The best period dramas whisk viewers to times and places that feel a world apart from the way we live now. They’re filled with intriguing historical details: Corsets! Elbow-length gloves! Chivalry! And, of course, elaborate wigs, erstwhile societal norms, and sumptuous settings.
Whether they explore historical events and real-life people with stunning accuracy or purposefully manipulate the genre’s conventions, we can always rely on well-made period movies and series to provide a dose of escapist fantasy—and, sometimes, a fresh perspective on modern life. Here are our picks of the best period dramas to watch whenever you’re craving any of the above.
Feud: Capote vs. the Swans (2024)
This installment of Ryan Murphy’s Feud anthology series (the first season, released in 2017, centered on the legendary rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, as depicted by Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange) covers the scandalous true story of how Truman Capote (a flamboyant Tom Hollander) fell out with his coterie of New York City socialites, dubbed his “swans.” With its swoon-worthy ’70s fashion, salacious sex scenes, and a cast that is truly jaw-dropping—Naomi Watts as the regal Babe Paley, Chloë Sevigny as fashion icon C. Z. Guest, Diane Lane as the elegant Slim Keith, Calista Flockhart as Lee Radziwill, Molly Ringwald as Joanne Carson (wife of Johnny), and Demi Moore as the disgraced former showgirl Ann Woodward—it’s about as juicy and evocative as can be.
Cristóbal Balenciaga (2024)
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As illuminating as it is utterly ravishing, this painterly biopic from creators Lourdes Iglesias, Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño, and Jose Mari Goenaga tracks the titular fashion legend, as embodied by the brooding Alberto San Juan, as he arrives in the French capital from Madrid in the ’30s, determined to make his mark. But, in a landscape dominated by the pared-back elegance of Chanel (a delightfully venomous Anouk Grinberg) and, later, Dior (a magnanimous Patrice Thibaud), the Spanish revolutionary initially stumbles—and realizes that in order to stand apart, he must hone his own signature style and deconstruct the era’s traditional silhouettes to create something entirely, and thrillingly, new. A must-watch for the stunning avant-garde costumes, the dreamy-eyed cinematography, and the fascinating insights into the fiercely competitive world of post-war haute couture.
The New Look (2024)
This equally glossy 10-part Apple TV+ series from Todd A. Kessler examines the same period, but with a different designer at its center: Christian Dior, here played by a grizzled Ben Mendelsohn, as he popularizes the wasp-waisted, full-skirted “new look,” a symbol of Parisian glamour and optimism in the wake of World War II. His rise to prominence, however, poses a threat to his contemporaries: Cristóbal Balenciaga, Pierre Balmain, and, most significantly, Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche), whose previously undisputed status as the most influential couturier in the world was then coming into question. Cue a ruthless battle, featuring a host of other familiar faces, too, from Glenn Close in the part of Carmel Snow, the legendary editor of Harper’s Bazaar, to John Malkovich as designer Lucien Lelong, and Maisie Williams as Catherine Dior, the designer’s sister, a French Resistance fighter who was awarded the Legion of Honour and remained a lifelong muse.
Palm Royale (2024-present)
Sun-soaked South Florida circa 1969 is the setting of this exuberant comedy, created by Abe Sylvia for Apple TV+, in which Kristen Wiig stars as a scrappy outsider attempting to infiltrate Palm Beach high society by any means available. Standing in her way is the current queen bee of the country club set (Oscar winner Allison Janney), while the rest of their glittering world is populated by a slew of eclectic characters, played by the likes of Laura Dern, Kaia Gerber, Leslie Bibb, Carol Burnett, and Ricky Martin (yes, you read that right).
Mary George (2024)
Julianne Moore and Red, White Royal Blue star Nicholas Galitzine pair up for Oliver Hermanus’s juicy Jacobean saga, which follows the scheming noblewoman Mary Villiers and her charismatic son, George, whom she grooms for greatness from an early age. Dispatched to the French court, drilled in dancing, fencing, and polite conversation, and then sent to London, he quickly catches the eye of James I (Tony Curran), becoming both gentleman of the royal bedchamber and the king’s lover in due course. When he’s eventually given the title of Duke of Buckingham, his influence—and that of his mother—knows no bounds, spelling disaster for the country, the monarch, and, eventually, George and Mary themselves.
