Kate Beckinsale a film based on the Danish legend which inspired Shakespeare's "Hamlet", and starred in the murder mystery "Uncovered". In 1995, while studying in Paris, she filmed the French language "". Shortly after leaving Oxford University in 1995, Beckinsale starred in "Cold Comfort Farm" as Flora Poste, a newly orphaned 1930s socialite sent to live with distant family members in rural England. The John Schlesinger-directed film was an adaptation of Stella Gibbons's novel and also featured Joanna Lumley, Eileen Atkins, Ian McKellen, Rufus Sewell and Stephen Fry. Beckinsale was initially considered too young, but was cast after she wrote a pleading
Kate Beckinsale Jesse Hassenger of "The A.V. Club" felt her "charismatic" performance was wasted. Also that year, she starred alongside Simon Pegg in the poorly received British comedy "Absolutely Anything", as an author agency employee and the love interest of a man (Pegg) chosen by four aliens to do anything he wants. Tom Huddleston of "Time Out" said her character "is never really developed—which is perhaps a blessing, because her cut-glass-posh performance is almost as grating as Pegg's." In the romantic comedy "Love & Friendship" (2016), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Beckinsale reunited with her "Last Days of Disco" collaborators