The 10 best period dramas on Hulu

Ready to travel back in time? With the following period dramas available on Hulu, you can do just that. Whether you're tracing the roots of America's jazz scene, the melodrama of British royal history, or LGBTQ-friendly glimpses of the past, there's something on this list for you. Here are the best period dramas on Hulu.

<i>Ammonite</i> (2020)

Inspired by the life of British paleontologist Mary Anning (Kate Winslet), Ammonite imagines a romantic relationship between her and the young geologist Charlotte Murchison (Saoirse Ronan) set against a striking 1840s English waterfront setting. Winslet explained in an interview with EW that she and Ronan choreographed an intimate moment themselves. "I just could feel that Saoirse and I had the same ideas in terms of what we wanted to express..." Winslet said. "The emotional underpinning of the scene, the connection between these two women — which is, of course, more important than anything in any love scene. We were on the same page in terms of that." —Lia Beck

Where to watch Ammonite: Hulu

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Director: Francis Lee

Cast: Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Jones, James McArdle, Alec Secăreanu, Fiona Shaw

Related content: Ammonite director says Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan film is about 'the power of love' and 'touch'

<i>Atonement</i> (2007)

A lie told by a precocious girl fundamentally changes the lives of two lovers in this sumptuous romantic drama. Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by Ian McEwan, Atonement begins in 1930s England, following the too-clever-for-her-own-good Briony from childhood to adulthood to a far more mature age. After Briony falsely accuses the family housekeeper's son Robbie of rape, he is separated from Briony's older sister, Cecilia, with whom he is in love. As Robbie and Cecilia fight to reunite, the lie and the advent of World War II keep them apart, leaving Briony to grapple with the consequences of her actions. Joe Wright's film is an old-fashioned tragedy that rarely verges into sentimentality, earning seven Oscar nominations including Best Picture and a win for its typewriter-accented score. —Kevin Jacobsen

Where to watch Atonement: Hulu

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Joe Wright

Cast: James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Romola Garai, Saoirse Ronan, Vanessa Redgrave, Brenda Blethyn, Juno Temple, Benedict Cumberbatch

Related content: Atonement: The inside story on that iconic green dress

<i>Benedetta</i> (2021)

Benedetta isn't your grandmother's nun movie. Based on the book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy, Paul Verhoeven's audacious period drama takes place in 17th-century Italy, where the young Sister Benedetta Carlini (Virginie Efira) has recurring visions of Jesus Christ. The convent grapples with how to handle her situation, while Benedetta soon enters into an erotic relationship with a fellow nun, Bartolomea (Daphné Patakia), causing even more of a stir. The film's explicit content naturally drew criticism upon its premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, with some even calling it "blasphemous." Verhoeven responded, "You cannot change history — you cannot change things that happened — and I based it on the things that happened. So I think the word 'blasphemy' in this case is stupid." While it won't be for everyone, the film deftly explores sexual liberation through the lens of Christianity. —K.J.

Where to watch Benedetta: Hulu

EW grade: N/A

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Cast: Virginie Efira, Charlotte Rampling, Daphné Patakia, Lambert Wilson, Olivier Rabourdin

Related content: Lesbian nuns run wild in NSFW trailer for Paul Verhoeven's erotic thriller Benedetta

<i>Benediction</i> (2022)

This poignant yet incisive examination of World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon's life flew somewhat under the radar at the time of its release, but has since become a hidden gem of its own. Benediction delves into the writer's romantic entanglements with various influential men, in addition to the traumas of fighting on the Western Front. He would eventually become known for openly criticizing the continued war effort, while privately grappling with his sexuality as he went on to marry and have a child. Jack Lowden plays the complicated man at the center, while Peter Capaldi portrays him at an older age. Told with sensitivity and acerbic wit, the film beautifully captures a storied life  and how pain manifests in our personal and professional lives. —K.J.

Where to watch Benediction: Hulu

EW grade: N/A

Director: Terence Davies

Cast: Jack Lowden, Peter Capaldi, Simon Russell Beale, Jeremy Irvine, Calam Lynch, Tom Blyth, Kate Phillips, Geraldine James, Gemma Jones, Ben Daniels

<i>Chevalier</i> (2023)

In the vein of modern revisionist pieces like Hamilton and Bridgerton, Chevalier puts a modern twist on history, taking us back in time to when composers were like rock stars. The film centers on Joseph Bologne — the biracial son of an enslaved woman and a French plantation owner — who becomes one of the most acclaimed composers of the 18th century. Along the way, he is knighted Chevalier de Saint-Georges by Marie Antoinette, and uses his skills to challenge renowned composers like Mozart while also dealing with racism as he fights to become director of the Paris Opera. Kelvin Harrison Jr. turns in one of his finest performances yet as the artist at the film's center, imbuing him with charisma and a musical rhythm as if he'd been training for it all his life.  —K.J.

