20. Anna Karenina (2012)
Keira Knightley has appeared in her fair share of historical films and period piece dramas, from 2007’sAtonementto 2011’sA Dangerous Method(neither which appear on this list).
This isn’t the first time you’ll see her name pop up, but we’re starting withAnna Karenina, directed by Joe Wright and adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s novel that was published in 1878.
Presented as a hybrid of stage theater and cinema, the Russian tragedy is a dazzling aesthetic achievement with an all-star cast, including Jude Law, Alicia Vikander, Matthew Macfadyen, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Related:The Best Girlhood Movies About Being a Teenage Girl
19. The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
Loosely based on the life of 16th century aristocrat Mary Boleyn,The Other Boleyn Girltells the lesser-known story of Anne Boleyn’s sister.
Directed by Justin Chadwick, this romance drama is a sobering account of Anne as a usurper, in which Chadwick proposes that it was actually Mary who was intended to be Queen.
Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson give great performances as the feuding siblings, which—alongside the gorgeous wardrobe and set design—make up for some slightly clunky pacing.
Related:The Best Movies About Royalty and Monarchy, Ranked
18. Becoming Jane (2007)
Jane Austen is the world-renowned name behind many of the internationally recognized movies on this list.
The famous English novelist wrote countless classics towards the end of the 18th century. But what about the author herself?
Julian Jarrold’s heritage biopicBecoming Janestars Anne Hathaway as the feisty young bachelorette, who lacked any real interest in her suitors (despite all the romance in her novels).
But all of that is shattered when the brawling bad-boy lawyer Thomas Lefroy (James McAvoy) comes along!
Related:The Best Movies About Writers and Authors, Ranked
17. The Young Victoria (2009)
Queen Victoria is perhaps the most famous queen in British history. She was the longest-reigning monarch until her great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II broke her record in 2015.
Coronated in 1838, Queen Victoria is known for leading the country during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century. She’s also known for only wearing black… every single day… for over 40 years.
But Jean-Marc Vallée shows us the Victoria before all of this—before her husband died, before she spearheaded an empire.
Emily Blunt gives an intelligent performance as the stubborn, young queen, who was one of the few royals in British history to genuinely love her arranged husband! If you want a smart movie period piece,The Young Victoriais a fantastic one to watch.
16. Belle (2013)
Despite the rose-tinted imagery of fancy clothes, intimate love letters, and candle-lit courtships, we know the 18th century wasn’t actually that pretty. The period is heavily romanticized.
In fact, war, torture, poverty, sexism, and slavery were all normal things in 1761, the year Dido Elizabeth Belle was born.
The central character inBelleand played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Dido was a mixed race gentlewoman, illegitimately born to a Royal Navy officer and forced to lived precariously in Hampstead, London.
Director Amma Asante speculates on Dido’s life story inBelle, a socially conscious period drama that was inspired by the only known painting of Dido from 1779.
Related:The Best Movies About Slaves and the Slave Trade, Ranked
15. Ammonite (2020)
The slow silence of a world without cars, phones, and corporations is echoed in the stillness of Francis Lee’sAmmonite.
Set in the quiet coastal town of Dorset during the 1840s, fossil collector Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) reluctantly cares for a rich geologist’s wife (Saoirse Ronan) when he finds her bedridden.
Inspired by the speculative romance between the two real women, who are known for their findings of Jurassic marine fossils,Ammoniteis a touching and transcendent love story.
Related:The Best British Movies Set on the Beach or the Coast
14. Emily (2022)
Writers are known to be eccentric and introverted, and that’s a perfectly fitting description for Emily Brontë.
Emma Mackey gives a standout performance that brings forth Emily’s moody and contradictory disposition: shy yet rebellious, sulky yet giggly (especially at inappropriate moments).
TheWuthering Heightsauthor refused to do what society told her. Instead, she turned up to church high on opium, slept with clergymen, and wrote a book about terrible people (according to director Frances O’Connor anyway, which should be taken with a pinch of salt).
