We’ve gathered up the period dramas that are newly included with your US Prime Video membership in March, April, and May 2022.
Then, we share the historical / costume / period dramas that are coming to Prime Video Channels, are available to rent, and movies and TV series in the genre that are being released to DVD this spring.
Finally, we list some newly added non-period movies and series like British shows and romances that you may also like, that are included with your Amazon Prime Video membership.
Check this list throughout the spring; we’ll update all the sections (alphabetically) as more titles become available. If some of these titles look familiar, it’s because they were previously available with Prime, were pulled off, and now they are back.
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It’s easy to watch the trailers for the films on this list, or add the movies and TV series to your watchlist: just click. This is a US-based list, but if you live in Canada or the UK, you can also use our “Add to your WATCHLIST” links to check availability in your country.
From British costume dramas to sweeping romantic epics, there’s a lot here by the end of the season, so to help you keep track: the blue TVs next to the title mean the film is included with your membership, the orange TVs mean it is available to rent or is available with a Prime Video Channel subscription.
The winter Prime Video list is here. Also see the list of Period Dramas New on Netflix Spring 2022.
Those who are new here should know that Willow and Thatch also has a special section for period dramas that have been added recently to different streaming services. See the “New to Streaming” drop-down menu at the top of the page.
Period dramas leaving Prime Video this season: Leaving May 1: The Triumph of Love (2001), The Emperor’s New Clothes (2001), Gallipoli (1981), The Elephant Man (1980). Leaving May 31: Howards End (2017).
Period Dramas Added in March 2022
This section contains newly available historical, costume and period dramas (movies and TV series) that are included with your Prime Video membership, or can be watched for free with ads on Freevee (formerly IMDb TV).
Anthropoid (2016)
Based on the extraordinary true story of “Operation Anthropoid.” Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution, was the Reich’s third in command behind Hitler and Himmler and the leader of Nazi forces in Czechoslovakia.The historical drama follows two soldiers from the Czechoslovakian army-in-exile, Josef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, who are parachuted into their occupied homeland in December 1941. With limited intelligence and little equipment in a city under lock down, they must find a way to assassinate Heydrich, an operation that would change the face of Europe forever.
Starring Cillian Murphy, Jamie Dornan, Charlotte Le Bon, Toby Jones, Anna Geislerová, Harry Lloyd.
Rated R for violence and some disturbing images
Available March 2
May 1940. France is facing a disastrous military situation against the German army. Charles de Gaulle, newly appointed General, joins the Government in Paris while Yvonne, his wife, and their three children stay in the East. Facing the defeatist attitude of Pétain ready to negotiate with Hitler, de Gaulle has one purpose: continue fighting. And along with thousands of French families, Yvonne and the children are soon forced to flee the advancing German troops.Without contact from one another, the doubt arises: will the de Gaulle family be sacrificed for the sake of France? Nominated for Best Costume Design, César Awards, France 2021 and CinEuphoria Awards 2022.
Starring Lambert Wilson, Isabelle Carré, Olivier Gourmet.
Rated 16+
Available March 1
After encountering a long lost relative, a young novitiate nun in 1960s Poland discovers a shocking family secret dating back to the terrible years of the Nazi occupation, and embarks on a revelatory journey to uncover the mystery of her own past. Winner of the 2015 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
Starring Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska, Dawid Ogrodnik, Jerzy Trela.
Rated PG-13
Available March 24
Warsaw, December 1945: a young French Red Cross doctor is summoned to a local convent where she discovers several nuns in various states of pregnancy, facing an unprecedented crisis of faith as their fiercely private world clashes with harsh realities.
Starring Lou de Laâge, Agata Buzek, Agata Kulesza, Joanna Kulig.
Rated PG-13
Available March 24
In this adaptation of The Wettest County in the World set in Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a bootlegging gang make a run for the American Dream during Prohibition. The locals consider them indestructible. But the law in the form of a corrupt special deputy wants a cut of their action, at any cost. Based on the astonishing true story, the Bondurant brotherhood is the stuff of legend.
Starring Shia LeBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Gary Goldman, Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain.
Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexuality/nudity
Available March 1
A touching and inspirational family drama that’s based on a true story. Working in the coal mines was an inescapable way of life in the small town of Coalwood, West Virginia in 1957. When high schooler Homer Hickam, Jr. sees the Sputnik satellite in the night sky, he dares to break free of the mines and reach for the stars. With the support of his teacher and three friends, Homer sets out on an inspiring quest to build his own rocket. Overcoming a poor education, a tough father and a series of misfires, Homer turns his dreams into reality in this incredible story of hope, determination and triumph.
