User reviews

If you separate this adaptation from the book, it is a sufficient watch. However, considering what masterpiece it is based on, I'm sure Jane Austen is turning in her grave.

The story isn't anything like the Persuasion we know and love, it is trying too hard to be like Bridgerton, to be relevant and have modern touches. Some of the most beloved and iconic lines have been downgraded to weak decoctions. There is hardly any character development. In fact, the only character that I thought wasn't utterly flat was Mary. The cast is excellent but the script is beyond words... and not in the positive sense. For Anne to constantly be breaking the fourth wall was an excruciatingly bad decision. All in all, a painful adaptation that can surely only be enjoyed by viewers who aren't familiar with the work of Jane Austen.

As someone who counts Persuasion as a favourite book I found this so far removed from Jane Austen's original. On the plus side I liked Dakota Johnson's Ann and quite enjoyed the way she talked to the audience.

I didn't enjoy her being turned into a lush. The actor who played Wentworth was awful- instead of an heroic, handsome character he came across as a real drip and looked scruffy all the way through. In fact there was far more chemistry between Ann and Mr Elliot and in this version they looked a better match. There were some good comic moments with Ann's dreadful family,

In an earlier film or tv version of Persuasion the drama built up so well that you really wanted Ann to catch him up at the end- in this version I couldn't have cared who she ended up with.

This was such a disappointment.

If you want to be talked to thru a movie this is your perfect cup of tea. If you enjoyed Jane Austen's books and previous film versions of Persuasion do not even watch. I am so disappointed. I have been waiting, waiting, and so excited for this new edition to come out on Netflix. I realize they had to try and put it more into modern times, but this is just a total fail! Rupert and Sally played this so so well. If you are there in the movie glued to the tv they did their job. They did. This version DID NOT! No. No. No.

Netflix, please stop ruining our favourite books. Just stick with original screenplay and stories when creating new shows. I hated every minute of this version of Persuasion, I can't even start to list all the things wrong with that movie.

If you're going into this movie expecting a true adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion, you will probably be disappointed. However, on its own it's a nice movie. Not something I immediately want to rewatch, but especially for a Netflix movie it's perfectly enjoyable.

This film strips all the heart out of Persuasion and turns the characters into versions of themselves that are unrecognizable. I don't understand why the writers didn't write their own story, in the vein of Bridgerton or Bridget Jones's Diary. They capitalized off Austen's name without giving her work any respect.

Disclaimer: I love Austen, and I would classify myself as a purist. But I also understand that film is a different medium, sometimes modifications must be made. But the modifications made absolutely piss all over the original story.

-First, Dakota Johnson is completely miscast. Anne is supposed to be mournful and to a degree bitter. She thinks she's missed her chance. Dakota Johnson plays her as spunky and comedic. Totally wrong. The rest of the cast is fine, but left to play their roles opposite an inappropriately funny heroine.

-Anne is not an alcoholic. It wasn't charming or relatable.

-It seems like the directors watched the recent adaptation of Emma and Bridgerton and were like, let's try Persuasion. But let's half ass the costumes and make it a comedy.

-Ridiculous lines. "How would you dance to Beethoven?" Anne replies "Alone in my room to a bottle of red." Well, considering this takes place in the Regency era before records or radio, this is absurd. She also says "We're worse than strangers. We're exes." Mary talks about how she must love herself in order to be able to love others. Come on. I couldn't stop eye rolling.

-There are a bunch of double entendres that are neither clever nor funny.

-They break the fourth wall, and while it works in other movies like Mansfield Park, but it was done cleverly and sparingly. Dakota Johnson is constantly talking at us and it's obnoxious.

I was hoping someone would give Persuasion an update. I really enjoyed the 90s adaptation with Ciaran Hinds. But no one asked for this abomination.

It's a feel good movie, I started watching after having a stressful day and instantly my mood lightened and I just kept watching with a smile on my face. I could watch Dakota Johnson forever, at least that's for certain, whenever she's on screen, which is almost all of the movie, it's just beautiful. I'm so happy I just started playing it in Netflix before checking out the reviews on Imdb first, which I always do, I'd have ignored it looking at the rating. This movie is definitely relaxing and beautiful to look at and can pull you out of a bad day.

I don't understand all the hate. Does it follow Jane Austen's novel to the letter? No. However, I don't mind. I think this new take is funny, fresh and it made my heart flutter. I enjoyed it.

I am a huge Jane Austen fan. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite (I am team Darcy all the way), but Persuasion may be my second favorite of her novels. I like the more mature story of a second chance romance...and the letter, often touted as the most romantic letter in literary history, is truly sigh worthy. I absolutely loved the 2007 BBC production starring Sally Hawkins, Rupert Penny-Jones, Anthony Head and Alice Kridge. That film really brought the story to life, building drama and tension that crests in the actual letter. Completely the opposite of this film.

