The Best Historical Movies on Netflix
Endlessly scrolling through Netflix without being able to decide what to watch is an all-too-common problem, but it’s easier to solve if you have a specific genre in mind. And while most of the history dramas streaming on the platform aren’t exactly historical themselves, as Netflix’s catalogue is known to skew toward newer films, that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth watching. Here are five of the best, which tell stories ranging from complex biographies to a single day in World War I.
Update: These movies were available for streaming on Netflix when this article was originally published. However, as Netflix’s library frequently changes, some titles may no longer be available. We suggest checking other streaming and rental platforms such as Amazon Prime, Hulu, or Apple TV for availability.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Even if you’ve read Erich Maria Remarque’s classic World War I novel or seen its prior two film adaptations, you might not be prepared for 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front. The film follows a fresh-faced German soldier whose idealistic view of the conflict is immediately (and tragically) shattered by the realities of trench warfare in a losing battle. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and the four it won (most notably Best International Feature) place it alongside Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite as one of the most-awarded foreign-language films in Oscars history.
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Amadeus
If your knowledge of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is limited to his status as one of the most revered composers of all time, you’ll be mightily (and, most likely, pleasantly) surprised by the depiction in 1984’s Amadeus. While very much a musical prodigy, the film’s Mozart is also juvenile, fun-loving, and rather vulgar at times — a portrayal backed by a good amount of historical fact, as evidenced by the existence of a Wikipedia article titled “Mozart and scatology” and certain letters the composer wrote. That makes him the exact opposite of Antonio Salieri, whose resentment toward his younger, more talented peer sends both composers down a dark path in Miloš Forman’s classic drama. Amadeus marks the last time a single movie received two nominations for Best Actor, with F. Murray Abraham winning for his performance as Salieri. The film won seven other Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Forman, who had previously won for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
The Beguiled
Though best known for such movies as The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola has a number of under-the-radar gems in her filmography. Among them is 2017’s The Beguiled, an adaptation of the Civil War novel of the same name starring Coppola’s longtime collaborator Kirsten Dunst alongside Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, and Colin Farrell. Set at a largely abandoned all-girls school in Virginia, it concerns a wounded Union soldier (Farrell) who gets reluctantly taken in by the headmistress (Kidman) as she decides whether to turn him over to the Confederacy. All three women are interested in him in one way or another, creating a moody, twisty dynamic that proves darkly entertaining throughout. Beguiling indeed.
The Pale Blue Eye
“What if there were a murder mystery at West Point in which a young cadet by the name of Edgar Allan Poe plays a pivotal role?” This might not be a question you’ve asked yourself, but the answer can be found in 2022’s The Pale Blue Eye. The movie stars Christian Bale as a grief-stricken detective asked to come out of retirement to investigate said case, and Harry Melling as Poe, the latter all but unrecognizable from his time playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter movies. If you’ve followed his post-Potter career, which includes scene-stealing turns in everything from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs to The Queen’s Gambit, you’ll be unsurprised to learn that Melling is once again great here. Those familiar with director Scott Cooper’s previous work (namely Crazy Heart and Hostiles) will be equally unsurprised by The Pale Blue Eye’s grimmer moments, but the film’s evocative air is what makes it so memorable.
1917
All Quiet on the Western Front isn’t the only great World War I movie from the last few years. Released in 2019, Sam Mendes’ film 1917 was just as riveting. The American Beauty and Skyfall director worked with legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins to make the film appear as though it’s unfolding in just two continuous shots. There’s a reason for that feeling of urgency: Taking place in a single day near the end of the war, the plot follows two British soldiers tasked with delivering a message on foot in order to prevent 1,600 of their compatriots from walking into a trap.
