Okay, so I’ve been on this HUGE period drama kick lately. I just re-watched “The Duchess” with Keira Knightley, and I was like, “I NEED MORE MOVIES LIKE THIS.” So, I started digging around, and let me tell you, it was a bit of a journey. Here’s how it went down:
First, I just straight-up Googled “movies similar to The Duchess”. You know, the basic approach. I got a bunch of lists, some helpful, some…not so much. I made myself a little list in my notebook of the ones that popped up most often.
My Initial List
- Pride & Prejudice (Okay, duh, seen it a million times, love it.)
- Atonement (Also seen it, also love it, also incredibly sad.)
- Marie Antoinette (This one seemed promising, visually similar at least.)
- The Other Boleyn Girl (Intrigue! Drama! I was into it.)
- Becoming Jane (Another Austen-related one, seemed worth a shot.)
Then, I decided to get a little more specific. I really liked the whole “doomed marriage in a lavish setting” thing that “The Duchess” had going on. So I tried searching for “period dramas with unhappy marriages”. That brought up some interesting results, but also a lot of stuff that was way too modern.
I refined my search again, adding “18th century” to the mix. That helped narrow things down a bit. I found a few more that looked promising, like “Dangerous Liaisons” and “The Young Victoria”.
I then dove into some movie forums. I figured real people might have better recommendations than some random website. And I was right! Someone on a historical drama forum suggested “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” which, while not exactly the same vibe, looked AMAZING.
I also spent some time just browsing through streaming services, looking at the “recommended for you” sections after watching “The Duchess.” That’s how I stumbled upon “Belle,” which wasn’t on any of the lists I found, but ended up being pretty good.
So, after all that searching, watching trailers, and reading reviews, I ended up with a pretty solid list of movies to check out. It wasn’t a perfect process, but it was definitely fun, like a little treasure hunt. My weekend is now officially booked!
