Filmed on location in Ireland a few months after Netflix’s glossy era romance Bridgerton’s first series, Mr. Malcolm’s List explores the social scandals, class struggles and complexities among the privileged classes of Regency-era London. I also dabble in love matches.
Writer Suzanne Allan happily reads the pages of her 2009 novel for a frothy script that ponders whether the search for the perfect partner can be manipulated or must be left to chance. .
Like its streaming service counterparts, the Emma Holly-Jones-directed film has a very handsome face and wishes you a waltz around the ballroom.
Cinematographer Tony Miller opens a chocolate box of swoon-inducing vignettes. Reunite feuding lovers in moonlit orangeries, bonnetted promenades around perfectly manicured parks, candlelit masquerade balls and mighty horses galloping through green fields .
Freida Pinto as Selina Dalton and Sope Dilis as Mr. Malcolm.
Breast swell (understated to ensure PG certification), female fainting and love-struck archetypes neatly combine in an inevitable combination from the start. Us on the second floor ruse.
Mr. Malcolm’s List is a fantastical escapism, with the occasional frenzied dialogue, remaining faithful and true to its crowd-pleasing nature.
London’s most qualified bachelor, Jeremy Malcolm (Soap Dilis), is intent on weeding out sociable climbers and fortune hunters who want his family’s fortune.
He judges potential love matches against a secret list of ten personality traits and achievements, including extensive reading-based education, musical or artistic talent, and an open-minded disposition.
Mr. Malcolm refuses Julia Thistlewaite (Zawe Ashton), citing her lack of political savvy.
“I will make sure that the respectable Mr. Malcolm receives what he deserves,” she enthused.
Zawee Ashton as Julia Thistlewaite and Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Lord Cassidy.
With her cousin Lord Cassidy (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) as an unwilling accomplice, Julia invites her best friend Serena Dalton (Frida Pinto) to London to make the clergy’s daughter the perfect match for Mr. Malcolm. A spell that entreats and openly refuses if a bachelor falls into her hands.
Villainous schemes rarely play out as intended, and Julia’s tangled web pits dashing army officer Capt. Park) unexpectedly.
Mr. Malcolm’s list maintains a leisurely trot as misconceptions are corrected and smartly dressed protagonists learn valuable lessons about humility and forgiveness.
Pinto and Dilis are well matched, and their courtship on screen is undeniably sweet, but Ashton amusingly evades the fringes of hysteria when women are despised and disrespected.
The opening narration resembles Bridgeton gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, but thankfully the extra storytelling device has since been abandoned.
Our Rating: 6/10
Release in Ireland: August 26th
(PG, 118 minutes) Romance/Drama/Comedy. Freida Pinto, Sope Dilis, Zawe Ashton, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Theo James, Donna Kroll, Ashley Park, Divian Ladwa, Sianad Gregory. Director: Emma Holly Jones.
