20 best movies like Tess (1979)

List of the best movies like Tess (1979): Jude, Great Expectations, The French Lieutenant's Woman, Albert Nobbs, Phantom of the Opera, Immortal Beloved, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, The Young Victoria, A Promise, Effie Gray.

Tags: movies similar to Tess (1979) - full list

Markimdb: 6.9
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryUnited Kingdom
Duration02:03

In late 19th-century England, Jude aspires to be an academic, but is hobbled by his blue-collar background. Instead, he works as a stonemason and is trapped in an unloving marriage to a farmer's daughter named Arabella. But when his wife leaves him, Jude sees an opportunity to improve himself. He moves to the city and begins an affair with his married cousin, Sue, courting tragedy every step of the way.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
Duration02:08

Miss Havisham, a wealthy spinster who wears an old wedding dress and lives in the dilapidated Satis House, asks Pip's "Uncle Pumblechook" (who is actually Joe's uncle) to find a boy to play with her adopted daughter Estella. Pip begins to visit Miss Havisham and Estella, with whom he falls in love,then Pip a humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.

Markimdb: 6.9
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryUnited Kingdom
Duration02:04

In this story-within-a-story, Anna is an actress starring opposite Mike in a period piece about the forbidden love between their respective characters, Sarah and Charles. Both actors are involved in serious relationships, but the passionate nature of the script leads to an off-camera love affair as well. While attempting to maintain their composure and professionalism, Anna and Mike struggle to come to terms with their infidelity.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryUnited Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, France, USA
Duration01:53

Albert Nobbs struggles to survive in late 19th century Ireland, where women aren't encouraged to be independent. Posing as a man, so she can work as a butler in Dublin's most posh hotel, Albert meets a handsome painter and looks to escape the lie she has been living.

Markimdb: 6.4
Genrehorror, thriller, melodrama, drama, music
CountryUSA
Duration01:32

Pit violinist Claudin hopelessly loves rising operatic soprano Christine Dubois (as do baritone Anatole and police inspector Raoul) and secretly aids her career. But Claudin loses both his touch and his job, murders a rascally music publisher in a fit of madness, and has his face etched with acid. Soon, mysterious crimes plague the Paris Opera House, blamed on a legendary "phantom".

Markimdb: 7.4
Genremelodrama, drama, music, biography
CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
Duration02:01

The life and death of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven. Beside all the work he is known for, the composer once wrote a famous love letter to a nameless beloved and the movie tries to find out who this beloved was. Not easy as Beethoven has had many women in his life.

Markimdb: 5
Genremelodrama, drama, history
CountryUnited Kingdom, Spain, France
Duration02:00

The Bridge of San Luis Rey is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel, first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. It tells the story of several interrelated people who die in the collapse of an Inca rope-fiber suspension bridge in Peru, and the events that lead up to their being on the bridge.[ A friar who has witnessed the tragic accident then goes about inquiring into the lives of the victims, seeking some sort of cosmic answer to the question of why each had to die. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928.

Markimdb: 7.3
Genremelodrama, drama, biography, history
CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
Duration01:40

From Academy Award® winners Graham King and Martin Scorsese, along with the makers of Gosford Park and The Departed, comes the story of Queen Victoria’s early rise to power. From an object of a royal power-struggle to her romantic courtship and legendary marriage to Prince Albert, Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) gives a stunning performance as the young Victoria. Packed with drama, romance, breath-taking cinematography, lavish costumes and featuring an outstanding British cast including Jim Broadbent, Harriet Walter, Mark Strong, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, and Rupert Friend, The Young Victoria has captivated British audiences, and is the film that Company magazine called “an epic British film, which will sweep you up in her remarkable story.”

Markimdb: 5.7
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryFrance, Belgium
Duration01:38

A romantic drama set in Germany just before WWI and centered on a married woman who falls in love with her husband's teacher. Separated by the war, they pledge their devotion to one another.