And as the most recently released film on this list,Emilyis a solid contender as one of the best new period piece dramas of late.
Related:The Best Feminist Movies, Ranked (And Why They’re Great)
13. Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Famed director Ang Lee elegantly translated Jane Austen’s classic 1811 novelSense and Sensibilityto the big screen in 1995.
When the wealthy Dashwood sisters are suddenly destitute, they turn to their respective suitors to haul them out of poverty.
Star and screenwriter Emma Thompson—a huge lover of Jane Austen’s work—spent five years drafting script revisions before giving us this film, sparking a 1990s resurgence of Jane Austen in cinema.
Alongside Emma Thompson,Sense and Sensibilityfeatures a fully British ensemble cast of high-caliber actors, including Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Imelda Staunton, and Tom Wilkinson.
Related:The Best Movies About Poverty and Homelessness
12. Little Women (2019)
Over the years, there have been several film adaptations ofLittle Women, the infamous 1868 coming-of-age novel by Louisa May Alcott.
It all started with George Cukor’s pre-Code drama back in 1933, and then we got Gillian Armstrong’s remake in 1994, but most recently we were treated to Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-winning version in 2019.
Little Womenstars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, and Laura Dern, who make up the tight-knit March family living in Massachusetts. The daughters are completely different, and yet they’re forever bound in love.
Prepare to laugh, cry, and feel welcomed as part of the family in this extraordinarily emotional period piece drama.
Related:The Best Young Adulthood Movies About Teens Coming of Age
11. A Room With a View (1985)
E. M. Forster’s classic 1908 novelA Room With a Viewgot a critically-acclaimed film adaptation in 1985, which imbued the story with pastoral charm thanks to James Ivory’s direction.
Helena Bonham Carter stars as the young Lucy Honeychurch, who falls in love with the philosophical George (Julian Sands) in Florence despite a fiancé waiting for her back home.
A Room With a Viewwon three Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design—as it deserved!
10. Jane Eyre (2011)
There have been numerousJane Eyreadaptations—both in cinema and television—which shouldn’t be a surprise given that it was Charlotte Brontë’s most famous novel!
We can think of at least ten such adaptations, but our favorite one remains Cary Joji Fukunaga’s 2011 movie.
InJane Eyre, Michael Fassbender plays Edward Rochester, your usual brooding Byronic heartthrob. Alongside him is Mia Wasikowska as the troubled governess Jane Eyre herself.
Despite its dreamy cinematography, there’s something dark lingering beneath the surface of this pretty period piece romance drama.
Related:Great Movies With the Best Cinematography, Ranked
9. Marie Antoinette (2006)
You can watch this film for the aesthetics alone! Dreamy pinks and Baroque architecture makeMarie Antoinettefeel like it’s coated in sugar.
As the famous last Queen of France before the French Revolution, Antoinette indulged in all things silk and expensive. That’s perfect material for a Sofia Coppola movie!
Get swept away by the feminine antics of Kirsten Dunst’s archduchess, who marries the Dauphin of France at 14 years of age but struggles to produce an heir for him.
Related:The Best Movies With Beautiful Color Palettes (And What They Mean)
8. Elizabeth (1998)
When it comes to the most famous female British monarchs, the only other one who can compete with Queen Victoria is Queen Elizabeth I.
Queen Elizabeth I has been played by many actresses throughout cinema, including Margot Robbie, Judi Dench, Quentin Crisp, Glenda Jackson, and Vanessa Redgrave.
In Shekhar Kapur’sElizabeth, it’s Cate Blanchett who gives an Oscar-nominated portrayal of the 16th century ruler. The film takes us through the first chunk of Elizabeth’s life, which is when she took the throne and warded off plotters.
Fun fact:Cate Blanchett and Shekhar Kapur reunited for the sequelElizabeth: The Golden Agein 2007. In it, she goes through several crises from the latter years of her life, but the film as a whole isn’t nearly as good as this one.
7. Emma (2020)
The “female gaze” has been popularized in recent years, which Eleanor Catton sublimely presents in her adaptation of Jane Austen’sEmma.