The Crown (2016-2023)
Peter Morgan’s lavishly rendered, decades-spanning account of Queen Elizabeth II’s tumultuous marriage and reign is arguably still the best period drama on the platform. Yes, the final seasons were somewhat patchy, but the first two are almost flawless, spearheaded by a stoic Claire Foy alongside Matt Smith’s mercurial Prince Philip and Vanessa Kirby’s devastatingly glamorous Princess Margaret. However, even when they pass the baton to the likes of the supremely talented Olivia Colman, Josh O’Connor, Emma Corrin, and Elizabeth Debicki in subsequent installments, there are countless joys to be found in the intricacies of the performances, the jaw-dropping locations, the epic set pieces recreated from history, and the meticulously detailed costumes, all the way from the former monarch’s wedding gown to Princess Diana’s unforgettable revenge dress.
Queen Charlotte (2023)
This Shonda Rhimes-penned, India Amarteifio-led Bridgerton prequel, which charts the early years of Queen Charlotte’s reign and her turbulent relationship with the secretive King George III (a sensitive Corey Mylchreest), is somehow even more opulent and elaborately costumed than its predecessor. As she gets to grips with her new position of power while also navigating a hostile court and her husband’s rapidly changing moods, the revolutionary monarch dons silver-speckled velvet robes, sumptuous satin ball gowns, and copious amounts of glittering jewelry. Each and every piece deserves a closer look, with the show’s costume designer, Lyn Paolo, hiding details in them that give you insights into Charlotte’s true feelings. (Note, for instance, the miniature stars and astrological signs that appear on her dresses—a nod to George’s interest in astronomy and her growing love for him, with many of these motifs placed literally close to her heart.) Bonus points, too, for Arsema Thomas’s ambitious and elegant Lady Danbury, who always dresses with her new, elevated status in mind.
The Gilded Age (2022-present)
Though it doesn’t feature any overlapping characters, you can think of Julian Fellowes’ The Gilded Age as a sort of American prequel to the acclaimed series Downton Abbey. Centered around the drama of New York City’s elite during the 1880s—and the rapidly changing social and economic landscape of the post-Civil War era—the show serves up plenty of glamour, grandeur, and guilty pleasure. Not to mention some very enticing historically inspired tidbits, including a quintessential old-money-versus-new-money feud between nouveau-riche Mrs. Bertha Russell (played by Carrie Coon), the wife of a railroad tycoon, and grande dame of the city’s upper crust Mrs. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (played by Donna Murphy). You’ll never look at Manhattan’s landmarks the same way again.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover (2022)
A fast-talking, martini-swilling, suggestively dressed Constance Reid (Emma Corrin) marries the eligible Clifford Chatterley (Matthew Duckett) at the beginning of Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s free-spirited interpretation of D. H. Lawrence’s controversial page-turner. When he returns from World War I confined to a wheelchair, he encourages her to have an affair in order to produce an heir. She obliges, launching into a torrid relationship with their sensitive gamekeeper (Jack O’Connell)—one that involves muddy trysts in the forest, wild swimming, and dancing naked in the rain, and ends in scandal.
Bridgerton (2020-present)
Raucous balls set to Ariana Grande, tree bonks, nods to both Pride and Prejudice and Bollywood classic Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Julie Andrews as a sharp-tongued narrator, and a stellar on-screen cast including Regé-Jean Page, Phoebe Dynevor, Simone Ashley, Jonathan Bailey, Nicola Coughlan, and Golda Rosheuvel as a snuff-snorting Queen Charlotte—Shonda Rhimes’s swoon-worthy Regency romance has it all. No wonder, then, that it became a thrillingly bingeable, reassuringly escapist overnight sensation when the first season dropped in the depths of lockdown. Since then, its color-conscious casting and refreshing lack of reverence for the past has rewritten the rulebook for the genre. Also undeniably crucial to its appeal? The incredible sets and extravagant costumes, which run the gamut from towering headpieces to delicately embroidered silk frocks.
