Asim Abbasi

Mary Bennet feels out of place in The Other Bennet Sister (2026), and the series gives that discomfort time to register. Directors Asim Abbasi and Jennifer Sheridan let the comedy coexist with the more vulnerable moments, making a warm period drama whose patience sometimes becomes slackness. We warmed to Mary because Ella Bruccoleri makes her sense of exclusion convincing, even when the writing makes her family crudely unpleasant. Abbasi’s willingness to spend time with an awkward character is worth having here.

Cake (2018), his first feature as writer-director, concerned family, ageing and a return to Pakistan. He then wrote and directed all ten episodes of Churails (2020), putting women at the centre of a series that challenged the conventions of Pakistani television. British series directing followed with Count Abdulla (2023), while Barzakh (2024) returned to family and loss. The move between genres makes sense for someone whose recurring interests are so recognisably domestic.

He often works with cinematographer Mo Azmi, using fluid camera movement and long takes. That preference for giving actors time is also evident in The Other Bennet Sister, although its welcome owes something to other hands. Luke Bryant’s cinematography and Anne Chmelewsky’s music help keep the series inviting when the family comedy turns harsh. Their work helps us remain receptive to Mary’s story, but it cannot make every exchange worth its length.

The half-hour episodes sound brisk; individual scenes do not always know when to stop. Once Mary’s isolation is clear, staying with an exchange can mean repeating something Bruccoleri has already made us understand. This is where Abbasi’s attentiveness needs a firmer decision about when to leave a scene, a responsibility he shares with Sheridan. Start with The Other Bennet Sister for Bruccoleri, and allow for directors who are sometimes more reluctant to leave a conversation than we are.