As an Austen story,Emmais filled with all things romantic and artsy, but also has a nice dusting of comedy. Pastel color palettes, charming characters, and a playful tone makeEmmaa timeless, joyful watch.
It’s all brought to life by Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Josh O’Connor, Callum Turner, Mia Goth, Miranda Hart, and Bill Nighy.
Related:Male Gaze vs. Female Gaze in Movies, Explained (With Examples)
6. Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Based on Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s French novelLes Liaisons dangereuses, Christopher Hampton wrote both the play adaptation and the Hollywood movie adaptation calledDangerous Liaisons.
The three-time Oscar-winning film is a morality play that was originally written to expose the corruption of French nobility in 1782.
Stephen Frears directs a dazzling cast that includes Glenn Close as the central Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil and John Malkovich as Vicomte de Valmont who intentionally sabotages the lives of those around her.
It’s all fun and games until someone falls in love!Dangerous Liaisonsis one of the best period piece romance movies and you won’t want to miss it if that sort of thing is your jam.
5. Amadeus (1984)
Back in the 1700s, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri were two competing classical composers from different European countries, who shared a fierce history of bickering with each other.
Director Miloš Forman investigates their famous rivalry with a healthy sprinkling of fictionalization, posing the question of what would happen if Salieri confessed to killing Mozart.
Adapted from Peter Shaffer’s 1979 stage play,Amadeuswon eight Academy Awards. A genius movie of grandeur and style, it’s one of the best period piece dramas we’ve seen.
Related:The Best Movies About Musicians, Bands, and Famous Singers
4. Lady Macbeth (2016)
Florence Pugh made her grand entrance to the Hollywood limelight with her 2016 breakout role inLady Macbeth.
No, we’re not talking aboutthatLady Macbeth. There are no Shakespearean witches or floating daggers in this one.
Instead, William Oldroyd’s chilling slow-burner is based on Nikolai Leskov’s 1865 Russian novellaLady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.
On the surface,Lady Macbethdoesn’t look like much more than a woman sat bored in an empty room… but this taut and cleanly directed period drama is riddled with tension and emotion.
Related:The Best Female Anti-Heroes in Movies, Ranked
3. Pride & Prejudice (2005)
We hope you like Jane Austen because she’s here yet again!Pride & Prejudiceis Jane Austen’s most well-known and beloved novel, and Joe Wright’s film adaptation is one of the more spectacular ones.
Pride & Prejudicefollows the not-like-other-girls protagonist Elizabeth Bennet, who—to her own dismay—falls in love with the miserable-but-rich gentleman Mr. Darcy.
Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen star as the aloof couple, guided by Joe Wright’s skilled direction and all his experience as one of the masters of period piece drama films.
2. The Favourite (2018)
Here’s the thing about Yorgos Lanthimos’s films: you either love them or you’re completely weirded out by them. That certainly applies toThe Favourite, which is phenomenal but not to everyone’s tastes.
The Greek director’s films are often just as wacky, wonderful, and gorgeous as they are disturbing, unorthodox, and unafraid to break the traditional rules of Hollywood films.
InThe Favourite, it’s Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, and the great Olivia Colman who star as a royal lesbian trio in 18th century Britain (with Olivia Colman winning an Oscar for her performance).
A fictionalized take on the story of Queen Anne,The Favouriteis a one-of-a-kind dark comedy period piece movie that we can’t get enough of!
1. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Winner of the Queer Palm Award at Cannes and heralded by critics,Portrait of a Lady on Fireis a true masterpiece of modern cinema.
In this passionate and personal study of two women in 18th century France, Céline Sciamma shows us what it means to love in secret.
The film follows a painter (Noémie Merlant) who’s commissioned to produce the portrait of reluctant bride-to-be Héloïse (Adèle Haenel).
And indeed, the movie’s title is fitting since the film itself has the beautiful intricacies of any great painting. It’s my personal pick as the greatest period piece romance film out there.
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