Lady Susan is a textbook narcissist, lying, manipulating, charming and using other people for her benefit without any kindness or empathy.
This is not a case of a woman using the only power she has to survive in a male dominated world. If that were the case, she would be fiercely protective of her daughter. But she is not at all. She displays the same selfishness, lack of conscience, and sociopathic behavior with her daughter as with anyone else.
It's kind of entertaining to watch her manipulate her way through life, but it's just that. Kind of entertaining. I couldn't really get into it. I have a hard time liking a movie when the main character is so unlikeable. But the movie is kind of nice anyway.
The plot moves too fast at times, as if the screenplay were an unfinished draft. For example, I would have liked to see in more detail how Reginald figures out what kind of person Susan is, and then falls in love with Frederica. There is only one scene where we see them walking and talking together. That was a bit sudden for my taste. I haven't read the book but I heard it was an epistolary novel. Maybe that's why. But then the screenwriter should have filled the gaps and shown the growing relationship.
Btw, I read other reviews stating that Frederica ran away from school. I haven't read the book, so I don't know, but I don't believe that for one second. Lady Susan claims that Frederica ran away from school. Lady Susan is a liar. In one earlier scene, she tells Alicia she has no intention of paying Frederica's school fees. I think that's why the school sent Frederica home. To explain her daughter's return, Lady Susan made up the story about Frederica running away, and convinced Reginald that Frederica is "troubled". Considering Frederica's character, I don't think any of this is true. It is even hinted that she's lying, when she says the school director "must think of the school's reputation" and Reginald answers something like "that's strange, I've never heard of that school". The stories such people tell often seem believable but feel kind of off.
If you believed that Frederica ran away from school, you were fooled by Lady Susan, the master manipulator. She's so devious she even fools the audience. Facts are such a horrid thing, aren't they? ;)
This is not a case of a woman using the only power she has to survive in a male dominated world. If that were the case, she would be fiercely protective of her daughter. But she is not at all. She displays the same selfishness, lack of conscience, and sociopathic behavior with her daughter as with anyone else.
It's kind of entertaining to watch her manipulate her way through life, but it's just that. Kind of entertaining. I couldn't really get into it. I have a hard time liking a movie when the main character is so unlikeable. But the movie is kind of nice anyway.
The plot moves too fast at times, as if the screenplay were an unfinished draft. For example, I would have liked to see in more detail how Reginald figures out what kind of person Susan is, and then falls in love with Frederica. There is only one scene where we see them walking and talking together. That was a bit sudden for my taste. I haven't read the book but I heard it was an epistolary novel. Maybe that's why. But then the screenwriter should have filled the gaps and shown the growing relationship.
Btw, I read other reviews stating that Frederica ran away from school. I haven't read the book, so I don't know, but I don't believe that for one second. Lady Susan claims that Frederica ran away from school. Lady Susan is a liar. In one earlier scene, she tells Alicia she has no intention of paying Frederica's school fees. I think that's why the school sent Frederica home. To explain her daughter's return, Lady Susan made up the story about Frederica running away, and convinced Reginald that Frederica is "troubled". Considering Frederica's character, I don't think any of this is true. It is even hinted that she's lying, when she says the school director "must think of the school's reputation" and Reginald answers something like "that's strange, I've never heard of that school". The stories such people tell often seem believable but feel kind of off.
If you believed that Frederica ran away from school, you were fooled by Lady Susan, the master manipulator. She's so devious she even fools the audience. Facts are such a horrid thing, aren't they? ;)