Excited for ‘Wuthering Heights’? Stream these other period romances at home
Excited for ‘Wuthering Heights’? Stream these other period romances at home
From windswept estates to forbidden affairs, these romances prove angst never goes out of style.
Valentine’s Day just passed, but I’m not quite ready to let go of the romance vibes quite yet. Part of the reason is that “Wuthering Heights” just got a glossy new makeover and hit theaters a few days ago, and Tara and I have our tickets to see it this week. Now, if you’re more in the “stay at home and cuddle” lane, I’ve got a solution for that, too. There are plenty of great period romances on streaming that will scratch the same itch. These movies hop across centuries and continents, but they all circle back to one thing: love. Here are seven of my personal favorites, ranked from seven to one, that are perfect for a curl-up-on-the-couch marathon.
Top 7 period romance movies on streaming right now
No. 7: ‘Ever After’ (1998) | Disney+
“Ever After” takes Cinderella and strips out the fairy dust, dropping the whole thing into Renaissance France. Drew Barrymore plays Danielle, a fearless farm girl who quotes Thomas More and casually pelts a thief with apples before realizing he’s Prince Henry. There’s no fairy godmother and no pumpkin carriage. Instead, the movie treats the fairy tale like grounded historical fiction. Leonardo da Vinci pops in as a sort of fairy godfather, sketching portraits and helping Danielle sneak into royal events. Watching Barrymore and Dougray Scott banter and flirt feels like a throwback adventure movie, and the feminist energy still lands. It’s romantic comfort food, just with better costumes and castles.
EverAfter
Danielle, a vibrant young woman, was forced into servitude after the death of her father when she was a young girl. Danielle’s stepmother, Rodmilla, is a heartless woman who forces Danielle to do the cooking and cleaning, while she tries to marry off the eldest of her two daughters to the prince. But Danielle’s life takes a wonderful turn when, under the guise of a visiting royal, she meets the charming Prince Henry.
No. 6: ‘On Swift Horses’ (2024) | Netflix
This one drops you right into post-Korean War America. “On Swift Horses” adapts Shannon Pufahl’s novel about three people chasing very different versions of freedom in the 1950s. Julius Walker, a Navy veteran, spends Christmas with his brother Lee and sister-in-law Muriel before heading to Las Vegas. On the casino floor, he meets Henry, a Mexican co-worker, and their connection turns into a secret love affair. Back home, Muriel realizes she’s oddly gifted at betting on horses and forms her own quiet, risky bond with her neighbor Sandra. The film weaves these relationships together, moving between domestic longing and neon-lit gambling dens. It’s patient, messy, and unapologetically queer, building a mid-century melodrama that fully leans into its feelings.
On Swift Horses
Returning from the Korean War, Lee wants to begin a new life with his wife Muriel in California. But when his charismatic brother Julius arrives, their lives begin to change. Julius’s rebellious streak rubs off on Muriel, who secretly steps into the world of race horse gambling. Here she meets a new lover, a fellow woman looking to break free from her restrictive life. Meanwhile, Julius travels to Las Vegas, where he falls in love with a young man he meets at the card tables.
No. 5: ‘Brokeback Mountain’ (2005) | Rent with Prime Video
It would feel wrong not to include Ang Lee’s landmark drama. “Brokeback Mountain” follows Wyoming ranch hand Ennis Del Mar and rodeo cowboy Jack Twist, who fall in love while herding sheep in 1963. What starts quietly stretches across decades of stolen fishing trips and feelings they’re never allowed to fully live out. It’s about love pushed aside by time, distance, and social pressure. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal give such internal, restrained performances that you feel everything they don’t say. The wide open skies and rough cabins make it feel epic, but the emotions are intimate and personal. And yes, that “I wish I knew how to quit you” still wrecks me.
Brokeback Mountain
In 1960s Wyoming, two men develop a strong emotional and sexual relationship that endures as a lifelong connection complicating their lives as they get married and start families of their own.
No. 4: ‘The Taste of Things’ (2023) | Hulu
“La Passion de Dodin Bouffant” which was released in the U.S. as “The Taste of Things,” is a romance that simmers instead of exploding (cooking pun anyone?). Set in the late 19th-century French countryside, it follows master chef Dodin Bouffant and his cook Eugénie, who have spent more than 20 years creating extraordinary meals together. He’s proposed many times, but she keeps saying no because she doesn’t want to disrupt the partnership that defines their lives. Their affection shows up in every dish, and the film lingers on chopping, stirring, and plating like it’s choreography. When Eugénie’s health starts to decline, Dodin realizes that sharing food isn’t the same as sharing everything. It’s one of those movies where steam rising off a pot somehow feels romantic.
The Taste of Things
Set in 1889 France, Dodin Bouffant is a chef living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie. They share a long history of gastronomy and love but Eugénie refuses to marry Dodin, so the food lover decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her.
No. 3: ‘Titanic’ (1997) | Netflix
Yes, the iceberg movie. James Cameron’s “Titanic” pairs third-class artist Jack Dawson with first-class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater during the doomed maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic. Their cross-class romance unfolds against meticulous recreations of the 1912 disaster, and the scale still impresses all these years later. The sweeping shots, the score, and the drama are all still here. But what keeps people coming back is the chemistry between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The movie makes you believe in a life-changing love that lasts just days… even when you know exactly how it ends. And yet it still pulls you in every single time.
Titanic
101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic’s departure through to its death—on its first and only voyage.
This is the movie that launched Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet into superstardom. It is epic in every way, and director James Cameron sailed home with a boatload of Oscars.
No. 2: ‘The Notebook’ (2004) | HBO Max
Okay, grab tissues. “The Notebook” adapts Nicholas Sparks’ novel and frames the love story through an elderly man reading from a notebook in a nursing home. In flashbacks, we meet Noah, a lumber-mill worker, and Allie, a wealthy 17-year-old, who fall hard during one summer in 1940s South Carolina. Class divides and family pressure tear them apart. Letters, war, and new relationships keep them separated for years. When Allie returns to see the house Noah rebuilt for her, all that old longing rushes back. The rain‑soaked kiss has become a pop‑culture icon, and it’s almost impossible not to tear up when the film reveals the identities of the elderly couple. Sappy? Absolutely. Effective? Also yes.
The Notebook
An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer’s. From a faded notebook, the old man’s words bring to life the story of a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.
This classic tearjerker from director Nick Cassavetes stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as the young lovers, with James Garner and Gena Rowlands playing the older version of the couple.
No. 1: ‘Priscilla’ (2023) | Netflix
My top pick is Sofia Coppola’s intimate biopic “Priscilla.” Based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir “Elvis and Me,” the film follows teenage Priscilla Beaulieu after she meets Elvis in 1959 while he’s stationed in West Germany. Cailee Spaeny plays Priscilla through the 1960s and 1970s, charting a relationship that feels both dreamy and suffocating. Elvis courts her with letters and glamorous trips to Graceland and Las Vegas, but once she’s inside that world, she’s dealing with strict rules, infidelities, and prescription drug abuse. Coppola keeps the camera focused on Priscilla, letting us experience the rush of first love and the slow realization of losing yourself. It’s both quiet and devastating. And it’s a powerful portrait of a woman finding her own voice inside a very gilded cage.
Priscilla
When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend.