By Rachael Thompson Entertainment 28.06.2022

'Mr Malcolm’s List': Everything You Need To Know About The 'Bridgerton'-Style Film

Step aside, 'Bridgerton'. There’s a new Regency romance in town.

The forthcoming film Mr Malcolm’s List is coming for your favourite period drama show’s crown, with its own sizzling story, gorgeous and diverse cast, and Regency romantic romps.

Like Bridgerton before it, Mr Malcolm’s List is also based on a popular romance novel and features star-making turns from an exciting group of diverse actors including Freida Pinto, Zawe Ashton, Emily in Paris’ Ashley Park and more.

But what is this movie about? And when will we be able to see it in Australia? Here is everything we know about the film so far.

What is Mr Malcolm’s List about?

Mr Malcolm’s List is another Regency romance, in the vein of Bridgerton, based on a popular book by Suzanne Allain. The plot is simple: Mr Malcolm (Sope Dirisu) has a list. A very detailed list of attributes and accomplishments that any lady whom London’s most eligible bachelor might potentially court must possess. When he rejects one such young lady called Julia Thistlethwaite (Zawe Ashton) for not meeting his extreme requirements, she cooks up a plan to enact revenge upon him with her best friend, Selina Dalton (Freida Pinto), first by achieving perfection as per his list, then by breaking his heart.

But of course, the best-laid plans, right? Because what they didn’t factor in were complicating factors of more suitors emerging out of the woodwork for Selina, including the lovely Lord Cassidy (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and Captain Henry Ossory (Theo James), as well as the immediate enmity – or is that something different? – between Mr Malcolm and Selina in the first place. All is fair in love and war!

Where have you seen the cast of Mr Malcolm’s List before?

The cast of Mr Malcolm’s List is fantastic and very star-studded. You’ll know Freida Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire and Zawe Ashton from Fresh Meat (she’s also the current fiance of Tom Hiddleston, whom she met when they appeared in a Broadway play together).

Sope Dirisu is the lead of Gangs of London as well as making a small appearance in the Colin Firth and Olivia Colman period drama Mothering Sunday, while Oliver Jackson-Cohen is famous for the terrifying Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. Theo James, of course, is best known for Sanditon, in which he played the smouldering Sidney Parker. He’s also currently starring in The Time Traveler’s Wife. Director Emma Holly Jones has called Dirisu “the new Mr Darcy” and raved that casting him was “the best decision I ever made. He’s handsome, he’s talented, he’s gentle, he’s complex.”

Ashley Park, who plays Gertie Covington, is best known as the fabulous Mindy in Emily in Paris.

Who is the director of Mr Malcolm’s List?

Mr Malcolm’s List is directed by Emma Holly Jones, making her feature debut. Though the novel was self-published by author Suzanne Allain in 2009, a screenplay adaptation was later submitted to an online portal called The Black List, where previously un-purchased scripts are shared among industry insiders. Jones secured the rights and then went on to make a short film of just one portion of the story for Refinery29, with an incredible cast that included some of the names in the film: Dirisu, Pinto, Jackson-Cohen and, as Julia Thistlethwaite, one Gemma Chan. The short film was published in 2019 and has been watched more than two million times. The feature adaptation of the short film went into production in early 2021 in Ireland.

Holly Jones has said that her hope is for the film to provide representation for a new generation of young women. “[Mr. Malcolm’s List is] about women who maybe didn’t want to conform to the ideas and boundaries that society has put on them,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “So I wanted these women to reflect our society today and our audience today and, most importantly, I wanted to create a film that gave lots of young brown and Black girls around the world the ability to have their own Jane Austen film, whether it is Jane Austen or not. I think it’s awful that so many people just in the genre rom-com as a whole barely have movies, regardless of the time period.”

Are there more books in the series?

There are no more books in the Mr Malcolm’s List series, however, Allain has published another Regency romance novel called Miss Lattimore’s Letter, about a matchmaker with a secret identity. Sounds like there’s some Bridgerton crossover, no?

What is the release date of Mr Malcolm’s List?

The UK and US release date is on July 1. There is yet to be an Australian announcement, though we’ll keep you updated as soon as we hear one. See you at the movies!