Mr. Malcolm’s List Review

Mr. Malcolm’s List is a romantic period drama based on a novel by Suzanne Allain. This was a film with an air of Jane Austen and Bridgerton to it.

Jeremy Malcolm (Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù) is the most eligible and desired bachelor in London. One of his suitors is Julia Thistlewaite (Zawe Ashton), but she gets publicly embarrassed after their date at the opera. When Julia finds out Mr. Malcolm has a list of qualities he wants in a potential wife, she sets out for revenge. Julia enlists her old school friend, Selina Dalton (Freida Pinto) to become Mr. Malcolm’s perfect match and plans to humiliate the man.

Mr. Malcolm’s List was essentially a rom-com with regency dressing. It had a typical setup for a rom-com where a woman gets scorned by a man so sets out to break that man’s heart. But the scheme goes awry when Selina and Mr. Malcolm start to fall for each other. However, the initial reason the courtship acts as a ticking time bomb. It is a standard story but it was made well.

Mr. Malcolm’s List set out to have a light tone. Early in the film Julia’s ignorance was shown when Mr. Malcolm questioned her about the Corn Laws, and when Julia received an embarrassing caricature her scream could be heard from beyond the house. Selina had lessons to become Mr. Malcolm’s perfect match, like dancing and staying in tune with current affairs which felt like a rom-com. Even a scene where an older man proposed to Selina was played for laughs because Selina kept backing away from him.

Due to the success of Bridgerton, Mr. Malcolm’s List was going to face comparisons to the Netflix show. Both were regency set romances that had colour-blind casting. Some people might see Mr. Malcolm’s List as a project trying to piggyback off Bridgeton’s success but Mr. Malcolm’s List was in the works before the release of Bridgeton’s first season.

Emma Holly Jones, the film’s director discovered the screenplay when listening to The Black List podcast in 2015. In 2019 she directed a short film as a prologue and a proof-of-concept. It was a short that had impressive production values because of the locations, costumes, and cast. Gemma Chan played Miss Thistlewaite in the short, which was a coup considering her leading role in Humans at the time.

The big difference between Bridgerton and Mr. Malcolm’s List was sensationalism. Bridgerton was a raunchy series that had loads of sex scenes. Mr. Malcolm’s List was a much cleaner offering. It had a PG rating in the UK which shows it was a film aiming to appeal to a broad audience. It is a film that families could watch together.

Like other period romances such as the works of Jane Austen, there was a romantic subplot. Selina had a potential romance in the form of Captain Ossory (Theo James), an army officer who had returned to London. Julie had to run interference to prevent the plan from getting derailed but finds they had a spark.

Mr. Malcolm’s List did serve as Jones’ feature directional debut, having previously worked on short films. She was able to step up for a project that had lavish costumes and sets. For many first-time directors Mr. Malcolm’s List would be considered a big film but Jones had already proven herself with the 2019 short. Ireland doubled for London and Sussex and the Celtic nation did well as a substitute. The historian in me did enjoy the caricatures in the film and during the end credits because they did look like pictures I saw when studying at university.

Mr. Malcolm’s List did have a cast of recognisable faces. Pinto acted as an executive producer as well as the lead performer. Pinto was a likeable presence as the bookish and caring Selina and there is no denying that Pinto’s a beautiful woman. Pinto’s natural Indian accent did slip through occasionally, but she did perform with a solid English accent.

Most of the cast were likeable. Dìrísù was refined and handsome, Theo James was a little more rugged as an army officer, and Ashley Park was a delight as Selina’s uncouth cousin. Ashton was the standout as Julia. She was cunning and confident when operating her vengeance plan, but not as well read as her friend. Ashton was able to do broad comedy well and she had chemistry with Jones’ Captain Ossory when trying to keep the man busy.

Mr. Malcolm’s List was a light-and-frothy film. It serves as a piece of comfort viewing for fans of period dramas and rom coms.