The Queen’s Gambit (2020)
Scott Frank and Allan Scott’s dark, sultry, ’50s and ’60s-set drama charting the unlikely rise of an orphan chess prodigy (an utterly captivating Anya Taylor-Joy) was a stealthy surprise, arriving on Netflix with little to no fanfare and promptly becoming a mega hit that sent the sale of chess sets rocketing. It opens with our heroine, the troubled Beth Harmon, learning the game from her orphanage’s custodian and quickly surpassing him, all the while developing an addiction to tranquillizers. Cue tense tournaments, flirtations with fellow champions played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Harry Melling, and crippling substance abuse as she climbs to the top of her field. All the while, she’s impeccably dressed in looks that pay tribute to her craft: shifts with graphic geometric prints, checked Courrèges coats, and a final, all-white ensemble that symbolizes her transformation into the queen of the proverbial chessboard.
Ammonite (2020)
Romance blossoms unexpectedly on the rocky beaches of 19th-century Lyme Regis in Francis Lee’s gentle melodrama following a curmudgeonly paleontologist (Kate Winslet) and a fragile young woman recovering from a recent tragedy (Saoirse Ronan). When the latter’s husband, a prominent geologist, pays the former to care for her while he’s away on an expedition, the two women come to rely on each other and eventually give in to their desires. The score is sweeping, the costumes impossibly intricate, and the ending fittingly bittersweet.
The Personal History of David Copperfield (2020)
You can rely on Armando Iannucci to breathe new life into Charles Dickens’s sprawling bildungsroman. In the hands of the endlessly inventive comedian, the tale of a boy who pulls himself up by his bootstraps and seeks out fame and fortune becomes a madcap delight complete with a zingy script, cartoonish punch-ups, collapsing sets, and a heady dose of magical realism. Dev Patel is the dashing lead, supported by Peter Capaldi as a top-hatted menace and Tilda Swinton as an eccentric landowner who kicks trespassers off their donkeys.
Emma (2020)
Snarky retorts, fleeting male nudity, and a proposal scene cut short by an unexpected nosebleed are just some of the elements that set Autumn de Wilde’s Regency romp apart from the average Jane Austen adaptation. Anya Taylor-Joy sizzles as the matchmaker at its center, who is determined to find an eligible bachelor for a new friend (Mia Goth). The suitors—Johnny Flynn, Josh O’Connor, Callum Turner—are sultry, the pastel-hued interiors delectable, and the costumes ostentatious.
Little Women (2019)
Female ambition is at the core of Greta Gerwig’s retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic. Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, and Eliza Scanlen are charming as the March sisters, freewheeling teenagers who put on plays, form a secret society, and develop a keen understanding of the relationship between art and commerce in mid-19th-century America. As they chase their dreams in New York, Paris, and at home in Concord, Massachusetts, they also challenge the limits imposed on the women of their era.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
An artist (Noémie Merlant) arrives on a deserted beach in Brittany at the start of Céline Sciamma’s mesmeric 18th-century love story. She is commissioned to paint the wedding portrait of a troubled young woman (Adèle Haenel) who is promised to a Milanese nobleman. Over the course of their sittings, the pair embark on a secret affair, daring to imagine a world where they could be together.
Colette (2018)
Period drama veteran Keira Knightley shines as the titular French novelist in Wash Westmoreland’s love letter to 19th-century Paris. We follow her as she marries Henry Gauthier-Villars (Dominic West) and writes Claudine à l’école, which is published under his name. Its success leads her to rebel, firstly through passionate love affairs with women and then by reclaiming her authorship. Her costumes—straw boaters, puff-sleeved blouses, louche suiting—only add to the film’s stirring appeal.
