Movies like The Duchess (2008)
The best movies like The Duchess (2008) are Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) and Anna Karenina (2012). If The Duchess hooked you with its drama and history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPride & Prejudice (2005)8.1/10 from 9,066 votes
- NewestTo Adaego with Love (2025)Released 2025
Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
Henry VIII of England discards his wife, Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history: two beautiful sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn, driven by their family's blind ambition, compete for the love of the handsome and passionate King Henry VIII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnna Karenina (2012)
In Imperial Russia, Anna, wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets charming cavalry officer Vronsky, to whom she's immediately attracted. But in St. Petersburg’s high society, a relationship like this could destroy a woman’s reputation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Girl King (2015)
A portrait of the brilliant, extravagant Kristina of Sweden, queen from age six, who fights the conservative forces that are against her ideas to modernize Sweden and who have no tolerance for her awakening sexuality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLady Jane (1986)
The death of King Henry VIII throws his kingdom into chaos because of succession disputes. His weak son, Edward, is on his deathbed. Anxious to keep England true to the Reformation, a scheming minister John Dudley marries off his son, Guildford to Lady Jane Grey, whom he places on the throne after Edward dies. At first hostile to each other, Guildford and Jane fall in love, but they cannot withstand the course of power which will lead to their ultimate downfall.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the man who would be King of England.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Heiress (1949)
In 1840s New York, the uneventful and boring days of the daughter of a wealthy doctor come to an end when she meets a dashing poorer man — who may or may not be after her inheritance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisElizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
When Queen Elizabeth's reign is threatened by ruthless familial betrayal and Spain's invading army, she and her shrewd adviser must act to safeguard the lives of her people.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPride & Prejudice (2005)
A story of love and life among the landed English gentry during the Georgian era. Mr. Bennet is a gentleman living in Hertfordshire with his overbearing wife and five daughters, but if he dies their house will be inherited by a distant cousin whom they have never met, so the family's future happiness and security is dependent on the daughters making good marriages.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisVictoria & Abdul (2017)
Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJude (1996)
In late 19th-century England, Jude aspires to be an academic, but is hobbled by his blue-collar background. Instead, he works as a stonemason and is trapped in an unloving marriage to a farmer's daughter named Arabella. But when his wife leaves him, Jude sees an opportunity to improve himself. He moves to the city and begins an affair with his married cousin, Sue, courting tragedy every step of the way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPhantom Thread (2017)
In 1950s London, a renowned dressmaker's meticulous lifestyle begins drastically changing as his relationship with his young muse intensifies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGreat Expectations (1946)
In this Dickens adaptation, orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Room with a View (1986)
When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperon Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and son George step in to remedy the situation. Meeting the Emersons could change Lucy's life forever but, once back in England, how will her experiences in Tuscany affect her marriage plans?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Portrait of a Lady (1996)
Ms. Isabel Archer isn't afraid to challenge societal norms. Impressed by her free spirit, her kindhearted cousin writes her into his fatally ill father's will. Suddenly rich and independent, Isabelle ventures into the world, along the way befriending a cynical intellectual and romancing an art enthusiast. However, the advantage of her affluence is called into question when she realizes the extent to which her money colors her relationships.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisTristan & Isolde (2006)
An affair between the second in line to Britain's throne and the princess of the feuding Irish spells doom for the young lovers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnna Karenina (1997)
In Imperial Russia, Anna, wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets charming cavalry officer Vronsky, to whom she's immediately attracted. But in St. Petersburg’s high society, a relationship like this could destroy a woman’s reputation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bridges of Madison County (1995)
Photographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDot the I (2003)
A fiery Spanish woman is about to marry a kind British man when she meets a Brazilian actor who ignites in her a flame of lust she can't ignore.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man from Elysian Fields (2001)
A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisTo Adaego with Love (2025)
Set in 1975, the film tells the story of a soldier and a schoolteacher from opposing tribes who fall in love amid a nation still recovering from civil war and societal divisions. Their relationship is tested by tradition, family loyalties, and a society striving to heal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran (2018)
A look at India's second confidential nuclear test series at Pokhran lead by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, during the time of PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAfter This Our Exile (2006)
After his mother flees the family home, a son turns to thieving in order to support his father, an abusive sort who is addicted to gambling.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
The Dark Horse (2014)
One-time Maori speed-chess champ, Genesis Potini, lives with a bi-polar disorder and must overcome prejudice and violence in the battle to save his struggling chess club, his family and ultimately, himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHe Loves Me… He Loves Me Not (2002)
A talented art student named Angélique is passionately in love with Dr. Loïc Le Garrec, a handsome married man whom she believes will leave his wife. When he eventually decides to stay in his marriage, it causes Angélique to spiral. However, as the story shifts from Angélique's perspective to Loïc's, the surprising truth about their relationship is revealed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove in the Afternoon (1972)
Successful Parisian lawyer Frédéric is happily married to schoolteacher Hélène. Though he daydreams of affairs with other women, he doesn't come close to acting on such thoughts until he runs into Chloé, a beautiful old acquaintance. Tempted by the vibrant Chloé, Frédéric is torn between impulsive lust and his love for Hélène.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhat Dreams May Come (1998)
After Chris Nielsen dies in a car accident, he is guided through the afterlife by his spirit guide, Albert. His new world is beautiful and can be whatever Chris imagines. Even his children are there. But, when his wife, Annie, commits suicide and is sent to hell, Chris ignores Albert's warnings and journeys there to save her. Upon arrival, Chris finds that rescuing Annie will be more difficult than he'd imagined.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHome Fries (1998)
Dorian and Angus chase down their womanizing stepfather with a helicopter, frightening him to death. In his effort to cover their tracks, Dorian begins investigating his stepfather's mistress, Sally. She works at a fast-food drive-through, she's pregnant and Dorian quickly falls in love with her. Unfortunately, his scheming mother wants Sally dead. And Sally isn't sure she wants Dorian to be her child's father and also his brother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisShinran, Part II (1960)
Continuation of the biographical film about the monk Shinran, based on the novel by Eiji Yoshikawa. Shinran, born of the fading aristocratic class, was placed in a monastary on Mount Hiei when still a child. He did not come down for twenty years, when his wanderings begin as he spreads his ideas for achieving enlightenment through the Pure Land sutra. Because his teachings contradict the powerful Tendai sect, he comes to grief with the government, his followers persecuted, himself exiled to far coastal Echigo where he married & began raising a family but soonafter was wandering & teaching again. He lived to be ninety.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Cashback (2007)
After a painful breakup, Ben develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket, where his artistic imagination runs wild.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Duchess?
The closest matches to The Duchess are Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) and Anna Karenina (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Duchess?
Start with Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), the closest match to The Duchess.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Duchess?
Pride & Prejudice (2005), rated 8.1/10 by 9,066 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Duchess?
To Adaego with Love (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Duchess?
Yes: Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) and Anna Karenina (2012).
How are movies similar to The Duchess chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Duchess, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.