I really like Dakota Johnson and Henry Golding and, as mentioned, I love the source material...so I can honestly say I was very excited to see this film in the works and I was eagerly anticipating it's release. I was there at the stroke of midnight to watch and grew more and more dissatisfied as the film went on.

It's like the story received a Bridgerton-lite filter and not just modernized twists but a true dilution of the source material.

The film starts with our protagonist, Anne Elliot, speaking to the audience...which she proceeds to do through the entire film...and not in a writing in her journal or thinking kind of way, but full on looking at and speaking to the audience. I imagine they thought it was funny. I could handle it at the start for the set-up, but then it really just started to take you out of the story, serving more as a distraction than a storytelling aid.

I was very disturbed that they turned Anne into a lush...her only pleasure seems to be drinking and she does it heavily throughout the film...including straight from the bottle. If you read the novel, this seems horribly out of character...which in the source material is above reproach.

The cast is given a multi-ethnic approach, similar in it's period inaccuracy as Bridgerton. It also gets a modern approach to sexuality as at one point it is alluded to that Lady Russell goes on European tours to have dalliances with men...something she and a young lady like Anne would never, ever have spoken about in reality.

There is an added feminist twist to the story (one that Austen didn't proved), Wentworth apologizes to Anne for her not being able to be in the navy and when Luisa and Anne discuss Wentworth's qualities...him listening to women is touted as a virtue. Fairly certain neither appear in the source material and seemed time period inappropriate.

Then there is Mr. Elliot and Anne's straightforward banter, again highly inappropriate and inaccurate.

Now for the story and it's changes...it was very strange to have Captain Wentworth telling Anne about how as an Admiral he would think "what would Anne do" and that's what he would do...how she is calm in a crisis, etc....and all of this before Luisa hits her head. It's like they didn't the audience was smart enough to glean that from her actions in the moment...which happens later (while watching, I though are they going to skip the real scene altogether and just have his words suffice? But no then they go on to show the injury scene!?!?!?) Also having Captain Wentworth telling Anne that there is an understanding that he didn't mean...changes his character. He truly didn't know that his actions toward Luisa could be misconstrued as more serious...something he never intended as the final letter clears up for anyone in doubt. Then there is the final letter (which is pretty perfect as is)...it ends up being a badly paraphrased and watered down version that contains absolutely no angst or love at all. Of course it didn't help that absolutely no tension or drama was built up at this point.

Add in some additional period inaccuracies like resin jewelry, pierced earrings, small bust above the front door and inappropriate clasps...the details might have been an indication of the lack of attention this film was going to show.

I did like the white and black pet rabbit, interesting touch that I didn't hate and Cosmo Jarvis was a bit of a sleeper surprise that I didn't hate in his role as Captain Wentworth.

I rarely ever recommend a different film, but I feel I really have to in this case. Please watch the 2007 BBC production of Persuasion instead of this film, it is a million times better.

Very disappointed.

If you loved the novel or are a purist, stop now and find another film.

This one has major changes and the main character has the tendency to tell you the story (literally, eyes into the camera) rather letting the performance show what the plot is about.

On the positive side, the camera work is beautiful. The score uplifting. And I'd say the cast did quite well, given the script they got.

However, no amount of Netflix money can cover the odd anachronisms and weak story telling that drop a classic to only slightly above average.

If you have good source material, why do this? Or at least if you want to experiment, do it right?

It's difficult to overstate just how bad this movie is. It may well be a form of entertainment, but Jane Austin's 'Persuasion' it ain't. Check out the 1995 or 2007 versions if you want to see something approaching what the novel is all about. This is just a silly, soulless mess.

I read every Jane Austen novel, both in english and italian (my country language). I saw almost every movie and series inspired by her incredible novels; some were good, some were bad, some were masterpieces that will stand the test of time.

I tend to separate the novels from their TV counterparts, because I believe it's not easy to depict her work in its entirety.

When it comes to adaptations like this "Persuasion", however, things are different.

You have to take them for what they are and in this case, the changes are huge, colossal, but still I appreciated the view.. Mainly because Dakota J. Is wonderful, she totally shines in this new attempt on Ann Elliot.

Give this a try, separate movies and novels, for once.

A J. A. lover.

Persuasion is a lovely little story of second chances. Anne Elliot is a character greatly put upon by her family, and missed her chance of love by another persons advice. I love this character, but she is so poorly played by Dakota Johnson. There are numerous British actresses that would have been far better. It's a very poor adaptation all around. I sincerely hope Netflix leave the other Austen stories alone!

I am an Austen fan, love Pride and Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility- both the books and drama and/or film versions. I've never read Persuasion, but I'm now curious to read after watching this to see what differences they made.

As a viewer watching not knowing the story of Persuasion; I enjoyed this and I think Anne and Captain Wentorth's love story held up, and brought a few tears to my eyes. It was a good film to watch on Friday night after having a super long week at work and struggling to work in the heat! So give it a go and don't listen to the haters. I'd be happy to watch this again; so I think it's a good film!

