Period Pieces on Netflix
Last updated May 15, 2024
Masquerade
2012 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsIn this stylized and operatic costume drama, Lee Byung-hun stars as the temperamental and autocratic king and as an actor conscripted into replacing the ruler when he is seized by nightmares of assassination attempts and coups d'etat.
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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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Masterpiece Classic: Little Dorrit
2008 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsIn this Emmy-winning rags-to-riches miniseries based on Charles Dickens' novel, Claire Foy stars as the titular Amy Dorrit, a poor girl who follows her father out of debtors' prison when they learn the family is entitled to a life-changing fortune.
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Masterpiece Classic: Little Dorrit
2008 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsIn this rags-to-riches miniseries based on Charles Dickens's epic novel, Claire Foy stars as the titular Amy Dorrit, a poor girl who follows her father out of debtors' prison when they learn the family is entitled to a life-changing fortune.
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Braveheart
1995 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsEnraged at the slaughter of Murron (Catherine McCormack) -- his new bride and childhood love -- legendary Scottish warrior William Wallace (Mel Gibson, who also directed the film) slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule. With vivid battle scenes and a heaping portion of legend, Gibson's epic won five Oscars, including Best Picture.
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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.
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The Young Victoria
2009 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsEighteen-year-old British royal Victoria ascends to the throne and is romanced by future husband Prince Albert in this lush period film that chronicles the early years of the British monarch's larger-than-life reign.
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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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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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Glory
1989 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsLoosely based on the letters of Union commander Col. Robert G. Shaw, this Academy Award-winning drama follows the first group of African-Americans to serve in combat during the Civil War -- and shows how they helped turn the tide of the war.
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Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen
2005 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsThis biopic chronicles how the shrewd Virgin Queen assumed the throne of a nation in turmoil, stabilized the economy, earned her subjects' devotion and manipulated a succession of suitors to political advantage.
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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.
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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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Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen
2005 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsThis biopic chronicles how the shrewd Virgin Queen assumed the throne of a nation in turmoil, stabilized the economy, earned her subjects' devotion and manipulated a succession of suitors to political advantage.
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A Royal Affair
2012 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsIn 18th-century Denmark, the unstable King Christian VII neglects his young queen, Mathilde, who falls in love with his German physician, Struensee, an intellectual whose advocation of reform transforms the country but brings about his own downfall.
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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.
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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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Little Women
1994 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsLouisa May Alcott's beloved novel comes to life in this sensitive, soulful adaptation. Four sisters and their mother battle life's vicissitudes in Civil War-era America after their father leaves to join the conflict.
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Cleopatra
1963 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis epic saga of love, greed and betrayal stars Elizabeth Taylor as the Egyptian queen who's determined to hold on to the throne and seduces Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar is murdered, she redirects her attentions to his general.
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Jane Eyre
1996 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsJane Eyre is an orphan forced to endure life at a harsh boarding school. As Jane grows into an independent, strong-willed woman, she takes a governess job at Thornton Hall and falls in love with the estate's brooding owner, Mr. Rochester.
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Daniel Deronda
2002 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThe illegitimate son of a wealthy aristocrat, Daniel Deronda harbors a secret past and a ready supply of cash. But when he meets Gwendolyn, a beautiful woman in desperate need of money, things get complicated, as he's already involved in an affair.
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Anna and the King
1999 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsIn this fact-based 19th-century tale, English widow Anna Leonowens travels to Asia to tutor the king of Siam's 58 children. Brimming with prejudice, Anna at first believes the king is a barbarian, but the two soon develop a mutual respect.
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Jane Eyre
2011 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsDriven from her post at Thornfield House by her love for her brooding employer and his secret past, young governess Jane Eyre reflects on her youth and the events that led her to the misty moors in this artful adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's novel.
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Confucius
2010 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis sweeping epic revisits China's Spring and Autumn periods through the dramatic biography of Confucius, the legendary Eastern philosopher who, in spite of his mastery of the Six Arts, has difficulty instituting his political philosophies.
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