Best tv shows like Les Misérables
Last updated March 2024
Looking for tv shows similar to Les Misérables? Share your knowledge to help others find tv series and films you've viewed already that might suit them too. Aid in growing the cohort of people putting forward videos to one another. We welcome your contribution!
Plot Summary:
The scene is set during the French Restoration at the beginning of the 19th century. Jean Valjean, a galley slave who was sent to prison for stealing food, is now released after serving nineteen years. At first he only encounter mistrust and closed doors; only the saintly Bishop Bienvenu treats him kindly and takes him in. The bishop's truly Christian compassion and humanity not only restores Jean Valjean's faith in the good, but also smoothes his way back to an orderly life. As Monsieur Madeleine, Valjean is soon a wealthy industrialist and popular citizen, even becoming the mayor of a small provincial town.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: France, Italy, Spain, Germany, USA
Duration: 400 min
Plot tags: suspense, emotional, melancholic, touching, serious, costume drama, period piece, fairy tale, artsy, historical drama
Best tv shows and movies like Les Misérables (2000):
Similar in 87%
War and Peace (2007)
Plot Summary:
War and Peace delineates in graphic detail events leading up to the French invasion of Russia, and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society, as seen through the eyes of five Russian aristocratic families. Portions of an earlier version of the novel, then known as The Year 1805,were serialized in the magazine The Russian Messenger between 1865 and 1867.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: Italy, France, Germany, Russia, Poland
Duration: 394 min
Plot tags: captivating, stylized, epic, emotional, contemplative, romantic, historical drama, fairy tale, period piece, costume drama
Similar in 88%
A Cursed Monarchy (2005)
Plot Summary:
It is the early 1300's and the treasury of France, under the rule of Philippe IV (Philippe le Bel or Philippe the Beautiful), is empty. The king decides the only solution is to raid the treasures of the Knights Templar (amongst others) and concocts various charges of treason, heresy and deviance against the Knights and their Grand Master Jacques de Molay. Having confessed under torture to the crimes of which he is accused, de Molay is condemned to be burned at the stake. With his dying breath he curses the king, the king's advisor (Guillaume de Nogaret), the pope (Pope Clement V) and the thirteen succeeding generations of their families. There follows one of the most dramatic periods in French history, half a century of political intrigue, murder, treason, war and famine, which ultimately culminates in the 100 Years War.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 559
Genere: Drama, History
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 500 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, mysterious, disturbing
Similar in 86%
The Mayor of Casterbridge (2003)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel. At a country fair, young hay-trusser Michael Henchard quarrels with his wife Susan, and in a drunken fit decides to auction off his wife and baby to a sailor for five guineas. The next day, realising his loss, he swears not to touch liquor again for as many years as he has lived so far. Eighteen years later, Henchard has become Mayor of Casterbridge, a man well respected but not well liked. The unexpected return of his wife and daughter Elizabeth Jane sets off a turn of events that force him to face the consequences of his selfish impulses and violent temper.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 196 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, costume drama, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 76%
Rag Nymph (1997)
Plot Summary:
Seperated from her prostitute mother as the woman flees on foot down the filthy mid-19th century streets of Newcastle from the police, ten year old Millie is taken under the wing of rag lady Aggie Winkovski and her crippled helper, Ben. Young Millie is a very well-brought up little girl, which Aggie questions and finds out that her mother had been a ladies maid before being forced into prostitution. Aggie ends up becoming Millie's guardian, protecting her from the local pimp, Boswell, who wants to have pretty Millie as part of his business, and we see Millie grow up to a happy, well educated young woman on Aggie's sparse finances; but is she still safe from the hands of Boswell and his customers?.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 565
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: costume drama, touching, serious, realistic, period drama
Similar in 90%
Oliver Twist (2007)
Plot Summary:
Oliver is born into poverty and misfortune - the son of an unmarried mother, who dies shortly after his birth. He is soon delivered to the workhouse, where the cruel Mr. Bumble oversees children tormented by starvation and suffering. When Oliver dares to ask for more gruel, he finds himself cast out and forced to make his own way in the world.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 176 min
Plot tags: costume drama, sentimental, touching, sincere, captivating, juvenile, historical drama, bleak, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 88%
Vanity Fair (2018)
Plot Summary:
An adaptation of the 1848 novel by William Makepeace Thackeray.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: stylized, atmospheric, costume drama, period piece, historical drama, witty, period drama
Similar in 78%
Jamestown (2017)
Plot Summary:
The early 17th Century story of three courageous, dynamic women who leave their dark pasts behind in England, and make the journey of a lifetime across the ocean for a new life in America.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, suspense, realistic, costume drama, disturbing, historical drama, period piece, captivating, melancholic, period drama
Similar in 79%
The Mill (2013)
Plot Summary:
Powerful historical drama series, based on the lives of real people, telling the story of young 19th-century apprentices taking their lives into their own hands for the first time.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, captivating, stylized, psychological, rough, period piece, costume drama, grim, historical drama
