Jane Austen's Period Drama (2024)

This is nominated in the category of Short Live Action for the 2026 Oscars, and it is very short (about 11 minutes--don't miss the blooper though so hang on a few seconds in to the credits), very funny, and available to watch on Kanopy, so free if your local public library subscribes. The opening scen is all too reminiscent of a scene straight out of Pride and Prejudice. A young woman, Estrogenia, is walking with Mr. Dickley on a gorgeous green hillside. He is telling her that his intended has run off with another man and he is therefore free to ask for her hand. He gets down on one knee, and mid proposal he realizes that she is bleeding from her nether regions. He is convinced that she is in need of a doctor and carries her home. Her sisters, Labinia and Vagiana, recognize the problem immediately. Where Estrogenia wants to explain, her sisters are adamant that talking to a man who intends to marry you about menstruation is off limits--rather they kill a chicken, play up the severity of the condition with additional carnage and celebrate when she survives than to reveal the real reason for the bleeding. The names are changed from an Austen classic to increase the hilarity, and it is all good clean biologically appropriate fun. Happy Valentine's Day!