The Best period drama/romance movies
by whimsy123 | created - 01 May 2019 | updated - 25 Dec 2022 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Wuthering Heights (2011)
Not Rated | 129 min | Drama, Romance
A poor boy of unknown origins is rescued from poverty and taken in by the Earnshaw family where he develops an intense relationship with his young foster sister, Cathy.
Director: Andrea Arnold | Stars: Kaya Scodelario, James Howson, Solomon Glave, Shannon Beer
Votes: 11,008 | Gross: $0.10M
2. Bright Star (2009)
PG | 119 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The three-year romance between 19th-century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne near the end of his life.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider, Kerry Fox
Votes: 28,705 | Gross: $4.44M
3. Jane Eyre (2011)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A mousy governess who softens the heart of her employer soon discovers that he's hiding a terrible secret.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Su Elliot
Votes: 93,048 | Gross: $11.24M
4. Pride & Prejudice (2005)
PG | 129 min | Drama, Romance
Sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland
Votes: 330,804 | Gross: $38.41M
5. Emma (1996)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
While matchmaking for friends and neighbours, a young 19th Century Englishwoman nearly misses her own chance at love.
Director: Douglas McGrath | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, James Cosmo, Greta Scacchi, Alan Cumming
Votes: 41,625 | Gross: $22.20M
6. Becoming Jane (2007)
PG | 120 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman.
Director: Julian Jarrold | Stars: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell
Votes: 65,106 | Gross: $18.67M
7. Mary Shelley (2017)
PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
Life and facts of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, who at 16 met 21 year old poet Percy Shelley, resulting in the writing of Frankenstein.
Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour | Stars: Elle Fanning, Bel Powley, Owen Richards, Joanne Froggatt
Votes: 17,775 | Gross: $0.11M
8. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, History
The world's greatest ever playwright, William Shakespeare, is young, out of ideas and short of cash, but meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.
Director: John Madden | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 234,369 | Gross: $100.32M
9. War & Peace (2016)
TV-14 | 63 min | Drama, History, Romance
As the Russian conflict with Napoleon reaches its peak, five aristocratic families face the possibility of their lives being changed forever.
Stars: Paul Dano, James Norton, Lily James, Adrian Edmondson
Votes: 26,637
10. Victoria (2016–2019)
TV-PG | 60 min | Biography, Drama, History
The early life of Queen Victoria, from her ascension to the throne at the tender age of 18 to her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert.
Stars: Jenna Coleman, Adrian Schiller, Tommy Knight, Jordan Waller
Votes: 30,893
11. Marie Antoinette (2006)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Drama, History
The retelling of France's iconic but ill-fated queen, Marie Antoinette. From her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI at 14 to her reign as queen at 19 and to the end of her reign as queen, and ultimately the fall of Versailles.
Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Rip Torn, Steve Coogan
Votes: 121,914 | Gross: $15.96M
12. Anna Karenina (I) (2012)
R | 129 min | Drama, Romance
In late-19th-century Russian high society, St. Petersburg aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the dashing Count Alexei Vronsky.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Matthew Macfadyen
Votes: 106,555 | Gross: $12.82M
13. Atonement (2007)
R | 123 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Thirteen-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, Saoirse Ronan
Votes: 299,887 | Gross: $50.93M
14. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1999 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 105 min | Adventure, Horror, Mystery
Ichabod Crane, a Yankee wanderer, arrives in Sleepy Hollow and becomes the new schoolmaster. He meets Katrina Van Tassel, and blissfully fantasizes about how he can marry her, ultimately ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Gang | Stars: Brent Carver, Rachelle Lefevre, Vlasta Vrana, Kathleen Fee
Votes: 1,188
15. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
PG-13 | 127 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A poor Bohemian poet in 1890s Paris falls for a beautiful courtesan and nightclub star coveted by a jealous duke.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent
Votes: 299,387 | Gross: $57.39M
16. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
R | 147 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent.
Director: Tom Tykwer | Stars: Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman, Francesc Albiol
Votes: 265,817 | Gross: $2.22M
17. Far and Away (1992)
PG-13 | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A young Irish couple flee to the States, but subsequently struggle to obtain land and prosper freely.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Thomas Gibson, Robert Prosky
Votes: 68,335 | Gross: $58.88M
18. Emma (2009)
TV-PG | 62 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Emma Woodhouse, a wealthy young woman living in the early 19th century, whose misplaced confidence in her matchmaking abilities occasions several romantic misadventures, which leads her into deeper meanings of love and life
Stars: Romola Garai, Michael Gambon, Jonny Lee Miller, Jodhi May
Votes: 18,047
19. Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Romance
In Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge
Votes: 53,733 | Gross: $12.23M
20. Little Women (2019)
PG | 135 min | Drama, Romance
Jo March reflects back and forth on her life, telling the beloved story of the March sisters - four young women, each determined to live life on her own terms.
Director: Greta Gerwig | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen
Votes: 245,946 | Gross: $108.10M
21. Emma. (2020)
PG | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1800s England, a well meaning but selfish young woman meddles in the love lives of her friends.
Director: Autumn de Wilde | Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Mia Goth, Josh O'Connor
Votes: 62,745
22. Isle of Dogs (2018)
PG-13 | 101 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban
Votes: 190,891 | Gross: $32.02M
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