Autumn in August pays a call on Northanger Abbey

For our final matinee of Autumn in August this year, the venue chosen is none other than Jane Austen’s posthumous scary satire known as Northanger Abbey.

While the 1987 version of this story does have it’s strange charms, that film is more suited for those seeking a Mystery Science Theater experience (which I do like!) than a real attempt at bringing this lively little adventure to cinematic life like the 2007 adaptation before us today.

Our leading lady is Catherine Morland (Felicity Jones) who leads a rather quiet life with her family and friends and whose knowledge of the world comes from the Gothic novels that she eagerly devours.

When given the opportunity to accompany the local well-to-do neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Allen to the city of Bath, Catherine is thrilled in more ways than one to have the chance to maybe find some of that book bound excitement on her own.

 Throughout the film, she does tend to fantasize about being caught up in a Gothic situation with men fighting over her which is dramatically amusing indeed:

While in Bath, Catherine does meet a nice enough man, Henry Tilney(J.J. Feild)who wins the approval of Mrs. Allen for his depth of knowledge about muslins (Henry happens to be a clergyman not a professional clothing designer,btw!).

She also makes a new gal pal In Isabella Thorpe(Carey Mulligan), whose obnoxious brother John turns out to be school buddies with Cathy’s brother James. Isabella says she is romantically interested in James but her eye does wander quite a bit there. Not to mention that her air of worldly sophistication is mostly fueled by gossip and passive aggressive behavior:

Eventually, Catherine is invited to the title estate that is owned by the Tilney family and while Henry and his sister Eleanor are happy to have her stay, they are suspicious of their overbearing father’s intentions towards her as he insists upon his children marrying into wealth (of which Catherine has none).

Catherine does sense some secrets and lies being connected to the Tilney family, especially regarding the sudden demise of  Mrs. Tilney several years ago. Is Catherine right about the wrongs done at Northanger or has she taken her love of Gothic novels a bit too much to heart?

As Jane Austen fans already know, this slyly sweet wink at the popular storytelling tropes of Austen’s day is a low key charmer and this adaptation honors that intention very well there. It’s engagingly good and the two main leads have a solid cup of romantic chemistry brewing for audiences to slowly sip and savor on a stormy night:

Even if you’ve never read Austen, this movie would be a nice introduction to her work or if you just haven’t read this particular book by her,  this version of Northanger Abbey is a delightful way to get that fall feeling flowing. Think of it as the pumpkin spice latte of literature, if you will!

Thank you, one and all, for sharing this experience of seasonal expectation with me either for the first time or once again. I’m not sure what next year will bring for Autumn in August but hopefully, we will be enjoying the eerie anticipation together with a dash of humor and horror: