Best movies like The French Lieutenant's Woman
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies related to The French Lieutenant's Woman? Share your insights to direct others discover tv shows and movies you've already seen that might suit them too. Boost the cohort of people recommending videos to one another. We value your contribution!
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
Best tv shows and movies like The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981):
Similar in 90%
A Handful of Dust (1988)
Plot Summary:
The wife's affair and a death in the family hasten the demise of an upper-class English marriage.We see the detritus of an abandoned camp in South America and a main character's hallucination. Then, the story beings. Tony and Brenda Last, lord and lady, live on his enormous estate with their young son. Tony's not much for parties, and Brenda joins London society, on the arm of a penniless man, John Beaver, a hanger-on at Tony's club. John is encouraged by his entrepreneurial mother, who sees a quid in Tony and Brenda. Brenda and John become lovers, Brenda spends more and more time in London, and Tony's without a clue. Then, bringing things to a head are tragedy, law suits, greed, and what should be a few-months' expedition to Brazil. We are each of us merely a handful of dust.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: stylized, costume drama, clever, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, biting, independent film, suspense
Similar in 84%
Lord Jim (1965)
Plot Summary:
After being discredited as a coward, a 19th century seaman (Peter O'Toole) lives for only one purpose: to redeem himself. Based on Joseph Conrad's novel written in 1900.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 154 min
Plot tags: tense, sad, art house, epic, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, psychological, philosophical
Similar in 82%
The House of the Spirits (1993)
Plot Summary:
A rancher, his clairvoyant wife and their family face turbulent years in South America.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany, Denmark, Portugal
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, family saga, melancholic, realistic, costume drama, sexy, mystical, erotic
Similar in 75%
Suzhou River (2000)
Plot Summary:
A tragic love story set in contemporary Shanghai. The film stars Zhou Xun in a dual role as two different women and Jia Hongsheng as a man obsessed with finding a woman from his past.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany, China
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: neo noir, psychological, atmospheric, serious, stylized, sad, clever, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 84%
The Scarlet Letter (1995)
Plot Summary:
Set in puritanical Boston in the mid 1600s, the story of seamstress Hester Prynne, who is outcast after she becomes pregnant by a respected reverend. She refuses to divulge the name of the father, is "convicted" of adultery and forced to wear a scarlet "A" until an Indian attack unites the Puritans and leads to a reevaluation of their laws and morals.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: sexy, romantic, costume drama, stylized, erotic, realistic, serious, period piece, sexual, gothic
Similar in 82%
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%
Onegin (1999)
Plot Summary:
In the opulent St. Petersburg of the Empire period, Eugene Onegin is a jaded but dashing aristocrat - a man often lacking in empathy, who suffers from restlessness, melancholy and, finally, regret. Through his best friend Lensky, Onegin is introduced to the young Tatiana. A passionate and virtuous girl, she soon falls hopelessly under the spell of the aloof newcomer and professes her love for him.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, period piece, romantic, costume drama, romantic drama, realistic, art house, historical romance, contemplative, clever
Similar in 83%
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 85%
The Golden Bowl (2000)
Plot Summary:
An intricately plotted tale of thwarted love and betrayal, "The Golden Bowl" tells the story of an extravagantly rich American widower and his sheltered daughter, both of whom marry only to discover that their respective mates, a beautiful American expatriate and an impoverished Italian aristocrat, are entangled with one another in a romantic intrigue of seduction and deceit.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, France, UK
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: period piece, serious, stylized, realistic, costume drama, suspense, romantic drama, historical drama, clever, biting
Similar in 82%
Falling in Love (1984)
Plot Summary:
During shopping for Christmas, Frank and Molly run into each other. This fleeting short moment will start to change their lives, when they recognize each other months later in the train home and have a good time together. Although both are married and Frank has two little kids, they meet more and more often, their friendship becoming the most precious thing in their lives.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: romantic, sentimental, light, sweet, melancholic, emotional, touching, sincere, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 88%
The House of Mirth (2000)
Plot Summary:
A woman risks losing her chance of happiness with the only man she has ever loved.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Romance, Drama
Country: UK, France, Germany, USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period piece, atmospheric, emotional, melancholic, witty, talky, intense, thought provoking, independent film
Similar in 79%
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 85%
The End of the Affair (1999)
Plot Summary:
On a rainy London night in 1946, novelist Maurice Bendrix has a chance meeting with Henry Miles, husband of his ex-mistress Sarah, who abruptly ended their affair two years before. Bendrix's obsession with Sarah is rekindled; he succumbs to his own jealousy and arranges to have her followed.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: romantic, erotic, intellectual, heartbreaking, enigmatic, melancholic, period piece, atmospheric, sexy, romantic drama
Similar in 78%
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Plot Summary:
Deformed since birth, a bitter man known only as the Phantom lives in the sewers underneath the Paris Opera House. He falls in love with the obscure chorus singer Christine, and privately tutors her while terrorizing the rest of the opera house and demanding Christine be given lead roles. Things get worse when Christine meets back up with her childhood acquaintance Raoul and the two fall in love.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 129000
Genere: Drama, Musical, Romance, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: gothic, stylized, breathtaking, captivating, gothic horror, sentimental, serious, period piece, lyrical, romantic
Similar in 90%
Out of Africa (1985)
Plot Summary:
Out of Africa tells the story of the life of Danish author Karen Blixen, who at the beginning of the 20th century moved to Africa to build a new life for herself. The film is based on the autobiographical novel by Karen Blixen from 1937.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 85000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 161 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, romantic, period piece, scenic, costume drama, epic, sentimental, heartbreaking
Similar in 75%
M. Butterfly (1993)
Plot Summary:
In 1960s China, French diplomat Rene Gallimard falls in love with an opera singer, Song Liling - but Song is not at all who Gallimard thinks.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: erotic, neo noir, mysterious, independent film, metafiction, cult classic, serious, realistic, psychological, romantic
Similar in 75%
Anna Karenina (2012)
Plot Summary:
Trapped in a loveless marriage, aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the affluent Count Vronsky.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 105000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period piece, sentimental, emotional, stylized, romantic, colorful, surreal, talky, visual
Similar in 80%
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 81%
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 78%
The Remains of the Day (1993)
Plot Summary:
A rule bound head butler's world of manners and decorum in the household he maintains is tested by the arrival of a housekeeper who falls in love with him in post-WWI Britain. The possibility of romance and his master's cultivation of ties with the Nazi cause challenge his carefully maintained veneer of servitude.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 82000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: period piece, costume drama, emotional, romantic, breathtaking, sad, sincere, touching, depressing, romantic drama
Similar in 81%
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 75%
The Age of Innocence (1993)
Plot Summary:
Tale of 19th century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 66000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: touching, costume drama, atmospheric, stylized, period piece, sexy, romantic, emotional, talky, intense
Similar in 85%
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 82%
Howards End (1992)
Plot Summary:
A saga of class relations and changing times in an Edwardian England on the brink of modernity, the film centers on liberal Margaret Schlegel, who, along with her sister Helen, becomes involved with two couples: wealthy, conservative industrialist Henry Wilcox and his wife Ruth, and the downwardly mobile working-class Leonard Bast and his mistress Jackie.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Japan, USA
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: romantic, costume drama, emotional, period piece, stylized, light, melancholic, talky, compassionate, realistic
Similar in 76%
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 79%
Orlando (1992)
Plot Summary:
In 1600, nobleman Orlando inherits his parents' house, thanks to Queen Elizabeth I, who commands the young man to never change. After a disastrous affair with Russian princess Sasha, Orlando looks for solace in the arts before being appointed ambassador to Constantinople in 1700, where war is raging. One morning, Orlando is shocked to wake up as a woman and returns home, struggling as a female to retain her property as the centuries roll by.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: UK, Russia, Italy, France, Netherlands
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: surreal, stylized, period piece, art house, enigmatic, satirical, visual, visually stunning, atmospheric, clever
Similar in 82%
Damage (1992)
Plot Summary:
The life of a respected British politician at the height of his career crumbles when he becomes obsessed with his son's lover.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sexy, sexual, erotic, melancholic, psychological, sensual, emotional, realistic, non-linear, romantic
Similar in 81%
The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
Plot Summary:
Photographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 87000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: romantic, heartbreaking, atmospheric, touching, sad, sentimental, tear jerker, uplifting, feel good, erotic
Similar in 81%
Persuasion (2007)
Plot Summary:
Persuasion is the newest adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel of the same name published in 1818. Anne falls deeply in love with handsome young naval officer Frederick Wentworth at the age of nineteen.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Action, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: romantic, emotional, period piece, costume drama, sentimental, stylized, dramatic, visually appealing, sweet, romantic drama
Similar in 82%
Sophie's Choice (1982)
Plot Summary:
Stingo, a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie and her lover Nathan, he learns that she is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan's relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan's fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 52000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: depressing, sad, realistic, heartbreaking, serious, touching, crying, emotional, bleak, disturbing