Best movies like Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Thomas Hardy's classic epic remains one of the most popular novels, this TV adaptation vividly depicts the powerful tale of a peasant girl whose life is torn apart by the love and jealousy of two men. Justine Waddell stars as the hapless Child of Nature who is tossed around by the dark forces of fate. Jason Flemyng is the dark and sinister Alec D'Urberville whose relentless pursuit of Tess triggers the heroine's downfall. Oliver Milburn plays the handsome young Angel Clare, the caring rebel who falls deeply in love with Tess.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: period piece, romantic, costume drama, historical drama, atmospheric, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, period drama
Best tv shows and movies like Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1998):
Similar in 80%
Torrents of Spring (1989)
Plot Summary:
In 1840, a young Russian aristocrat, Dimitri Sanin, is returning home after a long tour of Europe. In Germany, he falls in love with a beautiful pastry shop girl, Gemma Rosselli, who soon starts sharing his feelings. They decide to get married and, in order to finance the wedding, Dimitri goes back to Russia to sell his family estate. Unfortunately he falls prey to a seductress, Princess Maria Nikolaevna, who pretends to be willing to buy his land to come nearer him. Now Sanin is in a fix: should he choose the pure Gemma or the evil but irresistible Maria?.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 414
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France, Italy
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: clever, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, sexual, sexy, period drama
Similar in 82%
Madame Bovary (2000)
Plot Summary:
A young woman in her late teens, a reader of novels and with high hopes of romance and passion, marries a widowed country doctor. Although he dotes on her, she is soon bored and discontent. First, she gives her imagination to a law student in town, and next she takes a lover. When he refuses to run away with her, she takes up again with the law clerk. Her spending on dresses and furnishings mounts; these debts and her ill-advised professional counsel to her husband bring his ruin.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 994
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: period piece, emotional, psychological, serious, realistic, costume drama, historical romance, gloomy, fairy tale, period drama
Similar in 83%
The Woodlanders (1997)
Plot Summary:
The story is set in late 19th century rural corner of South England. The daughter of timber merchant Melbury, Grace, returns to the town after finishing school. Her father now believes she can find a better husband than her childhood sweetheart, woodsman Giles. She marries handsome young doctor Fitzpiers, but soon finds out he's not the man of her dreams and she still loves Giles.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 741
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: costume drama, serious, realistic, independent film, period piece, period drama
Similar in 87%
Far from the Madding Crowd (1998)
Plot Summary:
This powerful adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic novel spins a story of passion and destruction set in the nineteenth century. The proud, flighty and bewitching Bathsheba Everdene finds herself entangled into the passions of three men and her impulsive nature pushes her into a web of deceit and destruction.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 955
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 54 min
Plot tags: costume drama, historical drama, serious, realistic, period drama
Similar in 79%
Lady Chatterley's Lover (2015)
Plot Summary:
An early-20th-century tale of love across class boundaries which tells the legendary and romantic story of Lady Chatterley’s affair with her gamekeeper. Jed Mercurio’s adaptation of DH Lawrence’s classic.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, erotic, costume drama, sentimental, captivating, disturbing, period piece, romantic drama, historical drama
Similar in 77%
Under the Greenwood Tree (2005)
Plot Summary:
Set in a rustic English village in the mid 19th century, Under The Greenwood Tree tells the story of a poor young man who falls for a middle-class schoolteacher and attempts to win her over.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, semi serious, costume drama, captivating, period piece, historical drama, sexual, sexy, period drama
Similar in 89%
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008)
Plot Summary:
Forced by poverty to seek support, the innocent Tess Durbeyfield seeks the help of the D'Urbervilles.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: sincere, costume drama, clever, period piece, realistic, historical drama, historical romance, talky, fairy tale, period drama
Similar in 77%
Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991)
Plot Summary:
An English widow goes to Italy, falls in love with a dentist's son and marries him, against her straitlaced family's wishes.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period piece, cult classic, historical drama, independent film, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, stylized
Similar in 83%
The Inheritance (1997)
Plot Summary:
At the lush Evenswood estate in Concord, Massachusetts, Edith Adelon, a beautiful orphan, lives as the paid companion to the daughter of the wealthy Hamilton family, although they regard her as one of their own. Years ago, Henry Hamilton saved Edith from an Italian orphanage at the request of his long-deceased brother. Now, Edith is his daughter Amy's prized friend and confidante. As the Hamiltons await a trio of visitors for the annual Greens Cup horse race, Beatrice Hamilton asks for Edith's help in finding a suitable husband for a cousin, Ida Glenshaw, with one of two visiting eligible bachelors. But when it becomes clear that both the young men have affection for Edith and not Ida, jealousy soon develops, leading to malicious conniving and brutal backstabbing.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: period piece, touching, serious, realistic, period drama
Similar in 75%
The Way We Live Now (2001)
Plot Summary:
