Film Review: Regency-Era Rom-Com ‘Mr. Malcolm’s List’
The recently accepted fashion of populating period British romantic melodramas with actors of color, notably in Netflix’s ongoing hit series Bridgerton, continues with Mr. Malcolm’s List, a nicely decked-out, dramatically conventional tale of Regency-period matchmaking dizzily spinning out of the participants’ control. Admittedly “loosely inspired” by Pride and Prejudice, this modestly scaled venture deep into Jane Austen territory is bedraped with sumptuous estates and elaborately accoutered young men and women forever gossiping and arguing in the poshest possible accents. As familiar as the genre’s conventions may be, they never seem to get old with audiences, who can be counted upon to lap up this Bleecker Street release when it opens July 1, both in theaters and online.