Best 19th Century Movies & TV Shows

The Law According to Lidia Poët

7 / 10

In late 19th-century Turin, the young Lidia Poët, fights against everything and everyone to get what is rightfully hers: to be enrolled in the official register of lawyers. A profession, at the time, reserved exclusively for men. Nevertheless, nothing could stop her dream of becoming the first female lawyer in Italy.

Stars: Alessia Spinelli Eduardo Scarpetta Matilda De Angelis Nika Perrone Pier Luigi Pasino Sara Lazzaro Sinead Thornhill

The Bluff

When her tranquil life on a remote island is shattered by the return of her vengeful former captain, a skilled ex-pirate must confront her bloody past and unleash her deadly talents to save her family from a ruthless siege.

Run time: 103m Tagline: Betrayal cuts deep. Release: 2026-02-17

Stars: David Field Gideon Mzembe Greg Hatton Ismael Cruz Cordova Karl Urban Pacharo Mzembe Priyanka Chopra Jonas Safia Oakley-Green Temuera Morrison Vedanten Naidoo

The Gilded Age

8 / 10

It’s 1882 and the Gilded Age is in full swing when Marian Brook, a young orphaned daughter of a Southern general, moves in with her rigidly conventional aunts in New York City. With the help of Peggy Scott, an African-American woman masquerading as her maid, Marian gets caught up in the dazzling lives of her rich neighbors as she struggles to decide between adhering to the rules or forging her own path.

Stars: Ben Ahlers Blake Ritson Carrie Coon Denée Benton Harry Richardson Jack Gilpin Louisa Jacobson Morgan Spector Simon Jones Taissa Farmiga

Hell on Wheels

9 / 10

The epic story of post-Civil War America, focusing on Cullen Bohannon, a Confederate soldier who sets out to exact revenge on the Union soldiers who killed his wife. His journey takes him west to Hell on Wheels, a dangerous, raucous, lawless melting pot of a town that travels with and services the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, an engineering feat unprecedented for its time.

Stars: Angela Zhou Anson Mount Byron Mann Christopher Heyerdahl Colm Meaney Phil Burke Robin McLeavy Tim Guinee

Into the West

9 / 10

The lives of two families, one white American, one native American, become mingled through the momentous events of American expansion, between 1825 and 1890.

Stars: Garrett Wang Irene Bedard Jessica Capshaw Josh Brolin Keith Carradine Lance Henriksen Matthew Modine Rachael Leigh Cook Skeet Ulrich Will Patton

There Will Be Blood

9 / 10

Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.

Run time: 158m Tagline: There will be greed. There will be vengeance. Release: 2007-12-26

Stars: Barry Del Sherman Ciarán Hinds Colleen Foy Daniel Day-Lewis David Willis Dillon Freasier Hans Howes Hope Elizabeth Reeves Kevin J. O'Connor Paul Dano

12 Years a Slave

9 / 10

In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.

Run time: 134m Tagline: The extraordinary true story of Solomon Northup. Release: 2013-10-18

Stars: Adepero Oduye Benedict Cumberbatch Brad Pitt Chiwetel Ejiofor Lupita Nyong'o Michael Fassbender Paul Dano Paul Giamatti Sarah Paulson Scoot McNairy

Django Unchained

9 / 10

With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

Run time: 165m Tagline: Life, liberty, and the pursuit of vengeance. Release: 2012-12-25

Stars: Christoph Waltz Dana Gourrier David Steen Dennis Christopher James Remar Jamie Foxx Kerry Washington Leonardo DiCaprio Samuel L. Jackson Walton Goggins

Penny Dreadful

8 / 10

Some of literature's most terrifying characters, including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, and iconic figures from the novel Dracula are lurking in the darkest corners of Victorian London. Penny Dreadful is a frightening psychological thriller that weaves together these classic horror origin stories into a new adult drama.

Stars: Billie Piper Eva Green Harry Treadaway Josh Hartnett Patti LuPone Reeve Carney Rory Kinnear Timothy Dalton Wes Studi

Dracula

7 / 10

In late 15th-century Eastern Europe, Prince Vlad II’s bride is brutally murdered. As a result, he renounces God and damns Heaven itself. Cursed with eternal life, Vlad is reborn as Dracula, an immortal warlord who defies fate in a blood-soaked crusade to wrench his lost love back from death.

Run time: 130m Tagline: He renounced his faith to become immortal. Passion, anger, vengeance, and hatred will be unleashed into the modern world. Release: 2025-07-30

Stars: Bertrand-Xavier Corbi Caleb Landry Jones Christoph Waltz David Shields Ewens Abid Guillaume de Tonquédec Liviu Bora Matilda De Angelis Raphael Luce Zoë Bleu Sidel

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 4

Explore the lure of the Old West and how it was won—and lost—through the blood, sweat and tears of many. Spanning 15 years before, during, and following the Civil War, from 1859 to 1874, embark on an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America.

Run time: 0m

Stars: Kevin Costner