Dramas based on Books on Netflix
Last updated May 12, 2024
North & South
2004 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsWhen her father uproots his family from their serene rural burg for an industrial mill town, parson's daughter Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe) struggles to adapt to her harsh new surroundings in this BBC series based on Elizabeth Gaskell's novel. As her mother's health fails, Margaret throws herself into the fight for workers' rights and clashes with mill owner John Thornton (Richard Armitage). Sinead Cusack and Tim Pigott-Smith also star.
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North & South
2004 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsWhen her father moves his family to an industrial mill town, the parson's daughter, Margaret Hale, struggles to adapt to her harsh new surroundings. This BBC series is based on the popular novel by Elizabeth Gaskell.
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The Notebook
2004 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsTwo young lovers (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) are torn apart by war and class differences in the 1940s in this adaptation of Nicholas Sparks's best-selling novel. Their story is told by a man (James Garner) who, years later, reads from a notebook while he visits a woman in a nursing home (Gena Rowlands). Nick Cassavetes directs this heart-tugging romance about the sacrifices people will make to hang on to their one true love.
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Masterpiece Classic: Great Expectations
2011 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsIn this lavish production of Charles Dickens's classic tale, orphan Pip's fortunes change when an anonymous patron takes an interest in him. Meanwhile, he becomes involved with eccentric Miss Havisham, who can't get over being left at the altar.
Details about Masterpiece Classic: Great Expectations
Masterpiece Classic: Great Expectations
2011 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsAn orphaned young man meets a convict in a cemetery and sets into motion a series of events that leads him from a life in his brother-in-law's forge to a mysterious inheritance and his acquaintance with the eerie Miss Havisham and her beautiful ward.
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House of Cards Trilogy I (BBC): House of Cards
1990 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsConservative Party whip Francis Urquhart expects to be handed a high-level cabinet position upon the election of a new prime minister. When he's told he hasn't been promoted, Urquhart chooses to exact revenge by creating dissent within the party.
Details about House of Cards Trilogy I (BBC): House of Cards
House of Cards Trilogy II (BBC): To Play the King
1993 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsNow firmly entrenched as prime minister, Francis Urquhart faces a fresh challenge when the new King expresses a desire to reshape British society. With the help of a new adviser, the PM aims to hold the King at bay and retain absolute power.
Details about House of Cards Trilogy II (BBC): To Play the King
The Wave
2008 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsTo give his students a real-world example of how dictatorships can grow powerful, a high school teacher starts a social experiment that gives some of his students a strong advantage while leaving others subservient and powerless.
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The Way
2010 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsWhen his son dies while hiking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route in the Pyrenees, a grieving father flies to France to claim the remains. Looking for insights into his estranged child's life, he decides to complete the 500-mile trek to Spain.
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House of Cards Trilogy (BBC)
1990 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsAfter he's passed up for a promotion, British politician Francis Urquhart vows to exact revenge on the system that's holding him back. Through charm and persuasion, Urquhart gains the trust of his colleagues while simultaneously undermining them.
Details about House of Cards Trilogy (BBC)
House of Cards Trilogy III (BBC): The Final Cut
1995 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsRuthless prime minister Francis Urquhart wants to leave his mark on the world before his term as the political leader of Great Britain ends. But skeletons in his closet keep raising their ugly heads and threaten to bring about his ruin.
Details about House of Cards Trilogy III (BBC): The Final Cut
City of God
2002 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsGrowing up in a Rio de Janeiro favela, Rocket is able to avoid being drawn into a life of drugs and crime by having a passion for photography. Through his eyes, the dramatic stories of several of the slum's colorful residents unfold.
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Masterpiece Mystery!: Endeavour
2012 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsShaun Evans steps into John Thaw's shoes as the younger version of Colin Dexter's iconic creation, Inspector Morse, shedding new light on the origins of the detective famed for his love of crosswords, classical music, real ale and classic cars.
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The Last of the Mohicans
1992 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsWhen rugged frontiersman Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis) saves the Munro sisters -- two newly arrived English settlers -- from a Huron ambush, he ends up in the midst of the battle between the British and the French for control of the American colonies. Director Michael Mann's first-rate production also stars Madeleine Stowe as the Munro sister who wins Hawkeye's heart, and Wes Studi as the Huron warrior who has a score to settle with her father.
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Mao's Last Dancer
2010 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsA delegation from Madame Mao's Beijing Dance Academy selects 11-year-old peasant villager Li Cunxin to study ballet in far-off Beijing, where he trains for seven grueling years to become one of China's greatest dancers. His efforts win him the opportunity to dance in America, opening his eyes to a new love and the possibility of a dramatic defection from China in this remarkable true story based on Cunxin's autobiography.
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True Grit
2010 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsAfter drifter Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) murders her father, 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hires alcoholic U.S. Marshal Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to help her exact revenge. The disreputable lawman still has grit, though, and mounts an epic search. Joining the duo on their quest is a Texas Ranger (Matt Damon) who's also hunting for Chaney in this updated Western that received multiple Oscar nods, including Best Picture.
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The Way Back
2010 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsAfter narrowly escaping from a wretched World War II Siberian labor camp, a small band of multinational soldiers desperately undertakes a harrowing journey to traverse Siberia, the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas on foot.
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Masterpiece Classic: Wuthering Heights
2009 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsEmily Brontë's sweeping tale of romance set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors gets the "Masterpiece" treatment in this lush made-for-television adaptation starring Charlotte Riley and Tom Hardy. Cathy (Riley) eventually fell in love with Heathcliff (Hardy), the young Gypsy boy her father brought home years ago. But now that they're adults, another man (Tom Payne) is offering her his affections -- and a far more comfortable life.
Details about Masterpiece Classic: Wuthering Heights
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai
2011 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsHanshirô, a destitute samurai, asks to commit hara-kiri at the estate of feudal lord Kageyu. Knowing the dishonor this will bring to his house, Kageyu begs him to reconsider, unaware of the shocking truth behind Hanshirô's choice of locale.
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The Grapes of Wrath
1940 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsTom Joad, a Depression-era everyman, leads his poor family on a harrowing journey from Oklahoma's Dust Bowl to the promised land of California in this adaptation of John Steinbeck's classic novel.
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Life of Pi
2012 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsBased on Yann Martel's best-selling novel, this coming-of-age tale recounts the adventures of Pi, an Indian boy who is the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with only some zoo animals for company.
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Jesse Stone: Stone Cold
2005 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsIn a quiet coastal town in Massachusetts, jaded police chief Jesse Stone maintains a low profile -- but when a corpse washes ashore and multiple assailants rape a high school student, the former big-city cop jumps into action.
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Masterpiece Classic: Wuthering Heights
2009 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsEmily Brontë's sweeping tale of romance set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors gets the "Masterpiece" treatment in this lush made-for-television adaptation starring Charlotte Riley and Tom Hardy.
Details about Masterpiece Classic: Wuthering Heights
Requiem for a Dream
2000 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsA widow's growing dependence on amphetamines and a self-help television show parallels the struggles of her heroin-addicted son and his girlfriend and friend in Darren Aronofsky's bleak drama.
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The Rainmaker
1997 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsWhen young attorney Rudy Baylor goes to work for a seedy ambulance chaser, he wants to help the parents of a terminally ill boy sue their insurance company. But to take on corporate America, Rudy and a scrappy paralegal must open their own law firm.
Details about The Rainmaker
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