Period Pieces on Netflix
Last updated October 31, 2024
Quills
2000 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsThe Marquis de Sade was a provocateur so addicted to words that he used his own blood to write salacious stories while locked away in an asylum. A doctor tries to prevent the Marquis from writing, but a worker is lured into taking his dictation.
Details about Quills
Season of the Witch
2011 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsIn 14th-century Europe, a courageous knight leads a group of weary warriors across impossibly treacherous terrain in order to transport a suspected witch believed to be responsible for spreading the devastating Black Plague.
Details about Season of the Witch
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.
Details about Battle of the Warriors
The Crucible
1996 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsPlaywright Arthur Miller's parable of the 1950s anti-communist crusade (thinly veiled here as the Salem, Mass., witch trials of 1692) receives lush treatment in this Oscar-nominated film adaptation from director Nicholas Hytner. After being spurned by her married lover (Daniel Day-Lewis), young Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder) stirs up a frenzy of hysteria and fear with accusations of witchcraft. Joan Allen earned an Oscar nod for her role.
Details about The Crucible
The Buccaneers
1995 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsThis top-notch adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel tells the story of sisters Nan and Virginia St. George (Carla Gugino and Alison Elliott) and their friends Lizzy Elmsworth (Rya Kihlstedt) and Conchita Closson (Mira Sorvino). Shunned as "new money" by elitist New York society, the foursome travels to London to look for husbands, where they soon find themselves courted by numerous suitors. But as old and new worlds clash, something has to give.
Details about The Buccaneers
Ravenous
1999 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsIn 19th-century California, a band of misfit soldiers at an Army outpost take in a seriously injured man, who tells them horrific tales of resorting to cannibalism to stay alive when his group became stranded.
Details about Ravenous
My Brilliant Career
1979 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsRefractory Sybylla Melvyn (Judy Davis) bucks 19th century societal conventions in this charming Australian film helmed by Gillian Armstrong. On Sybylla's path toward realizing her dream of artistic greatness, she casts aside a starchy suitor, exasperates her mother and confounds her grandmother. But when Sybylla falls for affluent landowner Harry Beecham (Sam Neill), she must choose between traditional marriage and pursuing her career ambitions.
Details about My Brilliant Career
The Countess
2008 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsBlaming her advancing age for a failed romance with a younger man, 16th-century Hungarian countess Erzebet Báthory begins murdering virgin girls and bathing in their blood, believing that the grim ritual will restore her youthful beauty.
Details about The Countess
Curse of the Golden Flower
2006 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsThis lavish epic from director Yimou Zhang follows the romantic intrigue and political machinations in the house of the Emperor Ping and his ailing wife -- a couple whose secret passions and schemes ultimately affect their children's lives.
Details about Curse of the Golden Flower
The Molly Maguires
1970 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsIn 19th-century Pennsylvania, Detective James McParlan goes undercover to infiltrate a group of rebellious Irish American miners -- the Molly Maguires -- who resort to terrorist tactics to fight oppression by mine owners.
Details about The Molly Maguires
Quest for Fire
1981 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsA tribe of Cro-Magnons is attacked and loses its precious fire (a blaze that is always kept burning). To ensure the band's survival, Naoh (Everett McGill) goes in search of more fire, accompanied by Amoukar (Ron Perlman) and Gaw (Nameer El-Kadi). Along the way, they meet Ika (Rae Dawn Chong), a young woman who's rescued from slavery because she actually knows how to "make" fire. Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.
Details about Quest for Fire
The Guillotines
2012 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsOnce used by the emperor to quash all opposition, a secret squad of assassins known as the Guillotines falls out of favor when a new monarch takes the throne. Deemed expendable, the Guillotines soon end up with a price on their heads.
Details about The Guillotines
Vanity Fair
2004 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsIn this sumptuous film version of William Makepeace Thackeray's famous novel, lower-class vixen Becky Sharp uses her good looks and considerable wit to climb her way up the precipitous social ladder of 1820s London.
Details about Vanity Fair
The Man Who Laughs
2012 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsScarred by his kidnappers as a child, Gwynplaine now makes a living from his disfigurement in a traveling show, where his only friend is blind Déa. His loyalty to her is tested when he learns that he's heir to a wealthy, influential family.
Details about The Man Who Laughs
The Four Feathers
2002 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsIn Victorian-era Sudan, British officer Harry Faversham resigns right before a battle against Mahdi rebels, prompting his fiancée and friends to brand him a coward. Little do they know he's going undercover for a chance to redeem himself.
Details about The Four Feathers
First Winter
1982 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsThis historical drama features the first winter spent in Canada by a family of Irish immigrants deep in the Ottawa Valley.
Details about First Winter
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
2006 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsBorn with an acute sense of smell, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille resorts to dark deeds in creating a perfume that captures the essence of a woman in this 18th-century thriller based on Patrick Süskind's best-selling novel.
Details about Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Mandingo
1975 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsThis controversial potboiler set in antebellum Louisiana chronicles the decline of the slave-breeding Maxwell family. Son Hammond marries his Southern belle cousin Blanche, but the two bed their slaves instead of each other.
Details about Mandingo
Anonymous
2011 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsWho was Shakespeare? This Elizabethan drama imagines that the man we call the Bard really didn't pen his body of timeless plays. The stages of London erupt in intrigue as the real author of the classics credited to Shakespeare comes to light.
Details about Anonymous
Clash of Empires
2011 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsIn this historical action-adventure extravaganza set during the 2nd century, mighty warrior Merong protects a Roman prince against evil sorcerer-kings and other perils as he journeys through Asia to marry a reluctant Chinese princess.
Details about Clash of Empires
The Red Machine
2009 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsThis World War II thriller spins a tale of espionage aimed at stealing the secrets of Japan's most sophisticated encoding device, known as Red. Safecracker Eddie Doyle is persuaded to team up with Ellis Coburn, a naval officer with a dark past.
Details about The Red Machine
Dead Man's Burden
2012 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsIn 1870, homesteader Martha McCall wants to sell the family farm in New Mexico and move with her husband, Heck, to San Francisco. But the unexpected return of Wade, her brother who was presumed dead in the Civil War, throws her plans into turmoil.
Details about Dead Man's Burden
The Mill & The Cross
2011 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsFlemish master Pieter Bruegel's 1564 painting The Procession to Calvary is transformed through amazing special effects into a big-screen epic in which Bruegel's artwork affects everyone around him -- including the Virgin Mary.
Details about The Mill & The Cross
By the Will of Genghis Khan
2009 | NR | 3.0 out of 5 StarsDirector Andrei Borissov's epic biopic follows a young Mongol child by the name of Temüjin (Ayan Ouspun), who has a stunning destiny: to become Genghis Khan (Eduard Ondar), the most ruthless leader of the largest empire in history. An international crew and a talented cast (Stepanida Borissova, Sergei Egorov and Gernot Grimm, among others) filmed in Russia, Mongolia and the United States, bringing Nikolay Luginov's novel to life.
Details about By the Will of Genghis Khan
About Best on Netflix Canada
Best on Netflix is the place to discover the best TV shows and movies available on Netflix. Find the newest releases of your favorite movies and TV shows available for streaming on Netflix today. This site lists all the amazing content available to Netflix members. If you want to watch a movie or TV shows, you must go to the official Netflix website. Best on Netflix is not related to Netflix and its purpose is to highlight the great content already available on Netflix since we're such huge fans of their service. We love Netflix just as much as you do! We hope you enjoy this movie and tv show discovery tool.
We have a lot of great features coming up in the next few weeks to help highlight the best movies and TV shows on Netflix, so stay tuned!