Dramas based on contemporary literature on Netflix
Last updated January 22, 2025
Chocolat
2000 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsA single mother and her young daughter move into a peaceful French village and open a chocolate shop during the height of Lent. At first, the shop's rich, sensuous desserts scandalize the town. But the villagers soon learn to savor the sweetness.
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Memoirs of a Geisha
2005 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsWhen 9-year-old Chiyo is sold to a geisha house, she endures harsh treatment from the owners and the haughty head geisha, who's envious of Chiyo's beauty. Chiyo eventually blooms in her role, but World War II threatens to change her life forever.
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An Education
2008 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsJenny's (Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan) Oxford-bound teen life is a bore in 1961 London until she's given a different kind of education after being immersed in the beguiling but hazardous world of much-older David (Peter Sarsgaard). Even Jenny's parents, Jack (Alfred Molina) and Marjorie (Cara Seymour), are intrigued by him, but her unimpressed teacher (Olivia Williams) works to keep Jenny's entire future from crumbling under David's influence.
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Jackie Brown
1997 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsJackie Brown is an aging flight attendant who smuggles cash on the side. But when she's busted and pressured to help with an investigation, she plans to play the opposing forces against each other and walk away with the dough.
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The Great Raid
2005 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsIn World War II, a battalion goes on a daring rescue mission to liberate the Americans and Filipinos who've been captured by the Japanese and thrown into brutal POW camps in the city of Cabanatuan.
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Queen to Play
2009 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsIntrigued by a pair of vacationing lovers playing chess, hotel maid Hélène sets her sights on mastering the game. With some coaching from a doctor who employs her services, Hélène hones her chess skills and begins to notice big changes in her life.
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The Agony and the Ecstasy
1965 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsCharlton Heston stars as Renaissance artist Michelangelo, who begrudgingly paints the Sistine Chapel for imperious Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison) in this epic adaptation of Irvine Stone's novel directed by Carol Reed. While the novel covers Michelangelo's life from birth to death, the film focuses on the battle of wills between the perfectionist artist and the impatient Pope who commissions (and eventually commands) him to paint the famed chapel.
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The Damned United
2009 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsDirector Tom Hooper's fictionalized biopic chronicles the colorful career of Brian Clough, the fiercely strong-willed and outspoken soccer manager who served a famously short tenure at the helm of England's reigning champs, Leeds United, in 1974.
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Welcome Aboard
2012 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsWhen a legendary painter meets a feisty teenage runaway, their lives seem destined to connect. Striking up a strong friendship and eventually living together as father and daughter, the two misfits help each other make sense of their lives.
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Life, Above All
2010 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsIn a tiny village near Johannesburg, 12-year-old Chanda is left to care for two younger siblings when her infant sister dies and her mother becomes gravely ill. But this isn't the only challenge she faces; the town has turned against her.
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Charlie Wilson's War
2007 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsTexas congressman Charlie Wilson sets a series of earth-shaking events in motion when he conspires with a CIA operative (Philip Seymour Hoffman, in an Oscar-nominated role) to aid Afghan mujahideen rebels in their fight against the Soviet Red Army.
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Back to 1942
2012 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsAt the height of World War II, millions of rural Chinese refugees embark on a desperate journey to escape a widespread provincial famine. Fraught with danger, their trek soon begins to erode the invisible lines separating cultures and classes.
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Black Friday
2004 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsIn this intense docudrama based on the book by the same name by S. Hussain Zaidi, director Anurag Kashyap tracks the aftermath of a 1993 mass bombing in Bombay through the eyes of a journalist covering the story.
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The Jane Austen Book Club
2007 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsSix book club members find their lives resemble a modern-day version of Jane Austen's novels in this drama. For starters, Sylvia's (Amy Brenneman) husband of 20-plus years has walked out, Bernadette (Kathy Baker) seeks Mr. Right, and married Prudie (Emily Blunt) dreams of other men. Then there's lonely dog-breeder Jocelyn (Maria Bello); Allegra (Maggie Grace), who has issues with her girlfriend; and Grigg (Hugh Dancy), the sole male in the club.
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Taps
1981 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsStudent cadet Brian Moreland leads his fellow military classmates in an armed revolt to prevent authorities from turning their school into condominiums. But the young men soon discover that playing soldier has serious consequences.
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American Psycho
2000 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsWith a chiseled chin and physique, Patrick Bateman's looks make him the ideal yuppie -- and the ideal serial killer. Bateman takes pathological pride in his business card and his CD collection, all while plotting his next victim's vivisection.
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The Missing
2003 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsWhen Maggie Gilkeson's oldest daughter is abducted by a witch doctor turned bandit, Maggie enlists her estranged father's help to find her. But they soon discover that other girls have gone missing -- and that time's running out.
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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
2011 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsNoted director Wayne Wang helms this adaptation of Lisa See's best-selling novel about two young girls in 19th-century China who are pledged as lifelong companions through an ancient ritual, although their friendship is sorely tested as they mature.
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The English Patient
1996 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsSet against the backdrop of World War II, this Oscar-winning drama stars Ralph Fiennes as a badly burned pilot who recounts a tale of doomed romance to the nurse tending him. As his story spills out via flashback, so do secrets about his identity.
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Battle of the Warriors
2006 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsTension swirls in ancient China as the evil Zhao commander Xiang Yan-zhong (Sung-kee Ahn) sets his sights on conquering the small city-state of Liang, where the residents would be otherwise defenseless if it weren't for the valiant warrior Ge Li (Andy Lau). Jacob C.L. Cheung (Hero) directs this epic action-drama based on the popular Japanese manga, based in turn on a Japanese novel about China's Warring States Period.
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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
2011 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsBelieving that his father left him a message before dying in the September 11 attacks, young Oskar Schell embarks on an emotional odyssey through New York City to find the lock that matches a key he found among his father's belongings.
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Hart's War
2002 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsWhen an African-American pilot (Terrence Howard) in a German POW camp is accused of murdering one of his fellow inmates, Lt. Tommy Hart (Colin Farrell) must defend him. But Hart's superiors (including Bruce Willis) caution that digging too deep could expose secrets that would mean death to all prisoners. In a place where lies keep men alive, one young officer must uncover the truth -- whatever the cost.
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Fair Game
2010 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsAfter her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, writes op-ed columns accusing the Bush administration of misleading the public to justify invading Iraq, Valerie Plame Wilson's status as a covert CIA agent is leaked by administration officials.
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Waiting to Exhale
1995 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsHolding their breath waiting for the elusive "good man," four female friends and confidants -- each one cheated on, mistreated and stepped on by less-than-stellar lovers -- talk it all out, determined to find a better way to breathe.
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The Other Woman
2009 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsRomance becomes reality for Emilia Greenleaf (Natalie Portman), who wins the heart of the handsome object of her affection (Scott Cohen), only to find that the relationship comes with some very real baggage -- including her new beau's troubled son (Charlie Tahan). Don Roos directs the film adaptation of Ayelet Waldman's compelling novel, co-starring Lisa Kudrow, Lauren Ambrose and Elizabeth Marvel.
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