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, Natalie Canerday, William Lee Scott, Chris Owen.
Rated PG
Available March 1
March 1: Dead Poets Society (1989), Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights (2004), The Molly Maguires (1970), Valkyrie (2008). March 2: The World’s Fastest Indian (2005). March 7: The 12th Suspect (2019). March 8: Cezanne and I (2016). March 10: Saul: The Journey to Damascus (2014). March 24: Frantz (2017), Lore (2012). March 25: Period-inspired: Transit (2019). March 30: The Last King (2016). March 31: Period-inspired: Gemma Bovery (2015).
And beginning March 1, watch the first episode of the first season of several excellent period dramas, for free, for a limited time:
Season 1, episode 1 of “Sanditon” is available to stream for free for a limited time here. Season 1, episode 1 of “The Irish R.M.” is available to stream for free for a limited time here, and the first episode of Season 1 of “Murdoch Mysteries” is available to stream for free for a limited time here. Read more about the series here.
Newly available for free, no Prime membership needed, on Freevee (formerly IMDb TV): March 1: Holmes & Watson (2018), Jackie (2016), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Young Victoria (2009). March 12: If Beale Street Could Talk (2018). March 26: Judy (2019).
Our Featured Free-on-Freevee TV Pick:
Jane Austen’s beloved comedy about finding your equal and earning your happy ending, is reimagined in this delicious, romantic British period drama. Handsome, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse is a restless queen bee without rivals in her sleepy little town. In this glittering satire of social class and the pain of growing up, Emma must adventure through misguided matches and romantic missteps to find the love that has been there all along. Read about the Oscar-nominated costumes here.
Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, Josh O’Connor, Mia Goth, Callum Turner.
Rated PG
Available March 1
Period Dramas Added in April 2022
This section contains newly available historical, costume and period dramas (movies and TV series) that are included with your Prime Video membership, or can be watched for free with ads on Freevee (formerly IMDb TV).
Cynthia Nixon stars as Emily Dickinson as she personifies the wit, intellectual independence and pathos of the poet whose genius only came to be recognized after her death. Acclaimed British director Terence Davies (The House of Mirth) exquisitely evokes Dickinson’s deep attachment to her close-knit family along with the manners, mores and spiritual convictions of her time.
Starring Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle, Keith Carradine, Emma Bell.
Rated PG-13
Available April 12
This 3-episode historical drama focuses on the true story of the divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in 1963, one of the most notorious, extraordinary and brutal legal cases of the 20th century. Sex, secrets and suspicion – the true story of a duchess publicly shamed in a high society divorce that gripped the nation.
“A Very British Scandal” turns this scandal inside out in order to explore the social and political climate of postwar Britain, looking at attitudes towards women, and asking whether institutional misogyny was widespread at the time. As her contemporaries, the press, and the judiciary sought to vilify her, Margaret kept her head held high with bravery and resilience, refusing to go quietly as she was betrayed by her friends and publicly shamed by a society that reveled in her fall from grace.
From writer Sarah Phelps (And Then There Were None, The Crimson Field) and the creators of the BBC drama, “A Very English Scandal,” starring Hugh Grant and Ben Wishaw.
Starring Claire Foy, Paul Bettany, Julia Davis, Camilla Rutherford, Richard McCabe.
Rated 16+
Available April 22
Shown on PBS MASTERPIECE. Delhi 1795: John Beecham is determined to leave the past behind and start a new life with his infant son. But to reunite his family and keep the identity of his child secret, what cost must John pay?
Starring Tom Bateman, Lesley Nichol, Lara Dutta, Leo Suter, Dakota Blue Richards, Grégory Fitoussi.
Rated TV-14
Available April 30
From PBS Masterpiece and BBC. At the start of World War II, 14-year-old Carrie and her younger brother Nick are separated from their mother and evacuated from war-torn London to a rural village in Wales. Upon their arrival, they are assigned to live with a troubled family, the puritanical shopkeeper Mr. Evans, a widower, and his spinster sister, a timid woman named Lou.