I thought Dakota J was great, and the actor who played CW. I also thought Anne's family were crazy in a funny way- Austen was always brilliant at depicting characters. Not my favourite Austen story: 1) P&P 2)S&S 3) Emma 4) Persuasion.

Hated the song at the end of the film; whilst I understood what they were trying to do, it was too overpowering; a lovely classical piece would have been better.

Many Austen fans will cringe at the adaptation to modern relationship "language of love", but that is the point of this screenplay. Clearly at least partly targeted towards Millennials, I believe it does an admirable job at hacking Jane Austen's dialogue into contemporary love language as deemed necessary, backed by superior cinematography, snappy editing and pacing, and across-the-board inspired acting by the lead and supporting cast.

Frankly, the writing hack is not offensive for me, and the moments of narration are so brilliantly delivered by Dakota, that I applaud the unique freshness, and see the film as a success.

Dakota will hopefully be recognized for one of her most appealing performances, as she continues her rise to "The Queen" of Millennial-gen actresses.

My enthusiastic two thumbs up

👍👍

I watched the new Netflix take on Persuasion on the day of release and found the whole film charming, funny and original. The backlash on social media - and the one star trolls on the IMDb, who claim to be Austen fans but can't even spell her name correctly or identify which era she was writing in - have me flabbergasted, to be honest. Why the targeted campaign to make one adaptation among many bomb in the ratings? Does the existence of this version take away from the original text, or the other, faithful and bland, adaptations? No. Grow up.

Austen adaptations are churned out with regularity, and I love that Carrie Cracknell and the screenwriters have tried to find a new take on an old story. The 'goofs' listed on this page - seriously, doesn't anyone have a sense of humour? - are not goofs but a deliberate choice to make this a lively mash-up of Austen and modern romcoms, and I love Anne's sarcastic asides to the camera. To be honest, Anne Elliot needs all the help she can get - if I were an Austen heroine, I would probably be Anne, dutiful, caring and completely sidelined by more demanding personalities, but I don't want to read or watch characters like myself. Dakota Johnson presents a fun take on the character, and the wine, for me, is but one visual trope from romcoms which represents her silent desperation. I cringed, but in a good way, when she couldn't find a seat after trying to avoid Wentworth and then overheard his views about her while trying to relieve herself outside! The bath tub scene, and being told about 'Louisa and her Captain', were heartbreaking. Kudos to Nia Towle for making Louisa a sympathetic character for once, too!

I have read the book and, although not my favourite Austen title, still enjoyed this quirky adaptation. Perhaps because I care more about engaging with the characters and story rather than the accuracy of Regency fashion and etiquette - the costumes were amazing, on that note, and I would wear some of Anne's linen creations today! Is this the perfect, definitive screen translation of Persuasion? No. Those reviewers who actually admit to not having watched more than the trailer before hating on this version can go back to the book and the standard adaptations, if that makes them happy. But this is an amusing, emotional, well cast and yes, aesthetically pleasing addition to the many, many varied takes on Austen's work, which does not deserve such a backlash.

Okay, I did it! I finished watching the whole Persuasion. And I'm trying - really trying - to say something nice about it, but... I can't. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't an adaptation of Persuasion. Because... really the only thing the movie and the book have in common is the NAMES of the characters. I wasn't expecting anything and yet I'm so very disappointed. Why is Anne acting like Lizzy? Why is she so sarcastic? And (for God's sake) an alcoholic? Why does she have her hair down for half the movie? Why is she just swimming around in clothes in the sea? And the clothes are supposed to be from what era?

How can anyone even call THAT a Persuasion? It's my favorite book. Melancholy, painful, romantic. The movie is cheesy, awkward and cring. I have no words.

I give it 3/10 (two for Mary, she was hilarious and one for Henry Golding).

As an huge fan of JA's stories,; I am no purest. I found this version of Persuasion funny and highly entertaining. Did it follow 19th century convention, certainly not. Was it a loose interpretation of the original story, admittedly. I found Dakota Johnsnn's performance vibrant and amusing. She was cheeky and excellent in the role. I can't see what all the negative fuss is about. Give it a look. A good few hours entertainment.

I found the movie both fun, romantic and engaging. Johnson is her usual charm self, and the other roles sparkle, if a little bit superficial. As a movie this is a pretty good, but if you insist that movies should be faithful to the books that inspired them, you should probably not watch it. Personally I don't get why a movie couldn't be good on its own terms, but hey, needs will be nerds, right?

I recommend the movie as a romantic period drama, and forget that it's a Jane Austen story.

Personal view: I have no issue with modernising classics, but when a movie based on the early 1800s references Sad Sack and describes an experience as electrifying it feels sloppy to me. It provides no insight at all to the time period.

Don't understand all the negative reviews, this was surprisingly good and rather entertaining. Dakota Johnson was very good and funny. Even though this was predictable, still, acting was pretty good, and I loved the music. I think many didn't like it, as it didn't follow the usual boring Jane Austin style, while this one was funny.