Two Films With Knightley

I’d spent the whole day with movies and had zero interest in throwing myself into Berlin’s nightlife, so I just stayed on the couch with two Joe Wright adaptations. Keira Knightley twice in a row.

Atonement wrecks you. The child’s lie during World War II ruins everything for her sister and the man she loves, and when you realize what’s actually happened at the end, you’re just destroyed. Every time.

Which meant I was already too deep when Pride and Prejudice came on right after, so I didn’t even think about turning it off. Elizabeth Bennet, sharp and stubborn, refusing the entire marriage game, then falling for this utterly arrogant Darcy. It’s lighter than Atonement but there’s real feeling underneath – you believe what’s between them.

Two films back-to-back and I couldn’t move. Both about people who won’t settle, both with Knightley on screen the whole time, and I’m sitting here completely content to stay exactly where I am. The kind of evening that doesn’t need to turn into anything else – just sits on the couch with these two films in your head. Though I’m not lying to myself: I’m heading to bed now still seeing her the way she looks in both of them. You’d be jealous too.