If you’re wondering what to watch while waiting for the second part of Bridgerton season 3, you’ve come to the right place. If you enjoy the stories and intrigues of Shonda Rhimes’ show, you surely haven’t missed the spin-off miniseries about Queen Charlotte that came out last year. If you have, catch up on it right away! And why not? They might seem unrelated, but if you’re interested in stories full of romantic entanglements, also produced by Shonda, you might enjoy Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice, which feature intriguing stories and endless love twists.
If, on the other hand, you’re a fan of costumes and period series or films, here’s a must-watch list while Netflix keeps us on edge for the season finale.
Emma (2020):
Not the first film adaptation of this story—in fact, the 1996 film Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow is quite well known—but the one we recommend is the more recent version, starring the beautiful Anya Taylor-Joy as the protagonist: a rich, intelligent, and meddlesome woman who tries to arrange and rearrange the love lives of her acquaintances in Georgian England.
Enola Holmes (2020):
The beloved Netflix film with a cast of talented stars like Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Helena Bonham Carter, and Louis Partridge. It tells the adventures of the younger sister of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, dealing with a great mystery and injustices she wants to resolve, despite the seemingly impossible situation. All set, given the period, with a backdrop of costumes, nobility, and love stories.
Little Women (2019):
Familiar and revisited, read and watched in countless forms, Greta Gerwig’s version is the chosen one for this list. The elegance and refinement of the protagonists (played by big names like Meryl Streep, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, and Florence Pugh, accompanied by Timothée Chalamet), the wonderful gowns for galas, love, heartbreak, and marriages… but also: big dreams to achieve, the institution of family, and the role of women in society at the time, which are certainly the true protagonists of the story.
Persuasion (2022):
Also produced by Netflix, this film tells of love dramas and important decisions like whether to leave the past behind or believe in a second chance, listening to what the heart suggests. With Dakota Johnson set in the early 19th century, it’s quite reminiscent of Bridgerton for its choice of scenic details, more modern terms and behaviors than the era in which it is set, and for the common filming location, as the movie was shot in Bath, Somerset, England (where several scenes of Bridgerton were also filmed due to the beautiful architecture of the Royal Crescent).
Becoming Jane (2007):
Going back a bit, this film came out nearly twenty years ago with the extraordinary Anne Hathaway, who plays Jane Austen herself in this biographical film that tells of her pre-fame years and a love story involving the writer and a young Irishman, played by James McAvoy.
If you already knew all of these but missed some, now is the time to catch up. If you’re a step ahead and haven’t missed any, you might consider dedicating yourself to one of these lesser-known period series, which you possibly have yet to catch: Dickinson and The Buccaneers.