Historical Costume Drama is a subgenre of the broader Historical Period Drama genre that has, since the inception of Squid Game arrived and shattered viewership records, the highest viewed original Netflix television series had been the first season of Bridgerton and its sultry mix of intrigue and regal melodrama suddenly made corsets and corsages essential components of television vogue.
However, both of these serialized sensations have their inspirations firmly rooted in cinema, and the historical costume drama has had its fair share of critically adored silver screen hits throughout the decades.
The Princess of Montpensier (2010) - 78
All great historical costume dramas have within their elegant narratives a heady dash of romance and the violent and amorous extremes of the elite during the seventeenth-century religious uprisings in provincial is the subject of Bertrand Tavernier's The Princess of Montpensier.
Critics, for the most part, enjoyed Tavernier's exquisitely detailed film, which does not shy away from challenging themes of arranged marriage and the events leading to the St. Bartholemew's Day massacre in 1572.
Corsage (2022) - 81
Debuting to plenty of critical acclaim at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, director Marie Kreutzer's biopic of the capricious and flawed Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Corsage, is a historical costume drama in the mold of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette.
Corsage stars Vicky Krieps of Phantom Thread fame and, much like Coppola's seminal period drama, attempts to contemporize the themes inherent within historical costume dramas for modern times and modern audiences. According to Metacritic, it succeeded.
The Marquise Of O (1976) - 86
French auteur Eric Rohmer made a name for himself directing lusciously composed cinematic oddities and is one of the foremost artistic voices of the French new wave. Rohmer's tragic costume drama The Marquise Of O is an elegant and maudlin masterpiece that has been critically adored since its release.
The movie follows the harrowing tale of its titular widowed protagonist who faces exile whilst carrying child. The movie debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 1976 and even scooped the coveted Grand Prix Spécial Prize at its closing ceremony.
The Madness Of King George (1994) - 89
The Alan Bennett penned play The Madness Of King George was adapted for the big screen in 1994 by fellow pioneer of theatre Nicholas Hytner and is widely considered by critics to be one of the greatest British films ever made.
The Madness Of King George is a haunting period study of mental illness and beyond its regal veneer dares to confront how attitudes towards those who had suffered from serious conditions throughout history have changed. The movie packs an emotional punch like no other and is still to this day an influential edifice of British cinema.
Barry Lyndon (1975) - 89
Stanley Kubrick's catalog of movies is littered with classics, and the historical costume drama Barry Lyndon is arguably one of his most accomplished works. Spanning several decades, Barry Lyndon charts the rise and fall of its eponymous lead character and is a cinematic marvel to behold.
Critics have long championed Barry Lyndon. Despite its epic running time, the film feels remarkably concise and is notable for Kubrick's use of natural light in several glorious scenes of period detail.
Gosford Park (2001) - 90
Robert Altman's Gosford Park brought post-war anxieties amongst the established elite in 1930s England to the fore in a razor-sharp and eminently rewatchable black comedy that has been the inspiration for many a small screen period costume drama, including Downton Abbey, which was also written by Gosford Park screenwriter Julian Fellowes.
Altman's movie was a critical hit at the time of its release and many critics swooned at its lavishly reimagined period setting and raved at the performances of its star-studded cast, including stalwarts such as Charles Dance and Derek Jacobi.
The Favourite (2018) - 91
Yorgos Lanthimos' esoteric brand of directing was stylistically well-suited to a period setting and The Favourite married all the majestic refinement of an eighteenth-century palacial drama with an acerbic machiavellian edge that has been universally adored by critics ever since its release.
The Favourite included powerhouse performances across the board and catapulted Lanthimos into the upper echelons of critical cinematic discourse. For a historical costume drama that at times feels more akin to a horror film, look no further than The Favourite.
Mr. Turner (2014) - 94
Darling of British cinema Mike Leigh brought his semi-improvisational approach to directing films into a period setting for the 2014 historical biopic of painter J M W Turner. Like much of Leigh's work, Mr. Turner was revered by critics, who championed the central performance of Timothy Spall, who played the film's titular artist.
Mr. Turner was an unflinching portrayal of flawed artist whose predatory proclivities were as much a reason to critique and question the painter as there is reason to celebrate his groundbreaking work.
Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (2019) - 95
Celine Sciamma's Portrait Of A Lady On Fire is a near-faultless movie that exudes romantic flare from every pore of its being. Sciamma took every elegant stratum of period design and wedded it to an LGBTQ+ inspired story that is as timeless as it is powerful.
Critics could scarcely find fault in the movie and lauded its two central performances from Noémie Merlant and Adéle Haenel. Portrait Of A Lady On Fire is a historical costume drama that is practically unparalleled in its scope and invention.
The Leopard (1963) - 100
Italian director Luchino Visconti's epic historical costume drama The Leopard won the Palme d'Or at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival and ever since has been unmatched in universal critical adoration. The movie is a swooning masterpiece of romantic pomp and ceremony.
It is rare for a movie to accrue such a perfect score on critical aggregator sites such as Metacritic, but Visconti's film is a masterful outlier to this and will forever be appreciated as one of the greatest movies ever made.