While Lou is thrilled to lavish attention on the children, Mr. Evans remains cold and distant. But Carrie and Nick’s fortunes take a turn for the better when they’re sent to fetch a Christmas goose from mysterious Druid’s Bottom, a manor house occupied by a self-professed witch named Hepzibah and Mr. Evans’s ethereal, estranged sister, Mrs. Gotobed. Filled with magical adventures and first love, this is a heartfelt and faithful adaptation of Nina Bawden’s beloved novel for the whole family.
Starring Keeley Fawcett, Jack Stanley, Karen Meagher, Eddie Cooper, Alun Armstrong, Lesley Sharp.
Rated 13+
Available April 1
“Impromptu” is the comic and tender tale of how novelist George Sand and composer Frederic Chopin met; of how Sand recklessly pursued Chopin; how Chopin resisted Sand’s advances; of how, despite the best and most mischievous efforts of many of those around them, they eventually fell in love.
Starring Judy Davis, Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Julian Sands.
Rated PG-13
Available April 1
The incredible tale of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Prague years. Mozart spends a few turbulent months escaping the frustrating, privileged elite of Vienna, and his unconventional presence in Prague begins a series of dramatic and tragic events that become a tangled web. Overwhelmed by the intrigue that surrounds him, Mozart creates the astonishing opera Don Giovanni. Brought to the city by powerful aristocrat Baron Saloka, Mozart soon meets and falls in love with beautiful young soprano Zuzanna Luptak.
Starring Aneurin Barnard, Samantha Banks, James Purefoy, Morfydd Clark, Trent Garrett, Adrian Edmondson.
Rated 18+
Available April 25
Young nobleman Orlando is commanded by Queen Elizabeth I to stay forever young. Miraculously, he does just that. The film follows him as he moves through several centuries of British history, experiencing a variety of lives and relationships along the way, and even changing sex. Based on Virginia Woolf’s highly acclaimed novel.
Starring Tilda Swinton, Quentin Crisp, Jimmy Somerville, Billy Zane, Toby Jones, Toby Stephens.
Rated PG-13
Available April 30
In François Truffaut’s classic “‘Histoire d’Adèle H.,” Adèle Hugo, daughter of renowned French writer Victor Hugo, falls in love with British soldier Albert Pinson while living in exile off the coast of England. Though he spurns her affections, she follows him to Nova Scotia and takes on the alias of Adèle Lewly. Albert continues to reject her, but she remains obsessive in her quest to win him over.
Starring Isabelle Adjani, Bruce Robinson, Sylvia Marriott, Joseph Blatchley, Ivry Gitlis, Louise Bourdet.
Rated PG
Available April 1
When a young boy claims he was expelled for something he didn’t do, his father sacrifices everything to defend his family’s honor. The British costume drama is set in the early 1900s and based on Terence Rattigan’s celebrated play, adapted and directed by David Mamet.
Starring Guy Edwards, Nigel Hawthorne, Gemma Jones, Jeremy Northam, Rebecca Pidgeon.
Rated G
Available April 26
Emily Bronte’s timeless tale of love and passion comes alive in this stirring new film version starring Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes. Shot on location in Yorkshire, this is the first screen adaptation to present Bronte’s complete story of two generations of the Earnshaw and Linton families, as their lives and fortunes intertwine in a complex web dominated by the passionate relationship between doomed lovers Heathcliff and Cathy. Fiennes gives a dynamic performance as Heathcliff and Juliette Binoche dazzles in the dual roles of Cathy Earnshaw and Catherine Linton in a movie that captures all the power of the classic novel.
Starring Juliette Binoche, Ralph Fiennes, Janet McTeer, Sophie Ward, Simon Shephard, Jeremy Northam.
Rated PG
Available April 1
April 1: In the Time of the Butterflies (2001), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Boxcar Bertha (1972), Titanic (1997), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Braveheart (1995), Battle of Britain (1969), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Khartoum (1966), Alexander the Great (1956), Revolutionary Road (2008). April 5: Marrowbone (2017). April 12: Not Fade Away (2012). April 27: A Royal Night Out (2015).
Period Dramas Added in May 2022
This section contains newly available historical, costume and period dramas (movies and TV series) that are included with your Prime Video membership, or can be watched for free with ads on Freevee (formerly IMDb TV).