The Favourite (2018)
The 18th-century court of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) provides the setting for Yorgos Lanthimos’s absurdist black comedy about power struggles and palace intrigue. Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone are delicious as the two ruthless favorites of the monarch, who try to outmaneuver each other at all costs. Their days are taken up with shooting practice, lobster racing, pelting men with fruit, and slipping poison into unattended cups of tea—and best of all, there isn’t a damsel in distress in sight.
Phantom Thread (2017)
In his final role to date, Daniel Day-Lewis plays the delightfully named Reynolds Woodcock, a mercurial couturier (loosely based on Charles James) in 1950s London who makes a young waitress (Vicky Krieps, in her breakout role) his muse. It garnered six Oscar nominations, including for best picture, director (for Paul Thomas Anderson), actor, supporting actress (for Lesley Manville as Reynolds’s withering sister, Cyril), and score (by Jonny Greenwood), and won for Mark Bridges’s luxurious costume design.
Love Friendship (2016)
Jane Austen’s acerbic wit takes center stage in Whit Stillman’s social satire based on her epistolary novel Lady Susan. It stars Kate Beckinsale as a charismatic widow desperate to secure her future, and that of her young daughter (Morfydd Clark), by marriage. She travels from the home of one wealthy friend to another, decked out in plumed hats and silk capes, enchanting everyone she meets and plotting her next move. Expect big laughs, surprise cameos, and a scandalous final twist.
Lady Macbeth (2016)
It’s impossible to take your eyes off Florence Pugh in William Oldroyd’s steely, rather Hitchcockian thriller set in 19th-century Northumberland. She plays a teenager who is married off to a tyrannical older man (Paul Hilton) and forbidden from leaving their estate. When he has to travel on business, she gets a taste of freedom, falls for a rugged groomsman (Cosmo Jarvis), and decides to take control of her life. The performances are haunting, the set decoration pristine, and the tension ever-intensifying.
Carol (2015)
An adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s seminal 1952 novel The Price of Salt, Todd Haynes’s masterpiece, set in 1950s New York, tells the story of a glamorous married woman (Cate Blanchett) and an aspiring photographer (Rooney Mara) who embark on a forbidden and passionate romance that changes their lives. It received six Oscar nominations, including for Carter Burwell’s score and Sandy Powell’s costumes.
Downton Abbey (2010-2025)
Written and created by Julian Fellowes—who also wrote Gosford Park and The Gilded Age, among other period classics—this acclaimed 52-episode, six season British series might just be one of the best period dramas ever made: It won several Emmy Awards, BAFTA Awards, and was nominated for numerous Golden Globes over the course of its five-year run. With (mostly) fine-toothed historical accuracy, it follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants as the navigate the sinking of the Titanic, World War I, the Spanish flu, and the Irish War of Independence—as well as their own personal trials and triumphs.
Though the series, which premiered on PBS in the United States in 2010, ended its television run in 2015, fans dusted off their coats, tails, and evening gowns for a film adaptation some four years after the show’s finale—and then once more for a second film in 2022. Also written by series creator Fellowes, the first film continues the show’s plot, with much of the original cast intact, depicting a 1927 royal visit to the titular mansion; while the second film sees the Crawleys venture to the south of France. In 2025, yet another film is set to come out, again featuring most of the show’s actors—though sadly not the late, great Maggie Smith, so indelible as the inimitable Lady Violet.
Belle (2013)
A remarkable true story forms the basis of Amma Asante’s swoon-worthy romance. It sees Gugu Mbatha-Raw play Dido Elizabeth Belle, the mixed-race daughter of a Royal Navy captain. Born into slavery in the 18th century, she becomes an heiress who attracts her fair share of suitors, until an idealistic lawyer (Sam Reid) catches her eye. Their relationship marks Dido’s political awakening, as she considers her position in society against the people of color who are still treated as property.
