HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: ‘Mr. Malcolm’s List’ Director on Adapting the Regency Romance for the Modern Era

Emma Holly Jones explains how working outside established conventions — from research, casting and production elements to the film's adaptation process, inspirations and her own education — helped her deliver the groundbreaking period romance.

JUNE 1, 2022

For the ensemble of characters in Mr. Malcolm’s List, convention is a hurdle to love.

Written by Suzanne Allain and adapted from her book of the same name, the film stars Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù as Jeremy Malcolm, the season’s most eligible bachelor who is navigating the dating pool with a literal list of expectations for his future partner. When Zawe Ashton‘s Julia Thistlewaite learns the list is why she’s failed to snag his heart, she recruits her cousin and Malcolm’s friend, Lord Cassidy (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), as well as her old friend Selina Dalton (played by Freida Pinto) and hatches a plan that will turn the tables on the man who made Julia the center of gossip during the season.