Markimdb: 6
Genremelodrama, drama, biography
CountryUnited Kingdom
Duration01:44

A look at the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryUSA
Duration01:51

Loosely based on the Charles Dickens' classic novel, "Great Expectations" is a sensual tale of a young man's unforgettable passage into manhood, and the three individuals who will undeniably change his life forever. Through the surprising interactions of these vivid characters, "Great Expectations" takes a unique and contemporary look at life's great coincidences.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genredrama, biography, history
CountryUnited Kingdom, France, Germany, USA
Duration02:30

Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
Duration02:33

Based on the literary classic by Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd is the story of independent, beautiful and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene, who attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer, captivated by her fetching willfulness; Frank Troy, a handsome and reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor. This timeless story of Bathsheba's choices and passions explores the nature of relationships and love – as well as the human ability to overcome hardships through resilience and perseverance.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryFrance

When a romance between a widow and a notorious libertine takes an unexpected turn, Mademoiselle de Joncquières becomes instrumental to one lover’s plans for revenge.

Markimdb: 7.6
Genremelodrama, drama, crime
CountryFrance
Duration01:25

Ex-convict Georges Manda returns to the free world determined to go straight and takes a steady job as a carpenter. Unable to completely shake his connections with the underground, he meets with a former prison mate, older gangster Félix Leca, who introduces him to his mistress, the sweet but guarded Marie "Casque d'Or". Marie and Georges fall into a passionate relationship, driving Félix to do everything in his power to ruin the couple.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genremelodrama, drama
CountryFrance, United Kingdom, USA
Duration01:52

Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genremelodrama, drama, biography
CountryUnited Kingdom
Duration01:48

    A psychological, heart-wrenching love story that provides a unique and inside look at Charles Darwin. Torn between faith and science, he struggles to finish his legendary book "On the Origin of the Species," which goes on to become the foundation for evolutionary biology.

    Markimdb: 7.2
    Genremelodrama, drama
    CountryUSA
    Duration02:19

    Tale of 19th century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.

    Markimdb: 7.7
    Genremelodrama, drama, biography
    CountryUnited Kingdom, Japan, USA
    Duration02:03

      The Theory of Everything is the extraordinary story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde.

      Markimdb: 5.9
      Genremelodrama, drama, military
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:52

      A cavalcade of English life from New Year's Eve 1899 until 1933 seen through the eyes of well-to-do Londoners Jane and Robert Marryot. Amongst events touching their family are the Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic and the Great War.

      Markimdb: 6.6
      Genremelodrama, drama
      CountryUSA, Australia, United Kingdom
      Duration02:12

      After a childhood of abuse by his evangelistic father, misfit Oscar Hopkins becomes an Anglican minister and develops a divine obsession with gambling. Lucinda Leplastrier is a rich Australian heiress shopping in London for materials for her newly acquired glass factory back home. Deciding to travel to Australia as a missionary, Oscar meets Lucinda aboard ship, and a mutual obsession blossoms. They make a wager that will alter each of their destinies.

      Markimdb: 7.4
      Genremelodrama, drama, military
      CountryUSA
      Duration02:07

      The wife of a Marine serving in Vietnam, Sally Hyde decides to volunteer at a local veterans hospital to occupy her time. There she meets Luke Martin, a frustrated wheelchair-bound vet who has become disillusioned with the war. Sally and Luke develop a friendship that soon turns into a romance.

      Markimdb: 6
      Genremelodrama, drama
      CountryUnited Kingdom
      Duration02:09

      A poor boy of unknown origins is rescued from poverty and taken in by the Earnshaw family where he develops an intense relationship with his young foster sister, Cathy. Based on the classic novel by Emily Bronte.

      Markimdb: 7.6
      Genremelodrama, drama, musical, military, history
      CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
      Duration02:38

        An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France, in which a paroled prisoner named Jean Valjean seeks redemption.

