Devon is stepping into the spotlight this autumn as Jane Austen’s beloved Sense and Sensibility returns to the big screen, with Dartmoor’s rugged landscape and sweeping hills playing a starring role.
Director Georgia Oakley set out to capture what life in Devon might have felt like 200 years ago, moving beyond the traditional image of Austen’s world. Instead of polished drawing rooms, she wanted something looser, more lived‑in, and deeply connected to the countryside.
“I was really trying to get into what it might have felt like to live in Devon 200 years ago… steering away from this preconceived idea that everything takes place in a stuffy drawing room,”
- Director Georgia Oakley
The film, from Focus Features and Working Title, brings a fresh, relatable take on Austen’s iconic story of love, sisterhood and resilience, starring Daisy Edgar‑Jones and Esmé Creed‑Miles. Oakley’s vision was to make Austen’s world feel both authentic and emotionally immediate for today’s audiences, with real‑world locations playing a key part.
Devon’s landscapes were central to shaping the film’s visual identity, and Dartmoor offered exactly the atmosphere the team were searching for. Its wild tors, open moorland and far‑reaching views bring a sense of freedom and raw beauty to the story, the kind of scenery that feels unchanged by time.
Alongside Dorset and Knebworth, Dartmoor provided some of the film’s most evocative backdrops, captured on 35mm film for that beautifully imperfect, cinematic feel.
“There’s a certain look that a 35mm gives you. I love that it’s imperfect. It’s a living, breathing thing.”
- Georgia Oakley
With its honey‑coloured light, dramatic horizons and historic landscapes, Devon brings a sense of place that feels both true to Austen and wonderfully fresh.
When can you watch it? Sense and Sensibility arrives in UK cinemas on 25 September, and we can’t wait to see Devon glowing on the big screen.