One-of-a-kind filmmaker-philosopher Terrence Malick has created some of the most visually arresting movies of the twentieth century, and his glorious period tragedy “Days of Heaven,” featuring Oscar-winning cinematography by Nestor Almendros, stands out among them. In 1910, a Chicago steel worker accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend and little sister to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer. A love triangle, a swarm of locusts, a hellish fire, Malick captures it all with dreamlike authenticity, creating at once a timeless American idyll and a gritty evocation of turn-of-the-century labor.
Starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz.
Rated PG
Available May 1
In 1789 France, just prior to the Revolution, gastronomy is strictly the domain of the aristocrats; indeed, the prestige of a noble house is entirely dependent on the quality and reputation of its table. So, when the talented but prideful cook Manceron serves an unapproved dish of his own creation at a dinner hosted by the self-entitled Duke of Chamfort, he is promptly dismissed. The wounded Manceron swears off his passion and retreats with his son to a regional inn visited only infrequently by travellers, and where vegetable soup is the common meal. But when a mysterious woman arrives and offers to pay to become his apprentice, the stage is set for a wildly enjoyable tale of reignited passion, mentorship and revenge… and of the creation of France’s very first restaurant. In French with English subtitles.
Starring Gregory Gadebois, Isabelle Carre, Benjamin Lavernhe.
Rated 13+
Available May 1
Aging King George III of England is exhibiting signs of madness, a problem little understood in 1788. As the monarch alternates between bouts of confusion and near-violent outbursts of temper, his hapless doctors attempt the ineffectual cures of the day. Meanwhile, Queen Charlotte and Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger attempt to prevent the king’s political enemies, led by the Prince of Wales, from usurping the throne. The British period drama took home an Academy Award for its spectacular Art and Set Decoration.
Starring Nigel Hawthorne, Rupert Everett, Rupert Graves, Helen Mirren, Ian Holm.
Rated PG-13
Available May 1
In this award-winning romantic period drama, the lives of a troubled veteran, his nurse girlfriend and a naive boy intersect first in Alberta and then in Belgium during the World War I battle of Passchendaele.
Set during the height of WWI, “Passchendaele” tells the moving story of an important event in Canadian history through the eyes of Sergeant Michael Dunne, a soldier who is wounded in France and returns to Calgary emotionally and physically scarred.While recovering, Dunne meets Sarah and becomes determined to win her heart. When Sarah’s asthmatic younger brother David enlists to fight in the war, Michael returns to the battlefield in order to protect him. The two men are sent to fight against impossible odds in the battle of Passchendaele.
Starring Paul Gross, Caroline Dhavernas, Joe Dinicol, Meredith Bailey.
Rated R for sequences of realistic graphic war violence and sexuality
Available May 25
Following the rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom, “Respect” is the remarkable true story of Franklin’s journey to find her voice, in the midst of the turbulent social and political landscape of 1960s America.
Starring Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron.
Rated PG-13
Available May 19
Young Will Shakespeare is the up and coming playwright of the time, but has been disastrously struck by the bane of the writer’s life – writer’s block. His comedy “Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter” isn’t going anywhere and the playhouse is under threat of closure. What Will needs is a muse, and she appears in the form of the beautiful and betrothed Lady Viola. The path of true love does not run smooth for Will, but the joys and tragedy of his own life find their way onto the page in a moving, witty and spellbinding tale.
Read our article about the costumes.
Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Judi Dench, Ben Affleck.
Rated 18+
Available May 1
An all-star cast heads up this intimate BBC film about how author PG Wodehouse came to face a charge of treason during the Second World War, and how this quintessential Englishman became an exile from his own country.
In 1941, Wodehouse was released from internment in Germany and persuaded by the German Foreign Office to record five infamous broadcasts to the USA, wittily relating his experiences of camp life. What had been a hit with his fellow internees was met with anger back in England. The master of fanciful plots had become a pawn in one of the biggest propaganda battles of the war between Germany and the Allies over the entry of the United States into the conflict.
Starring Tim Piggot-Smith, Zoe Wanamaker, Julian Rhind-Smith.
Not rated
Available May 23
May 1: A League Of Their Own (1992), The Last Tycoon (1976), Pearl Harbor (2001), The Quiet Man (1952), Red Tails (2012), Road To Perdition (2002), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Tombstone (1993). May 5: Snowy River: The McGregor Saga (Season 1). May 11: Allied (2016), Forsaken (2015). May 13: Ithaca (2015). May 15: Alone Yet Not Alone (2013), Radio Days (1987). May 23: The Crickets Dance (2020), Savannah (2013). May 25: Grey Owl (1999). May 26: Cinderella (1965). May 30: Grand Hotel (Season 1) in Spanish only.