The Way We Live Now is a 2001 four-part television adaptation of the Anthony Trollope novel The Way We Live Now. The serial was first broadcast on the BBC and was directed by David Yates, written by Andrew Davies and produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark. David Suchet starred as Auguste Melmotte, with Shirley Henderson as his daughter Marie, Matthew Macfadyen as Sir Felix Carbury, Cillian Murphy as Paul Montague and Miranda Otto as Mrs Hurtle.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 300 min
Plot tags: period piece, serious, costume drama, realistic, captivating, historical drama, witty, biting, romantic drama, suspense
Similar in 90%
The Wings of the Dove (1997)
Plot Summary:
Kate is secretly betrothed to a struggling journalist, Merton Densher. But she knows her Aunt Maude will never approve of the match, since Kate's deceased mother has lost all her money in a marriage to a degenerate opium addict. When Kate meets a terminally ill American heiress named Millie traveling through Europe, she comes up with a conniving plan to have both love and wealth.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sexy, atmospheric, period piece, serious, costume drama, romantic, visual, visually stunning, stylized, retro
Similar in 85%
Jude (1996)
Plot Summary:
In late 19th-century England, Jude aspires to be an academic, but is hobbled by his blue-collar background. Instead, he works as a stonemason and is trapped in an unloving marriage to a farmer's daughter named Arabella. But when his wife leaves him, Jude sees an opportunity to improve himself. He moves to the city and begins an affair with his married cousin, Sue, courting tragedy every step of the way.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: emotional, erotic, period piece, romantic, depressing, bleak, thought provoking, bad ending, anamorphic, cult classic
Similar in 84%
Ethan Frome (1992)
Plot Summary:
Based on the novel of the same name by Edith Wharton, it is about a husband and wife (Ethan and Zeena), who need an extra hand around the house due to Zeena's debilitated body and constant illness. The young woman who joins them is a beautiful, spirited person. She and Ethan fall in love much to the dismay of Zeena. Written by Jason Ihle.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: emotional, intense, costume drama, sentimental, captivating, serious, realistic, contemplative, independent film, light
Similar in 75%
Tess (1979)
Plot Summary:
This multiple-Oscar-winning film by Roman Polanski is an exquisite, richly layered adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. A strong-willed peasant girl (Nastassja Kinski, in a gorgeous breakthrough) is sent by her father to the estate of some local aristocrats to capitalize on a rumor that their families are from the same line. This fateful visit commences an epic narrative of sex, class, betrayal, and revenge, which Polanski unfolds with deliberation and finesse. With its earthy visual textures, achieved by two world-class cinematographers—Geoffrey Unsworth (Cabaret) and Ghislain Cloquet (Au hasard Balthazar)—Tess is a work of great pastoral beauty as well as vivid storytelling.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France
Duration: 186 min
Plot tags: period piece, scenic, costume drama, visually appealing, atmospheric, art house, epic, philosophical, psychedelic, cynical
Similar in 84%
Great Expectations (1999)
Plot Summary:
A young boy called Pip stumbles upon a hunted criminal who threatens him and demands food. A few years later, Pip finds that he has a benefactor. Imagining that Miss Havisham, a rich lady whose adopted daughter Estella he loves, is the benefactor, Pip believes in a grand plan at the end of which he will be married to Estella. However, when the criminal from his childhood turns up one stormy night and reveals that he, Magwitch, is his benefactor, Pip finds his dreams crumbling. Although initially repulsed by his benefactor, Pip gradually becomes loyal to him and stays with him until his death.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 168 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, sincere, captivating, period piece, costume drama, realistic, period drama, weird
Similar in 80%
The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
Plot Summary:
In this story-within-a-story, Anna is an actress starring opposite Mike in a period piece about the forbidden love between their respective characters, Sarah and Charles. Both actors are involved in serious relationships, but the passionate nature of the script leads to an off-camera love affair as well. While attempting to maintain their composure and professionalism, Anna and Mike struggle to come to terms with their infidelity.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: romantic, emotional, costume drama, scenic, stylized, atmospheric, clever, postmodern, erotic, retro
Similar in 87%
Anna Karenina (1997)
Plot Summary:
Anna (Marceau) is a wife and mother who has an affair with the handsome Count Vronsky (Bean). Based on the novel by Tolstoy.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Russia, UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: costume drama, romantic, psychological, atmospheric, emotional, romantic drama, sentimental, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 80%
Wuthering Heights (1970)
Plot Summary:
The Earnshaws are Yorkshire farmers during the early 19th Century. One day, Mr. Earnshaw returns from a trip to the city, bringing with him a ragged little boy called Heathcliff. Earnshaw's son, Hindley, resents the child, but Heathcliff becomes companion and soulmate to Hindley's sister, Catherine. After her parents die, Cathy and Heathcliff grow up wild and free on the Moors and despite the continued enmity between Hindley and Heathcliff they're happy-- until Cathy meets Edgar Linton, the son of a wealthy neighbor. Written by Marg Baskin.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: gothic, costume drama, atmospheric, entertaining, romantic drama, sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 82%
Wuthering Heights (1992)
Plot Summary:
Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: romantic, gothic, atmospheric, emotional, period piece, heartbreaking, touching, melancholic, costume drama, romantic drama
Similar in 81%
Jane Eyre (1996)
Plot Summary:
Jane Eyre is an orphan cast out as a young girl by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and sent to be raised in a harsh charity school for girls. There she learns to be come a teacher and eventually seeks employment outside the school. Her advertisement is answered by the housekeeper of Thornfield Hall, Mrs. Fairfax.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Italy, UK, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: romantic, costume drama, melancholic, period piece, emotional, intense, realistic, gothic, serious, romantic drama
