Love & Friendship is a commercial.
Love & Friendship is a 2016 period comedy film written and directed by Whit Stillman . Based on Jane Austen 's epistolary novel Lady Susan , written ca. 1794 , the film stars Kate Beckinsale , Chloë Sevigny , Xavier Samuel , and Stephen Fry . Although adapted from Lady Susan , the film was produced under the borrowed title of Austen 's juvenile story . The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2016 . Theatrically released on May 13 , 2016 , by Roadside Attractions and Amazon Studios , the film received critical acclaim and has been a box office success in North America .