Similar in 76%
Our Mutual Friend (1998)
Plot Summary:
Intertwining tales of love, greed, and secret identities in Charles Dickens's 1860s London.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 350 min
Plot tags: costume drama, period piece, historical drama, serious, captivating, realistic, period drama
Similar in 80%
The Forsyte Saga (2002)
Plot Summary:
In 2002, the first two books and the first interlude of John Galsworthy's trilogy The Forsyte Saga were adapted by Granada Television for the ITV network. Additional funding for this production was provided by American PBS station WGBH, the 1967 BBC version having been a success on PBS in the early 1970s.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 276 min
Plot tags: period piece, family saga, realistic, costume drama, serious, saga, historical drama, touching, stylized, romantic drama
Similar in 78%
Mayerling (1968)
Plot Summary:
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria (Omar Sharif) clashes with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (James Mason), over implementing progressive policies for their country. Ava Gardner plays his mother Empress Elisabeth. Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that does not realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales (James Robertson Justice), later to become Britain's King Edward VII, provides comic relief. Rudolf finds refuge from a loveless marriage with Princess Stéphanie (Andréa Parisy) by taking a mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera (Catherine Deneuve). Their untimely demise at Mayerling, the imperial family's hunting lodge, is cloaked in mystery, but the film's ending suggests the two lovers made a suicide pact when they decided they could not live in a world without love or prospects for peace.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK, France
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, independent film, costume drama, period drama
Similar in 79%
The Widow of Saint-Pierre (2000)
Plot Summary:
In 1850, on the isolated French island of Saint-Pierre, a murder shocks the natives. Two fishermen are arrested. One of them, Louis Ollivier, dies in custody. The other, Neel Auguste, is sentenced to death by the guillotine. The island is so small that it has neither a guillotine nor an executioner. While those are sent for Auguste is placed under the supervision of army Captain.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: France, Canada
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: emotional, compassionate, atmospheric, sincere, touching, intense, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 81%
Les Miserables (1978)
Plot Summary:
Jean Valjean, convicted of stealing bread, is hounded for decades by the relentless and cruel policeman Javert.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, social, tense, touching, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, period drama
Similar in 85%
Les Misérables (2018)
Plot Summary:
Television adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel which follows Jean Valjean as he evades capture by the unyielding Inspector Javert. Set against a backdrop of post-Napoleonic France as unrest beings to grip the city of Paris once more.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 372 min
Plot tags: romantic, period piece, touching, emotional, suspense, costume drama, romantic drama, period drama, cult film
Similar in 86%
Les Misérables (1982)
Plot Summary:
The story of Jean Valjean, a Frenchman convicted of minor crimes, who is hounded for years by an unforgiving and unrelenting police inspector, Javert.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: France, West Germany
Duration: 220 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, sentimental, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, nostalgic
Similar in 89%
War & Peace (1972)
Plot Summary:
The classic BBC dramatisation of Tolstoy's epic story of love and loss set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. Anthony Hopkins heads the cast as Pierre Bezuhov (a role for which he won the 1972 Best Actor BAFTA); Morag Hood is the impulsive and beautiful Natasha Rostova; Alan Dobie is the dour but heroic Andrei Bolkonsky; and David Swift is Napoleon, whose decision to invade Russia in 1812 has far-reaching consequences for Pierre and the Rostov and Bolkonsky families. The twenty-part serial was the vision of producer David Conroy whose principle aim was to transfer the rich characterisation and incident from Tolstoy's greatest novel to a television drama. Scripted by Jack Pulman and directed by John Davies, Conroy's War And Peace boasts superb acting, award-winning design (1972 Best Design BAFTA) and breathtaking battle sequences which were filmed in former Yugoslavia.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 716
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 890 min
Plot tags: fairy tale, costume drama, historical drama, exciting, intellectual, epic, serious, realistic, contemplative, period drama
Similar in 80%
War & Peace (2016)
Plot Summary:
Sumptuous BBC mini-series following the fortunes and the rise and fall of five aristocratic families in the waning days of imperial Russia.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: UK
Duration: 380 min
Plot tags: epic, captivating, stylized, serious, emotional, costume drama, realistic, historical drama, period piece, political
Similar in 79%
Banished (2015)
Plot Summary:
At its heart, Banished is a story of survival. Though it is set in the stark historical reality of the founding of the penal colony in Australia in 1788 after the arrival of the First Fleet, it is not the story of Australia and how it came to be. Rather, it is a tale of love, faith, justice and morality played out on an epic scale in a confined community where the stakes are literally life and death.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, historical drama, tense, realistic, captivating, costume drama, epic, period piece, period drama
Similar in 75%
Napoleon (2002)
Plot Summary:
The year is 1816, and NAPOLEON, held prisoner by the British on the island of St. Helena, is telling the young English girl BETSY his life story.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: France, Germany, Italy, Canada, USA, UK, Hungary, Spain, Czech Republic
Duration: 380 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, epic, political, costume drama, stylized, period drama
Similar in 78%
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 79%
The Book of Negroes (2015)
Plot Summary:
Kidnapped in Africa and subsequently enslaved in South Carolina, Aminata must navigate a revolution in New York, isolation in Nova Scotia and treacherous jungles of Sierra Leone, in an attempt to secure her freedom in the 19th century.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 265 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, emotional, disturbing, epic, serious, captivating, realistic, historical drama, stylized, uplifting
Similar in 85%
The Count of Monte Cristo (1998)
Plot Summary:
After nearly 20 years in prison, Edmond Dantes escapes the fortress Chateau d'If. He returns as the Count of Monte Cristo and recognizes that his love Mercedes has married another man. Now, he is only driven by revenge on the people who falsely accused him.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Adventure, History, Romance, Thriller
Country: France, Italy, Germany
Duration: 400 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, captivating, suspenseful, tense, fairy tale, action adventure, historical drama, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 87%
Les Misérables (2012)
Plot Summary:
An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France, in which a paroled prisoner named Jean Valjean seeks redemption.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 342000
Genere: Drama, Musical, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 158 min
Plot tags: inspirational, epic, emotional, period piece, suspense, historical drama, harsh, stylized, lyrical, heartbreaking
Similar in 79%
Aristocrats (1999)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, Aristocrats draws back the curtain on an 18th century English family near the summit of society, revealing a tapestry of romance, prejudice, infidelity, and revolution.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, Ireland, USA
Duration: 300 min
Plot tags: period piece, captivating, serious, historical drama, realistic, stylized, costume drama, romantic drama, historical romance, period drama
Similar in 77%
David Copperfield (1999)
Plot Summary:
Charles Dickens' haunting semi-autobiographical tale of a boy who is sent away by his stepfather after his mother dies but manages to triumph over incredible adversities.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 185 min
Plot tags: costume drama, atmospheric, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, spiritual, period piece
Similar in 82%
Great Expectations (2011)
Plot Summary:
'Great Expectations' opens with Pip as a boy (played as an young man by newcomer Douglas Booth, 'The Pillars of the Earth') on the marshes near his home, where he encounters the desperate escapee Magwitch (Winstone). Pip is coerced into stealing a metal file to break Magwitch's chains, but the boy willingly snares a piece of meat pie to feed the famished man. So begins a classic coming-of-age story about innate kindness and learned indifference. Young Pip expects no more from life than to join his brother-in-law Joe at the blacksmith's forge. But fate intervenes when the neighboring rich eccentric Miss Havisham (Anderson) seeks Pip out as a playmate for her adopted daughter, Estella (Vanessa Kirby, 'The Hour'). This sets Pip on a course that sees him tested in many ways, not least in being thrown into a wish-fulfillment paradise for a young man, where he has the pleasures of London at his disposal and true love - and great expectations - in his future. Or so he thinks.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, historical drama, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, costume drama, period piece, gothic, stylized
Similar in 75%
The Bonfire of Destiny (2019)
Plot Summary:
After a devastating fire in 1897 Paris, three women find their lives upended by betrayal, deception, and romantic turmoil. Inspired by real events.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: France
Duration: 48 min
Plot tags: touching, suspenseful, disturbing, contemplative, rough, unusual plot structure, suspense, saga, costume drama
Similar in 80%
The Knick (2014)
Plot Summary:
Set in downtown New York in 1900, 'The Knick' is centered on the Knickerbocker Hospital and the groundbreaking surgeons, nurses and staff who work there, pushing the bounds of medicine in a time of astonishingly high mortality rates and zero antibiotics. John Thackery is a brilliant surgeon pioneering new methods in the field, despite his secret addiction to cocaine. He leads a team of doctors including his protégé Dr. Everett Gallinger; the young Dr. Bertie Chickering Jr. and Dr. Algernon Edwards, a promising surgeon who's been recently thrust upon him. The lively cast of characters at the hospital also includes Cornelia Robertson, the daughter of its benefactor, Captain August Robertson; surly ambulance driver Tom Cleary; Lucy Elkins; a fresh-faced nurse from the country; the crooked hospital administrator Herman Barrow; and Sister Harriet, a nun who isn't afraid to speak her mind.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 52000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 58 min
Plot tags: serious, psychological, bleak, atmospheric, medical drama, rough, costume drama, historical drama, philosophical, gothic
Similar in 85%
Roots (1977)
Plot Summary:
African teen Kunta Kinte, brought to America to be enslaved, and the generations of his family.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 588 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, emotional, uplifting, suspense, historical drama, thought provoking, sincere, serious, epic
Similar in 75%
Les Misérables (1998)
Plot Summary:
Jean Valjean, a Frenchman imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a police officer named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Germany, USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: touching, costume drama, sincere, dramatic, epic, period piece, emotional, clever, fairy tale, social