Similar in 77%
Jane Eyre (1997)
Plot Summary:
Charlotte Bronte's classic novel is filmed yet again. The story of the Yorkshire orphan who becomes a governess to a young French girl and finds love with the brooding lord of the manor is given a standard romantic flare, but sparks do not seem to happen between the two leads in this version.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: costume drama, gothic, atmospheric, emotional, spiritual, sincere, serious, realistic, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 82%
Mansfield Park (1999)
Plot Summary:
This fun and sexy comedy tells a timelessly entertaining story where wealthy, secret passions and mischievous women put love to the test.. When a spirited young woman, Fanny Price, is sent away to live on the great country estate of her rich cousins, she's meant to learn the ways of proper society. But while Fanny learns "their" ways, she also enlightens them with a wit and sparkle all her own!.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: period piece, witty, costume drama, romantic, sexy, atmospheric, breathtaking, educational, happy, romantic drama
Similar in 80%
Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
Plot Summary:
Based on the literary classic by Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd is the story of independent, beautiful and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene, who attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer, captivated by her fetching willfulness; Frank Troy, a handsome and reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor. This timeless story of Bathsheba's choices and passions explores the nature of relationships and love – as well as the human ability to overcome hardships through resilience and perseverance.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 53000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: romantic, period piece, emotional, costume drama, sexy, visually stunning, scenic, talky, historical drama, inspirational
Similar in 87%
North & South (2004)
Plot Summary:
North & South is a British television drama serial, produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in four episodes on BBC One in November and December 2004. It follows the story of Margaret Hale, a young woman from southern England who has to move to the North after her father decides to leave the clergy. The family struggles to adjust itself to the industrial town's customs, especially after meeting the Thorntons, a proud family of cotton mill owners who seem to despise their social inferiors. The story explores the issues of class and gender, as Margaret's sympathy for the town mill workers conflicts with her growing attraction to John Thornton. The serial is based on the 1855 Victorian novel North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. It was adapted for television by Sandy Welch and directed by Brian Percival.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 235 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, sincere, captivating, costume drama, period piece, romantic, historical drama, romantic drama, heartbreaking
Similar in 78%
Great Expectations (2012)
Plot Summary:
Miss Havisham, a wealthy spinster who wears an old wedding dress and lives in the dilapidated Satis House, asks Pip's "Uncle Pumblechook" (who is actually Joe's uncle) to find a boy to play with her adopted daughter Estella. Pip begins to visit Miss Havisham and Estella, with whom he falls in love,then Pip a humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: captivating, emotional, sentimental, serious, realistic, costume drama, period piece, gothic, sex comedy, cult classic
Similar in 87%
Mansfield Park (2007)
Plot Summary:
In Mansfield Park, poverty-stricken Fanny Price is sent away to live with her wealthy uncle and aunt at Mansfield Park. As she struggles to adapt to her new lifestyle she begins to attract the attentions of suitors, learning about the sexual politics of high society along the way.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: period piece, costume drama, realistic, witty, stylized, romantic, historical drama, touching, gloomy, semi serious
Similar in 85%
The Portrait of a Lady (1996)
Plot Summary:
Ms. Isabel Archer isn't afraid to challenge societal norms. Impressed by her free spirit, her kindhearted cousin writes her into his fatally ill father's will. Suddenly rich and independent, Isabelle ventures into the world, along the way befriending a cynical intellectual and romancing an art enthusiast. However, the advantage of her affluence is called into question when she realizes the extent to which her money colors her relationships.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: psychological, intellectual, period piece, costume drama, talky, atmospheric, serious, romantic, stylized, historical drama
Similar in 77%
The Governess (1998)
Plot Summary:
When the father of privileged Rosina da Silva violently dies, she decides to pass herself off as a gentile and finds employment with a family in faraway Scotland. Soon she and the family father, Charles, start a passionate secret affair.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: enigmatic, emotional, colorful, period piece, costume drama, atmospheric, scenic, serious, historical drama, realistic
Similar in 86%
Jane Eyre (2011)
Plot Summary:
After a bleak childhood, Jane Eyre goes out into the world to become a governess. As she lives happily in her new position at Thornfield Hall, she meet the dark, cold, and abrupt master of the house, Mr. Rochester. Jane and her employer grow close in friendship and she soon finds herself falling in love with him. Happiness seems to have found Jane at last, but could Mr. Rochester's terrible secret be about to destroy it forever?.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 92000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: romantic, touching, gothic, atmospheric, captivating, costume drama, period piece, visually appealing, sexy, emotional
Similar in 77%
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Plot Summary:
Rich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. Two daughters are the titular opposites.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 123000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: romantic, feel good, sincere, dramatic, sentimental, costume drama, period piece, emotional, touching, atmospheric