        Markimdb: 6.8
        Genredrama, crime
        CountryBelgium, Luxembourg, France, Luxembourg
        Duration01:54

        Young and full of life, Murielle has a promising future ahead of her when she meets and falls head over heels for Mounir. A wedding soon follows, and the happy couple quickly set about preparing to make a family. However, with family come ties, and none come as tight as that between Mounir and his adoptive father. As Murielle continues to bring new life into the family, frictions between Mounir and Doctor Pinget reach boiling point. Helpless to extract her husband and children from the wealthy nest that Doctor Pinget has provided for them, Murielle is drawn into an unhealthy family dynamic. There is only one way out of this nightmare, and for Murielle all sense of reasoning begins to abandon her.

        Markimdb: 7.4
        Genremelodrama, drama, biography, history
        CountryUSA, United Kingdom
        Duration01:58

        The true story of William Wilberforce and his courageous quest to end the British slave trade. Along the way, Wilberforce meets intense opposition, but his minister urges him to see the cause through.

        Markimdb: 6.9
        Genremelodrama, drama, biography
        CountryUnited Kingdom, Australia, France
        Duration01:59

        In 1818, high-spirited young Fanny Brawne finds herself increasingly intrigued by the handsome but aloof poet John Keats, who lives next door to her family friends the Dilkes. After reading a book of his poetry, she finds herself even more drawn to the taciturn Keats. Although he agrees to teach her about poetry, Keats cannot act on his reciprocated feelings for Fanny, since as a struggling poet he has no money to support a wife.

        Markimdb: 6.9
        Genremelodrama, drama, biography, history
        CountryUnited Kingdom, Italy, France, USA
        Duration01:45

        A chronicle of the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life.

        Markimdb: 5.5
        Genredrama
        CountryFrance, Luxembourg, Belgium
        Duration01:35

        Drawing some intriguing parallels between the work of the prostitute and that of the psychiatrist-both have clients, both charge for sessions, both take on roles that serve the needs, psychological or otherwise, of those they serve, Jeanne Labrune's drama stars Isabelle Huppert and Bouli Lanners as, respectively, Alice, a disaffected call girl and Xavier, a shrink with a crumbling domestic situation.

        Markimdb: 8
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryUnited Kingdom
        Duration01:26

        Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.

        Markimdb: 7.6
        Genrecomedy, drama
        CountryUnited Kingdom, USA, France
        Duration01:38

        A woman searches for her adult son, who was taken away from her decades ago when she was forced to live in a convent.

        Markimdb: 5.9
        Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, crime
        CountryArgentina, France, Spain

        A desperate love story between two young girls of extremely different social backgrounds who, unable to find a place for their love in the world they live in, are pushed to commit a crime.

        Markimdb: 6.6
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryUSA
        Duration02:00

        1921 New York. An immigrant woman is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a dazzling magician tries to save her and reunite her with her sister who is being held in the confines of Ellis Island.

        Markimdb: 7.4
        Genremelodrama, drama, biography, history
        CountryFrance, Italy, Germany
        Duration02:39

        The night of August 24, 1572, is known as the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. In France a religious war is raging. In order to impose peace a forced wedding is arranged between Margot de Valois, sister of the immature Catholic King Charles IX, and the Hugenot King Henri of Navarre. Catherine of Medici maintains her behind-the-scenes power by ordering assaults, poisonings, and instigations to incest.

        Markimdb: 6.5
        Genremelodrama, drama, military
        CountryUnited Kingdom
        Duration02:26

        Germany, 1944. Leyna, the 15-year old daughter of a white German mother and a black African father, meets Lutz, a compassionate member of the Hitler Youth whose father is a prominent Nazi soldier, and they form an unlikely connection in this quickly changing world.

        Markimdb: 7
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryUnited Kingdom
        Duration02:12

        There is just one week until Kate Mercer's 45th wedding anniversary and the planning for the party is going well. But then a letter arrives for her husband. The body of his first love has been discovered, frozen and preserved in the icy glaciers of the Swiss Alps. By the time the party is upon them, five days later, there may not be a marriage left to celebrate.