For a limited time, stream episode 1 of “The Ipcress File” (2022) for free here, and read all about it here.
For a limited time, stream episode 1 of “The Luminaries” (2020) for free here: An epic story of love, murder and revenge, as men and women travel across the world to make their fortunes in the boom years of the 1860s gold rush.
For a limited time, stream episode 1 of “The White Queen” (2013) for free here, episode 1 of “The White Princess” (2017) for free here, and episode 1 of “The Spanish Princess” (2019) for free here.
Available with Freevee: May 1: A Beautiful Mind (2001), Eve’s Bayou (1997), Kingdom of Heaven (2005).
Period Dramas New to Prime Video Channels
This section contains period dramas added in March, April, and May 2022 (movies and TV series) that are included with add-on Prime Video Channels. If you don’t already subscribe to the channel, follow the link below the film description that says “Available …” to sign up for a free trial.
For new with the BritBox Add-on Channel, see this page. For new with Acorn TV Add-on Channel, see this page.
Berlin, 1956. Caterina Schollack runs a dance school, with her daughters on a tight leash. But in rock’n’roll, one finds the courage to rebel. In season 3, the Schollack sisters are now women confronted with their life choices–and with a society that is not as free as it pretends to be. From Walter Presents, in German with English subtitles.
Starring Sonja Gerhardt, Claudia Michelsen, Maria Ehrich.
Rated TV-MA
Available May 20 with PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel
From Walter Presents, in German with English subtitles: After taking control of her father’s throne, and the Bavarians declaring war on Austria, Maria Theresa has hopes for ending the war with Prussia, but her position as a powerful woman still draws the ire of many, including her mother-in-law who sends her other son to spy on the rival Habsburg military. Maria Theresa feels like she is fighting alone when she discovers her husband has been betraying her by keeping a mistress and trading information with the enemy.
When, in a desperate gesture, Maria hires a mercenary army, the tides turn. But this will come at a price. Maria has an affair of her own which leads to serious consequences, opening her up to blackmail. Facing increasing pressures from all sides, including her own family, Maria has no choice but to address head-on, both the issues of the state and those of her marriage. Will her reign be able to survive the war and the scandal or will it all come crashing down?
Starring Marie-Luise Stockinger, Vojtech Kotek, Zuzana Stivinova.
Rated TV-MA
Available March 22 with PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel
Based on the same Émile Zola novel that inspired the hit series The Paradise, this Italian-language import follows Teresa Iorio, a young woman who leaves her rural Sicilian hometown for Milan. Teresa finds work–and much more–at a newly opened department store: The Ladies’ Paradise.
Starring Giuseppe Zeno, Giusy Buscemi, Alessandro Tersigni.
Not rated
Available March 18 with PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel
From Walter Presents, in Italian with English Subtitles. Set beginning in 1970s Sicily, this enigmatic and darkly comedic Italian TV series follows Salvatore, a young boy whose family becomes unintentionally entangled with the Palermo Mafia. Nothing escapes the 10-year-old’s gaze as he sees everything going on around him, from the Mafia’s oppression and his crazy family dynamic to the magnificence of his first love, Alice.
Starring Cristiana Capotondi, Alex Bisconti, Claudio Gioè, Barbara Tabita.
Rated PG
Available April 22 with PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel
The sixth season of “Outlander” sees a continuation of Claire and Jamie’s fight to protect those they love, as they navigate the trials and tribulations of life in colonial America. 8 episodes, based on A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon.
Starring Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Sophie Skelton, Richard Rankin.
Rated TV-MA
Available March 6 with STARZ Prime Video Channel, with new episodes weekly.
Set in the early 1920s, this series depicts the struggles and perseverance of railway porters and their families in the Black community of St. Antoine, Montreal, as they fight for their civil rights and unite to form the first Black union.
Starring Aml Ameen, Ronnie JR. Rowe, Mouna Traore, Olunike Adeliki, Loren Lott.
Rated TV-MA
Available May 5 with BET+ Prime Video Channel
“Ridley Road” tells the story of Vivien Epstein, a young Jewish woman who after falling in love with a member of the ‘62 Group’, rejects her comfortable middle-class life in Manchester and joins the fight against fascism in London. Based on Jo Bloom’s acclaimed novel, and inspired by true events.
