I too love the Coppola family’s foray into costume dramas and have fond affection for Marie Antoinette and Bram Stoker’s Dracula - but Emerald Fennell never quite gets there.
This film borrows much of their visual language (along with a dash of Age of Innocence and the covers of Harlequin Romance Novels) but the central performances are so wooden and lifeless - that a really interesting film suffers.
I like all the weird flourishes and the departures from the novel - but Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi have negative chemistry. His relationship with Isabella is radioactive compared to the frosty nothingness with Catherine.
I completely get why this was a hit - and I was interested and entertained. But this could’ve been great and instead it was very ehh…