        Markimdb: 6.9
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryCanada, South Africa, United Kingdom, USA, India, Pakistan

        Determined to leave the ravages of war behind, 38 year old Gian Singh resigns from the British Indian Army to a quiet life. His world is soon thrown in turmoil, when he suddenly finds himself responsible for the life of a 17 year old girl, traumatized by the events that separated her from her family.

        Markimdb: 7.2
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryUnited Kingdom
        Duration01:58

        British teenager Leo Colston spends a summer in the countryside, where he develops a crush on the beautiful young aristocrat Marian. Eager to impress her, Leo becomes the "go-between" for Marian, delivering secret romantic letters to Ted Burgess, a handsome neighboring farmer.

        Markimdb: 7.5
        Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, crime, detective
        CountryFrance, United Kingdom
        Duration02:11

        A man receives a mysterious e-mail appearing to be from his wife, who was murdered years earlier. As he frantically tries to find out whether she's alive, he finds himself being implicated in her death.

        Markimdb: 7.1
        Genremelodrama, drama, military, history
        CountryUnited Kingdom
        Duration01:57

        British barrister Sydney Carton lives an insubstantial and unhappy life. He falls under the spell of Lucie Manette, but Lucie marries Charles Darnay. When Darnay goes to Paris to rescue an imprisoned family retainer, he becomes entangled in the snares of the brutal French Revolution and is himself jailed and condemned to the guillotine. But Sydney Carton, in love with a woman he cannot have, comes up with a daring plan to save her husband.

        Markimdb: 7.9
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryFrance, Austria, Germany
        Duration02:07

        Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.

        Markimdb: 7.3
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:52

        Dean and Cindy live a quiet life in a modest neighborhood. They appear to have the world at their feet at the outset of the relationship. However, his lack of ambition and her retreat into self-absorption cause potentially irreversible cracks in their marriage.

        Markimdb: 6.9
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryUSA, Spain
        Duration02:28

        As a young New York couple goes from college romance to marriage and the birth of their first child, the unexpected twists of their journey create reverberations that echo over continents and through lifetimes.

        Markimdb: 7.1
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryUnited Kingdom, France, USA
        Duration01:43

        A girl dying of leukemia compiles a list of things she'd like to do before passing away. Topping the list is her desire to lose her virginity.

        Markimdb: 6.9
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryUnited Kingdom, Finland

        Having moved to Paris for university, Leevi returns to his native Finland for the summer to help his estranged father renovate the family lake house so it can be sold. Tareq, a recent asylum seeker from Syria, has been hired to help with the work, and when Leevi's father has to return to town on business, the two young men establish a connection and embark on a romance set against the idyllic Finnish summer. However, looming over this chance encounter, is the father's imminent return to the lake house, the continuation of Leevi's studies abroad as well as Tareq's complex relationship with his family in Syria.

        Markimdb: 7.5
        Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, crime
        CountryFrance
        Duration01:21

        A French man spies on a lovely younger woman across the way. When he's spotted by the woman shortly after being questioned by the police about a local murder, the man's simple life becomes more complicated.

        Markimdb: 6.7
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryUnited Kingdom, USA, Netherlands
        Duration01:37

        Clarissa Dalloway looks back on her youth as she readies for a gathering at her house. The wife of a legislator and a doyenne of London's upper-crust party scene, Clarissa finds that the plight of ailing war veteran Septimus Warren Smith reminds her of a past romance with Peter Walsh. In flashbacks, young Clarissa explores her possibilities with Peter.

        Markimdb: 7.2
        Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, detective
        CountryFrance, USA
        Duration01:46

        As the devoutly single Don Johnston is dumped by his latest girlfriend, he receives an anonymous pink letter informing him that he has a son who may be looking for him.

        Markimdb: 7.1
        Genremelodrama, drama, military
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:53

        Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant who has returned home from Iraq, is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Montgomery is partnered with Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), to give notice to the families of fallen soldiers. The Sergeant is drawn to Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton), to whom he has delivered news of her husband’s death.

        Markimdb: 7.6
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
        Duration02:37

        Stingo, a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie and her lover Nathan, he learns that she is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan's relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan's fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.




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