Starring Agnes O’Casey, Rory Kinnear, Tom Varey, Eddie Marsan.
Rated TV-14
Available May 1 with PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel
Emmy Award®-winning writer Andrew Davies brings Jane Austen’s unfinished last novel vividly to life in this lavishly produced, romantic British period drama. The once-sleepy fishing village of Sanditon is transforming into a fashionable spa resort full of intrigues and dalliances. Changing alongside it is the impulsive and unconventional Charlotte Heywood, who journeys to discover herself–and find love on her own terms. Filled with new handsome and eligible men, Season 2 brings even more adventure, scandal, and romance to the coastal resort.
Starring Rose Williams, Crystal Clarke, Theo James, Kris Marshall.
Rated TV-14
Available March 20 with PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel
“Sanditon” (Season 2) episodes 1 & 2 will be streaming on the PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel on March 20 at 9pm and 10pm ET, respectively). New episodes will launch weekly.
In the heart of Stockholm, the beautiful Grona Lund–with its carousels for families–is locked in a decades-long rivalry with Nojesfaltet–a simple amusement park with cheap beer, live music and lightly dressed ladies. But as WWII rages, the young heirs, John and Ninni, find love more thrilling than war. Loosely inspired by actual events. From Walter Presents, in Swedish with English subtitles.
Starring Albin Grenholm, Frida Gustafsson, Edvin Endre.
Rated TV-MA
Available May 20 with PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Video Channel
In this family-friendly show, Hope Valley is in a state of growth with new challenges that impact the town. The town is buzzing about the Mayoral race. Elizabeth and Lucas focus on their new relationship. Nathan is focused on his Mountie career. There’s a new pharmacist in town. Rosemary and Lee continue to run the town newspaper. In the first episode, Elizabeth sees a new side of Lucas when a flu bug leaves her without a babysitter, and he volunteers to watch Little Jack.
Starring Erin Krakow, Pascale Hutton, Jack Wagner.
Rated TV-G
Available March 10 with Hallmark Movies Now Prime Video Channel
Also see Lucy Worsley Investigates (Season 1), available May 15, 2022.
New Period Dramas to Rent
This section contains historical, costume and period dramas (movies and TV series) that are newly available to rent on Amazon this season.
Adapted by Simon Rich from his 2013 New Yorker novella Sell Out, An American Pickle stars Seth Rogen as Herschel Greenbaum, a struggling labourer who immigrates to America in 1919 with dreams of building a better life for his beloved family. One day, while working at his factory job, he falls into a vat of pickles and is brined for 100 years. The brine preserves him perfectly and when he emerges in present day Brooklyn, he finds that he hasn’t aged a day. But when he seeks out his family, he learns that his only surviving relative is his great-grandson Ben Greenbaum, a mild-mannered computer coder whom Herschel can’t even begin to understand.
Starring Seth Rogen, Sarah Snook, Kalen Allen.
Rated PG-13
Available March 14
Belfast is a poignant story of love, laughter and loss in one boy’s childhood, amid the music and social tumult of the late 1960s. Buddy’s family lives in a largely Protestant district with a few Catholic families but one day his community and everything he thought he understood about life is suddenly turned upside down. Buddy’s family gets caught in the mayhem and must decide to stay or leave the only place they have ever called home. Through it all, his passionate parents and quick-witted grandparents keep the joy alive through music and the magic of movies in this feel-good story that reminds us that no matter how far you go, you never forget where you came from.
Starring Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciaran Hinds, Colin Morgan, Jude Hill.
Rated PG-13
Available March 2
Award-winning director Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement) re-imagines the timeless tale of a heartbreaking love triangle. A man ahead of his time, Cyrano de Bergerac dazzles whether with ferocious wordplay at a verbal joust or with brilliant swordplay in a duel. But, convinced that his appearance renders him unworthy of the love of a devoted friend, the luminous Roxanne, Cyrano has yet to declare his feelings for her — and Roxanne has fallen in love, at first sight, with Christian.
Starring Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Ben Mendelsohn, Bashir Salahuddin, Monica Dolan.
Rated PG-13
Available March 7
Based on P.D. James’s global bestsellers, this riveting mystery series stars Bertie Carvel (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Doctor Foster) as enigmatic Inspector Adam Dalgliesh. A recent widower and acclaimed poet, Dalgliesh employs his exceptional empathy and insight to plumb the darker depths of the human psyche while investigating complex crimes in 1970s England. Read more about it.
