Northanger Abbey sees Catherine Morland—a woman with a penchant for gothic novels—who falls in love with Henry Tilney when she spends a few weeks in Bath. When he invites her to his family estate, she finds herself deciphering the castle’s secrets, the locked rooms, cryptic notes and the cause of death of Henry’s mother until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art.

Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma is a period romantic comedy that follows Emma Woodhouse, a wealthy and elegant young woman living with her father, who amuses herself with matchmaking and meddles in the romantic lives of those closest to her—with devastating effects—in her little village.

Loosely based on Jane Austen’s novel of the same name, Mansfield Park is about Fanny Price, who is sent away to live with her uncle and his family so she can be properly introduced into society. Although treated terribly by her relatives, she found kinship in her cousin Edmund. When her uncle tries to matchmake her with a neighbour, she tries her hardest to divert those plans.

In this film, Anne Elliot—an unmarried woman—who encounters her former lover, a handsome naval captain named Frederick Wentworth, eight years after their engagement ended. She then tries to come to terms with the heartache of missed opportunities while exploring the clash between old and new worlds.

Set in 1790, this romantic comedy follows Lady Susan—the charming, clever, and never short of an opinion—a widow who decides to move into her in-laws’ estate for some time. As she spends some time over there, she decides to look for a husband for herself as well as for her daughter.