Actors Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esme Creed-Miles were joined by the film's Australian screenwriter, Diana Reid, on Thursday evening to celebrate the latest adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved classic.
In the film, Mrs Dashwood and her three unmarried daughters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, are forced from their family estate and move to a modest cottage after the death of the family patriarch.
Edgar-Jones plays eldest daughter Elinor, a character she said presented a challenge because of her "deep well of emotion and passion" that she keeps "hidden and restrained".
"There was this constant battle between the version of herself she feels she should be for others and who she really is authentically," Edgar-Jones said.
Finding a way to communicate that internal conflict without Elinor simply spelling it out was part of the appeal for Edgar-Jones.
"Showing how to do that between the lines ... was the real challenge but a really great one to dig into," she said.
Creed-Miles, who plays Marianne, said Austen's exploration of women's lives and their struggles within the social expectations of marriage remained relevant two centuries after the story was written.
"I think she was describing and exploring the interior lives of women and their struggles within the context of marriage as a social contract," she said.
"That's what makes her storytelling really relevant today. I think obviously there's lots of ways that we've moved forward - and lots of ways that we haven't."
For Reid, the enduring appeal of the story comes down to audiences "craving something real".
"We just want deep emotion, and we want romance that is not just about lust or superficial attraction, but about genuine intimacy."
That intimacy was not limited to the film's romantic relationships, Reid said.
"And I think in this story, you get that with the sisters, and then you also get that in romantic relationships".
Reid said she hoped audiences would embrace its emotional depth.
"I would just want (viewers) to come to it with an open mind and an open heart, be open to feeling big feelings."
The film also stars Caitriona Balfe, Frank Dillane, Herbert Nordrum, George MacKay and Fiona Shaw.
Sense and Sensibility opens in Australian cinemas on October 15.
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