Where to watch Chevalier: Hulu

EW grade: N/A

Director: Stephen Williams

Cast: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Samara Weaving, Lucy Boynton, Marton Csokas, Alex Fitzalan, Minnie Driver, Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo

Related content: Chevalier's Kelvin Harrison Jr. tried to find the 'sexy' in playing its classical music 'rock star'

<i>Portrait of a Lady on Fire</i> (2019)

Set in 18th-century France, Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire is about two women who fall in love after one of them is sent to paint the wedding portrait for the other, a wealthy bride being forced to enter an arranged marriage. The backdrop of a foggy, rocky seaside and supernatural elements add an eerie vibe to the forbidden love story. As EW's critic notes, "There's almost no single moment in Portrait of a Lady on Fire that couldn't be captured, mounted, and hung on a wall as high art." —L.B.

Where to watch Portrait of a Lady on Fire: Hulu

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Director: Céline Sciamma

Cast: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel

Related content: How Petite Maman director Céline Sciamma crafted her wondrous time-travel fairy tale

<i>Sophie's Choice</i> (1982)

The phrase "Sophie's choice" has been so overused in the decades since the release of this harrowing drama that it tends to flatten the true impact of the title character's decision. Based on the novel of the same name, Sophie's Choice tells the story of Zofia "Sophie" Zawistowski, a Polish immigrant living in Brooklyn who recounts her traumatic past to a young novelist, including her time spent interned at Auschwitz. During this experience, she was forced to make an impossible decision involving her children that continues to weigh on her years later. Meryl Streep won an Oscar for her soul-bearing performance, serving as the urtext for the actress' ability to truly transform into her characters. —K.J.

Where to watch Sophie's Choice: Hulu

EW grade: N/A

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Cast: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter MacNicol

Related content: Sophie's Choice: The story behind that haunting scene

<i>Spencer</i> (2021)

If you're looking for a full-life-spanning biopic of Princess Diana (née Lady Diana Spencer), this isn't it. Instead, Pablo Larraín's Spencer follows Diana (Kristen Stewart) as she spends a very tense and psychologically draining Christmas holiday at the royal family's Sandringham estate while on the verge of her separation from Prince Charles in 1991. This is to say, it's mostly fictionalized. Stewart's performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, in addition to winning several critics' prizes. EW's review also sang praises for Stewart, deeming Spencer as "one of the best performances of her career so far… She's Diana, but ever-so-slightly off, in such a way that an audience can simultaneously buy into and detach from Larraín's imagined royal nightmare." —L.B.

Where to watch Spencer: Hulu

EW grade: A– (read the review)

Director: Pablo Larraín

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, Jack Farthing, Sean Harris, Sally Hawkins

Related content: Kristen Stewart reveals the secret behind eating those giant pearls in Spencer

<i>The United States vs. Billie Holiday</i> (2021)

The United States vs. Billie Holiday focuses on the Federal Bureau of Narcotics' attempts to take down jazz icon Billie Holiday (Andra Day) under the guise of her drug use, but they were actually targeting the "Strange Fruit" singer's status as a powerful Black woman and her music's open protest of the treatment of Black Americans. The film also features an undercover agent, Jimmy Fletcher, who forms a close bond with Holiday. Though this was singer Day's first proper live-action role, she ended up nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars. "The gravel and the grit in [Holiday's] voice is so much a part of her character," Day told EW of preparing for the role. "Anything I'd do to take care of my voice as a singer, I did the opposite…There's still some residual Billie. Parts of her will always be with me." —L.B

Where to watch The United States vs. Billie Holiday: Hulu

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Lee Daniels

Cast: Andra Day, Trevante Rhodes, Garrett Hedlund, Leslie Jordan, Miss Lawrence, Adriane Lenox, Natasha Lyonne, Rob Morgan, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Evan Ross, Tyler James Williams
Related content: How Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin responded to adversity: 'You are not taking me down'

<i>The World to Come</i> (2021)

This underrated melancholic drama follows the blossoming romance of Abigail (Katherine Waterston) and Tellie (Vanessa Kirby), neighbors living in 19th-century New York's countryside. As one might expect given the time period, their love affair is a forbidden one, with both of their husbands becoming jealous of the time they spend together. As EW's critic wrote, "The immersive look of the film, with its strikingly unadorned landscapes and dim-lit interiors, casts a spell," adding that Waterston and Kirby "bring both urgency and fragility to their constrained characters — two lost souls aligned and finding love in a hopeless place." —K.J.

Where to watch The World to Come: Hulu

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Mona Fastvold

Cast: Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby, Christopher Abbott, Casey Affleck

Related content: Katherine Waterston on her 19th-century LGBTQ romance The World to Come