Starring Bertie Carvel, Natasha Little, Jeremy Irvine, Carlyss Peer, Jonjo O’Neill.
Rated TV-14
Available March 8
From visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro comes a suspenseful psychological thriller based on William Lindsay Gresham’s novel. In 1940s New York, down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle endears himself to a clairvoyant and her mentalist husband at a traveling carnival. Using newly acquired knowledge, Carlisle crafts a golden ticket to success by swindling the elite and wealthy. Hoping for a big score, he soon hatches a scheme to con a dangerous tycoon with help from a mysterious psychologist who might be his most formidable opponent yet.
Starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette.
Rated R for strong violence, some sexual content, nudity and language
Available March 7
In 1962, Patricia Neal and Roald Dahl retreat to the English countryside to bring up their young family. The seemingly unlikely pair find their relationship put to the test by a tragic loss. Based on the true story of novelist Roald Dahl and his film star wife, Patricia Neal, their shared grief became a source of redemption and strength, ultimately leading Dahl to write the renowned classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Starring Hugh Bonneville, Keeley Hawes, Sam Heughan, Conleth Hill.
Rated 13+
Available April 14
From producer and director Steven Spielberg, with a script by screenwriter and playwright Tony Kushner, comes “West Side Story.” An adaptation of the 1957 musical, the film tells the tale of forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.
Starring Ansel Elgort, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Brian d’Arcy James.
Rated PG-13
Available March 2
Also newly available to rent in April: April 4: Death on the Nile (2022), The King’s Daughter (2022). April 5: ‘o Re (1989). April 6: The Outfit (2022). April 12: Mary Poppins Returns (2018). The Shape of Water (2017). April 13: Tommy’s Honour (2017). April 20: Murder on the Orient Express (2017).
New Period Drama DVD Releases
This section contains a selection of historical, costume, and period dramas and other titles of interest that are being released this season to DVD and Blu-ray.
PBS Masterpiece: All Creatures Great and Small (Season 2): Based on the beloved autobiographical books from James Herriot, this British period drama tells the exciting adventures of a veterinarian in 1930s Yorkshire. The series takes place in 1937, when James Herriot, fresh out of Glasgow Veterinary College, follows his dream to become a vet in the magnificent Yorkshire Dales, one of England’s most beloved and beautiful landscapes. Available here March 8, 2022
PBS Masterpiece: Around the World in 80 Days (2021): London, 1872. Phileas Fogg lives a comfortable but utterly unfulfilling life in London, spending every day at his club with his friends Fortescue and Bellamy. But when he receives a hand-delivered postcard, with only the word ‘COWARD’ written on the back, it turns his world upside down. Available here March 1, 2022
Belfast (2021): Critics agree Belfast is the “best picture of the year, no doubt” (Pete Hammond, Deadline). Written and directed by Kenneth Branagh it is the story of one boy’s childhood. Available here March 1, 2022
Cyrano (2021): Award-winning director Joe Wright re-imagines the timeless tale of a heartbreaking love triangle. A man ahead of his time, Cyrano de Bergerac (played by Peter Dinklage) dazzles whether with ferocious wordplay at a verbal joust or with brilliant swordplay in a duel. But, convinced that his appearance renders him unworthy of the love of a devoted friend, the luminous Roxanne (Haley Bennett), Cyrano has yet to declare his feelings for her — and Roxanne has fallen in love, at first sight, with Christian (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.). Available here April 19, 2022
Dalgliesh (Series 1): Based on P.D. James’s global bestsellers, this riveting mystery series stars Bertie Carvel (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Doctor Foster) as enigmatic Inspector Adam Dalgliesh. A recent widower and acclaimed poet, Dalgliesh employs his exceptional empathy and insight to plumb the darker depths of the human psyche while investigating complex crimes in 1970s England. Available here March 8, 2022
De Gaulle (2020): May 1940. France is facing a disastrous military situation against the German army. Charles de Gaulle, newly appointed General, joins the Government in Paris while Yvonne, his wife, and their three children stay in the East. Facing the defeatist attitude of Pétain ready to negotiate with Hitler, de Gaulle has one purpose: continue fighting. And along with thousands of French families, Yvonne and the children are soon forced to flee the advancing German troops.Without contact from one another, the doubt arises: will the de Gaulle family be sacrificed for the sake of France? Available here March 22, 2022
