Kate Beckinsale plays the beautiful widow Lady Susan Vernon, who retreats to her in-laws' estate to wait out the high-society rumours circulating about her dalliances. While ensconced there, she attracts the attentions of the young, handsome Reginald De Courcy, the rich and naive Sir James Martin, and the divinely attractive (but married) Lord Manwaring. However, Lady Susan is quite used to cunningly manipulating the situation to her own benefit.
Based on Jane Austen's novella, Lady Susan, acclaimed writer-director Whit Stillman's Love and Friendship is an exquisitely witty and devious comedy of Machiavellian matchmaking and heartbreaking, with a note-perfect ensemble cast including Chloë Sevigny and Stephen Fry.