Events

In Laura Piani’s charming and witty debut, an aspiring author looking to get more out of life takes up a writing residency and finds herself in the sort of romantic entanglements that could come from the pages of a Jane Austen novel. As a clerk in the legendary British bookshop in Paris, Shakespeare & Co, Agathe (Camille Rutherford, OK, TIFF ʼ23) loves her job. But there are faint stirrings of discontentment when she realizes how long she has been surrounded by stories of others’ desires and adventures instead of chasing her own. Perpetually single, she hopes to find a romance like those in the novels of her favourite author, Jane Austen, in which love triangles, ardent admirers, and reckless unrequited crushes abound.

Agathe’s other dream is to become a novelist. She aspires to finally finish one of the many stories she starts but ultimately abandons when they risk falling short of her lofty expectations. Supported by her encouraging — and conspicuously rakish — best friend Felix (Pablo Pauly), who has recently expressed an interest in her personal life, Agathe leaves for a Jane Austen writing residency. Upon arrival, she meets a distant relation of the author, the handsome — and haughty — Oliver Lowe (Charlie Anson). Between the writing obligations, realizing that she may miss Felix, and constantly running into the intriguing Mr. Lowe, Agathe’s life has taken a stressful, yet strangely familiar, turn….

In her utterly charming debut, writer-director Laura Piani draws from Austen’s works while crafting a wholly contemporary romantic comedy that stands on its own merits. A breezy and smart exploration of the competing modern desires for both connection and escapism, Piani’s film also delves into how past tragedies and heartbreaks can cause us to live like supporting characters in our own lives.

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