The Great (Season 2): Catherine finally takes the Russian throne for her own — but if she thought coup-ing her husband was difficult, it’s nothing compared to the realities of liberating a country that doesn’t want to be. She’ll battle her court, her team, even her own mother in a bid to bring the Enlightenment to Russia. Available here April 26, 2022
The King’s Daughter (2022): Known as The Sun King, Louis XIV (Pierce Brosnan) is the most powerful and influential monarch on the planet. Obsessed with his own mortality and the future of France, Louis turns to his spiritual advisor, Père La Chaise (William Hurt), and the royal physician to help him obtain the key to immortality. Believing a mermaid (Fan Bingbing) contains a force that grants everlasting life, Louis commissions a young sea captain to search the seas and capture the mystical creature. Available here April 19, 2022
PBS Masterpiece: Ridley Road (2021): “Ridley Road” tells the story of Vivien Epstein, a young Jewish woman who after falling in love with a member of the ‘62 Group’, rejects her comfortable middle-class life in Manchester and joins the fight against fascism in London. Inspired by true events, “Ridley Road” follows Vivien as she goes undercover into the NSM, a neo-Nazi movement which is becoming increasingly prominent in London. Available here May 17, 2022
PBS Masterpiece: Sanditon (Season 2): High-spirited heroine Charlotte Heywood returns to the picturesque coastal resort of Sanditon and the companionship of her friend Georgiana Lambe. What adventures, scandals, intrigue and above all else – romance – await Miss Heywood this season. Available here May 10, 2022
Vikings (The Complete Series): Journey to a thrilling ancient world in this epic series about history’s bravest and most fearsome warriors! Ragnor, a would-be Viking cheiftan, longed to fulfill his destiny as an explorer and a conquerer, alongside his ambitious brother, shield maiden wife and warrior sons. But as Ragnor leads daring raids in distant realms across the ocean, treacherous forces in his Norse homeland conspire against him. Ragner must wage war on the battlefield and within himself to protect his freedom, family and life. Available here March 15, 2022
West Side Story (2021): Love at first sight strikes when young Tony spots Maria at a high school dance in 1957 New York City. Their burgeoning romance helps to fuel the fire between the warring Jets and Sharks — two rival gangs vying for control of the streets. Available here March 15, 2022
Other Shows You May Also Like
This section contains a curated list of movies and TV series newly included on Prime, that are NOT period dramas. We think fans of historical and costume dramas will enjoy them just the same. Follow the links to watch the trailers. You may also like:
The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014): Helen Mirren stars in this tasty dish about a fancy French restaurant working against a new Indian eatery opening nearby. Add to your WATCHLIST Available March 1
Lucy and Desi (2022): From director Amy Poehler, this documentary explores the unlikely partnership and enduring legacy of one of the most prolific power couples in entertainment history. What Lucy and Desi couldn’t make work with each other, they gave to the rest of the world. An insightful and intimate peek behind the curtain of these two remarkable trailblazers –featuring nterviews with Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, Norman Lear, Desi Arnaz Jr, Carol Burnett and Bette Midler. Add to your WATCHLIST Available March 4
Also available in March: March 1: Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009), Crash (2005), Flightplan (2005), Liar, Liar (1997), The Proposal (2009), Top Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of WWII (PBS Documentary). March 3: Diana (2013). March 25: The Commune (2017). March 30: Love Unleashed (2019).
Available in April: April 1: The Apartment (1960), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The Joy Luck Club (1993), Autumn in New York (2000), Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), The Outlaws (2022), Osama (2003), Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), Date Night (2010), The Sixth Sense (1999), Garden State (2004). April 18: Come Away (2020). April 26: Brick Lane (2008). April 30: The Beach House (2018).
Available in May: May 1: A Chorus Line (1985), Eagle vs Shark (2007), Field Of Dreams (1989), Harold and Maude (1971), The Love Letter (1999), Mamma Mia! (2008), The Namesake (2007), Sliding Doors (1998), Steel Magnolias (1989), The Ugly Truth (2009). May 4: Denial (2016). May 5: Fire Will Come (2019). May 6: You Can Count on Me (2000). May 12: This Beautiful Fantastic (2016), Moondance Alexander (2007). May 19: Greenfingers (2001).
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to see The Period Films List, with the best British period dramas, historical and costume movies and TV series sorted by era.
