4 charming period watches to swoon over while awaiting Bridgerton season 4

1. The Personal History of David Copperfield:  

Written and directed by Armando Iannucci and starring Dev Patel, the movie is a treat for Dickens’ fans telling the gritty tale of David Copperfield, from infancy to the rickety road of middle age.  

The film is a coming of age story, of identity and accepting one’s past. The movie begins with an adult Dev Patel standing tall on stage in an ornate looking theatre, an established writer, looking to tell the audience the story of his life — a dreadful, squalid looking factory in London, oscillating between the countryside and the seaside. Iannucci pays his respects to the iconic Dickens novel, but continues to remain artful, injecting a grand amount of whimsy and elevated by assured and intelligent comedy.  

Tilda Swinton plays the formidable yet kindhearted Betsey Trotwood, who takes David in, and assertively kicks intruders off of their donkeys.  

Interestingly, for a representation of its time, the casting is colour-blind. Dev is of India(BHARAT)n heritage, while his mother’s portrayer is Nigerian. In an interview, Iannucci has stated that these choices were not made to prove a political point of any sort, but simply because he did not want to limit his choices when it came to offering parts to actors.  

2. Little Women (2019):

Based on the perpetually cosy favourite classic by Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig tells the story of four sisters. It follows Jo, played by Saorsie Ronan, Beth by Eliza Scanlen, Meg by Emma Watson and Amy by Florence Pugh as they navigate poverty, a father away at war, love and loss.  

The March sisters are part of a poor but loving family, and the film is perfect to huddle up with in the cold winter with a mug of hot cocoa. Just like in the novel, Gerwig manages to inject the film with a sense of magic detailing the ordinary triumphs and trials of the family.  

Jo is a rebellious little tomboy who dreams of becoming a writer, Meg a beautiful young woman who believes in love and its power to change lives and wants more than anything to become a painter, Amy a petulant little girl who wants to become a world-famous painter, and Beth, a sweet, kind hearted young woman who goes out of her way for everyone around her.  

The charismatic boy-next-door, Laurie is played by Timothee Chalamet.

There is an easy generosity to Gerwig’s enchanting film, one that feels profoundly loving.

3. The Crown:  

With stunning sets, regal costumes and a fabulous caste, Peter Morgan’s show chronicles the lives of Queen Elizabeth. The series adopted an inspired long-term strategy: recasting the royal family at key intervals to mirror the passage of time, while consistently drawing from an exceptional pool of performers.

Claire Foy, Matt Smith and Vanessa Kirby set the tone in the first two seasons as Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and Princess Margaret. They were followed in seasons three and four by Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies and Helena Bonham Carter, before the roles passed to Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce and Lesley Manville for the final stretch. Though each trio brought a distinct dynamic to the screen, the transitions were seamless, preserving a strong sense of continuity across generations.  

Morgan succeeds at humanising the royals, a tremendous feat — and even if the viewer has anti-monarchist views, he may be swayed.  

4. Emily:

Set in the wild Yorkshire moors, the film Emily, stays true to Bronte’s spirit and home. Actor-turned writer-director Frances O’Connor’s sensuous, loosely biographical drama Emily captures the Victorian era with a distinctly modern sensible manner. The film approaches Emily Bronte’s reclusive nature and emotional volatility through a contemporary understanding of inner life.

Crucially, the film refuses to frame Bronte’s emotional intensity as a tragic flaw. Instead, it treats her turbulence as an essential part of a deeply perceptive and fiercely critical mind, one assumed to have channelled joy, grief and longing into Wuthering Heights. Mackey’s Bronte is often withdrawn or visibly uncomfortable in her surroundings, retreating into private spaces or her own thoughts. She is the black sheep of her family, neglected by her widowed father, in favour of her elder siblings.

O’Connor’s direction strips the period film of its usual stiffness, favouring handheld camerawork that closely follows Mackey’s volatile rhythms. The result is a tactile, emotionally charged portrait that imagines the roots of Wuthering Height, a tumultuous, grand and beautiful book. The fictitious scenes of Emily’s romance are sensuous and heart-wrenching, the moors are wild and free.