Wuthering Heights (2011)
Elemental and erotic, Andrea Arnold’s reimagining of Emily Brontë’s 19th-century novel drips with longing. It casts Solomon Glave and James Howson as younger and older incarnations of Heathcliff—marking the first time the Byronic hero has been played by Black actors—and Shannon Beer and Kaya Scodelario as the wild and wayward Cathy. As childhood friends, they run through misty marshes and windswept hilltops together, but as adults their love soon proves to be mutually destructive.
Atonement (2007)
Based on Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel, Joe Wright’s sensuous, sweeping drama, mainly set around World War II, follows two young lovers (Keira Knightley and James McAvoy) who are kept apart by a lie told by her jealous younger sister (Saoirse Ronan) and its far-reaching consequences. It was nominated for seven Oscars, including picture, art direction, and costume, and won for Dario Marianelli’s score—but many will remember most Knightley’s ravishing green silk dress in a pivotal scene.
Marie Antoinette (2006)
With shopping montages set to 1980s pop, salacious masked balls, and midnight wanders through Versailles, Sofia Coppola’s account of the doomed French queen’s reign is gleefully subversive. As embodied by a fresh-faced Kirsten Dunst, she is an exuberant teenager who seeks solace from her loveless marriage in reckless hedonism. From the candy-colored Manolo Blahniks to her ruffled silk ballgowns, the film is a visual feast that lets you revel in the pleasures of centuries past.
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Director Joe Wright’s version of the Jane Austen classic stars Keira Knightley as the headstrong Elizabeth Bennet, who juggles family drama with a rather hectic romantic life. After the iconic lake scene, you won’t look at a pre-Succession Matthew Macfadyen (who plays a strapping Mr. Darcy) the same way again.
Gosford Park (2001)
A murder occurs during a relaxing weekend at a hunting estate; each person in the pretentious group gathered becomes a suspect. With an Oscar-winning original screenplay by Julian Fellowes (who would later create Downton Abbey) and directed by the legendary Robert Altman, the 1930s-set film features a powerhouse ensemble cast, including Richard E. Grant, Helen Mirren, Clive Owen, Maggie Smith, and Kristin Scott Thomas and was nominated for seven Oscars, including art direction and costume design.
In the Mood for Love (2000)
In Wong Kar-wai’s slow-burn classic about loss and desire, two lonely neighbors in 1960s Hong Kong (a stunning Maggie Cheung and a smoldering Tony Leung) eventually develop a star-crossed love. It consistently appears on rankings of the best films of all time; Sofia Coppola acknowledged it as the primary inspiration behind Lost in Translation, thanking Wong in her Oscar acceptance speech, and directors The Daniels also cited it as an influence on Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Elizabeth (1998)
Cate Blanchett’s breakout role was as the Virgin Queen in this sumptuous film directed by Shekhar Kapur about Elizabeth I’s early reign and the various plots and threats to dethrone her. It received seven Oscar nominations—including for best picture, actress, art direction, costume, and score—and won for best makeup.
The Age of Innocence (1993)
Still considered by many to be Martin Scorsese’s finest work, this adaptation of Edith Wharton’s 1920 novel, set in 1870s New York high society, tells the devastating story of a wealthy lawyer (Daniel Day-Lewis) who falls in love with a countess (Michelle Pfeiffer) although he is engaged to her young cousin (Winona Ryder). It won the Oscar for best costume design and was nominated for four more, including best score and art direction.
Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Hang on to your beauty marks: In Stephen Frears’s adaptation of the epistolary French classic, a scheming widow (a delicious Glenn Close) makes a bet with her manipulative ex-lover (a reptilian John Malkovich) about the corruption of a chaste woman (Michelle Pfeiffer). It received seven Oscar nominations, including for the best picture, and won three, including costume and production design.
The Leopard (1963)
In Luchino Visconti’s Palme d’Or–winning epic, an aging nobleman (a splendid Burt Lancaster, with his English dialogue dubbed over in Italian) attemps to preserve his family and class during the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860s Sicily that eventually led to Italy’s unification. Supporting cast like Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale handsomely fill out Piero Tosi’s dazzling costumes, which were nominated for an Oscar.
