This movie made my heart swell with joy! It's not simply another costume period film, but rather a triumphant exploration of tolerance, friendship and love. I highly recommend this movie!!

I really enjoyed that all the language and clothing was true to the period. There are gay themes and storyline that were appropriate to the time. Historically there are documents of countless marriages such so it's not that farfetched even if we do not have all the details of what was called marriage of convenience and romantic friendships. The biggest leap is the cross class interactions. Still while it seems far fetched elements of the movie such as the metaphysics or the dramatics with the servants can be found in the novels of the time.

I was surprised by how much I liked this film. I'm quite a film snob, on the whole, and I grew up amongst aristocracy, although I was never one of them... so I know what feels true and what feels made up.

This film is made up. But guess what. It feels true... there is a consistency in the character development that makes the story completely believable and by the end it feels more like a history than a fantasy or a reimagining...

I was surprised by how invested I became in the characters... all 4 of them ... and by how much I didn't want the film to end in tragedy. I believed these characters so much and felt so strongly that they all deserved to live happily ever after, that there were moments I actually found myself shouting at the screen, almost as if I were trying to discourage the characters from being their true authentic selves for fear of being exposed and thereby put in danger... I found myself caring about their well-being deeply...

A thoroughly enjoyable watch and one to be repeated.