If Jane Austen wrote a political film, this might be it. Based-on-a-true-life telling of Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) the illegitimate mixed race daughter of a Navy admiral raised by her aristocratic Uncle (Tom Wilkinson) and her Aunt (Emily Watson), this would be all fine except its 1761 – during Britain’s Empire Slave trade, so Belle falls between the cracks of too high society to dine with the servants and not society enough to dine with her family.
And when it comes to love, and her half-sister Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon) she’s damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t because while Elizabeth has the milky white complexion it is Belle who has the men (Tom Felton and Matthew Goode) pining for her….and for her inheritance.
Feeling like a cross between Pride & Prejudice meets The Color Purple, the film paces nicely, dignified, all the while addressed with proper attitudes and hidden agendas what it might be like to be Belle in 18th century England. But one thing is clear: Belle is the belle of the ball before her time. ♕ ♚ ♛ 1/2