1850s movies and TV shows
The list contains the best, new and most relevant 1850s movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out period drama, captivating, serious, suspense, realistic and period piece films and TV shows about / with family relations, friendship, victorian england, survival, marriage, betrayal, runaway, husband wife relationship, society and violence plots mostly in Drama, Western and Adventure genres shot in USA, UK, France and other countries.
133
TOP 10 movies tagged as 1850s: The Sower (2017), New Gold Mountain (2021), Redeeming Love (2022), The New Land (1972), American Primeval (2025), The Bronte Sisters (1979), Nicholas Nickleby (2002), Frankenstein (2025), 12 Years a Slave (2013), Before the Frost (2018).
Best films
New films
List of 1850s movies
813
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
Violette is old enough to marry in 1852 when her mountain village is brutally deprived of all its men following the repression of the Republicans ordered by Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte. The women spend months in total isolation. Desperate to one day ...
Style:
psychological, captivating, disturbing, independent film
Plot:
political repression, female protagonist, sorority, social problems, male female relationship, women, love, victorian england, woman, missing man, getting home, political prisoner ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, year 2017, victorian era
Place:
south of france, france, provence
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, Western
Country: Australia
TV show
Story:
In the Bendigo Goldfields in 1855, the charismatic headman of the Chinese mining camp suddenly finds himself struggling to maintain the fragile harmony between Chinese and European diggers and authorities when a murdered European woman is discovered ...
Style:
period piece, historical drama, stylized, dramatic, suspenseful ...
Plot:
gold rush, racial tension, murder, cultural conflict, interracial relations, prejudice, society, community, murder of a woman, gold, golddigger, murder investigation ...
Time:
1850s, 19th century
Place:
australia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
A retelling of the biblical book of Hosea set against the backdrop of the California Gold Rush of 1850.
Style:
christian film, thrilling, captivating, romantic, psychological ...
Plot:
traumatic childhood, prostitution, prostitute, brother in law brother in law relationship, skinny dipping, brothel, abused woman, social problems, love story, couple relations, relationships, life is a bitch ...
Time:
1850s, 2020s, 19th century
Place:
california, san francisco, boston
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Western
Country: Sweden
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
Continuation from Utvandrarna (1971): The Swedes arrive in the USA. They still have a long journey to Minnesota where they expect to find other Swedes. When they arrive there, each family searches a place to build a home. Kristina and Karl-Oskar ...
Style:
epic, serious, captivating, sentimental, touching ...
Plot:
immigration, settler, immigrant, migration, desert, farmer, food, nordic, american civil war, snowstorm, male nudity, brothel ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, year 1972, 1860s
Place:
minnesota, america, usa
Is relevant?
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Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story:
A mother and son fleeing from their past form a found family while confronting a harsh landscape of freedom and cruelty in the American West.
Plot:
wild west, survival, indian tribe, massacre, military, mother son relationship, bounty hunter, mormon, human trafficking, winter, fort, lawlessness ...
Time:
1850s, 19th century
Place:
utah, wyoming, america, north america
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: France
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
In a small presbytery in Yorkshire, England, living under the watchful eyes of their aunt and father, a strict Anglican pastor, the Bronte sisters write their first works and quickly become literary sensations.
Style:
realistic, serious, gloomy, contemplative, period drama ...
Plot:
writers, women, art, writer's life, biopic, historical event, tuberculosis, winter, disease, painting, fire, siblings ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, year 1979, 1840s, 1830s ...
Place:
yorkshire, france, united kingdom, europe, england ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
The Charles Dickens story of Nicholas Nickleby, a young boy in search of a better life for his recently torn-apart family. A young compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his coldheartedly grasping ...
Style:
period piece, costume drama, emotional, humorous, touching ...
Audience:
family outing, girls' night
Plot:
charles dickens, greed, vengeance, fall in love, family reunited, happy ending, dysfunctional family, betrayal, uncle nephew relationship, victorian england, family relations, rescue ...
Time:
victorian era, 19th century, 1850s, year 2002, 1830s ...
Place:
london, europe, liverpool, yorkshire, england
Is relevant?
261K
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Country: Mexico, USA
Duration: 149 min.
Story:
Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist, brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.
Style:
gothic, dark fantasy, dark, atmospheric, grim ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
mad scientist, frankenstein's monster, storytelling, monster, fire, love, flashback, blind man, butterfly, captain, ship, north pole ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, victorian era, 1810s
Place:
edinburgh scotland, vienna, london
Is relevant?
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In ...
Style:
heartbreaking, harsh, atmospheric, inspirational, motivational ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
slavery, racism, survival, civil rights, african american, black history, torture, slave trade, american history, freedom, racial discrimination, rape ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, year 2013, victorian era, 2010s ...
Place:
louisiana, new orleans, america, africa, southern usa ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
A chronicle of events that led to the British involvement in the Crimean War against Russia and which led to the siege of Sevastopol and the fierce Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854 which climaxed with the heroic, but near-disastrous calvary ...
Style:
epic, factual, harsh, serious, exciting ...
Plot:
british history, british army, politics, cavalry charge, visceral, military, british soldier, last stand, anti war, battles, tragic hero, justice ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, victorian era, turn of the century, 60s ...
Place:
england, crimea, europe, turkey, istanbul turkey ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
The film takes place somewhere in the Danish countryside in the middle of the 19th century. Here within a small Danish peasant family, harsh circumstances reign. With the prospect of yet another tough winter, the farmer Jens faces an unbearable ...
Style:
period drama
Plot:
hunger, marriage, farmer, fire, arranged marriage, rural setting, swedish, engagement, swamp, class society, death of brother, starvation ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Family
Country: Denmark, Sweden
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
While out and about tending to his herd, young shepherd Larus meets a mysterious little girl named Tinke. Quickly realizing that the girl is alone, Larus brings Tinke some food and slowly builds a friendship with her. Tinke, whose parents died ...
Style:
captivating, realistic, sincere, touching, serious ...
Audience:
family outing
Plot:
orphan, children, family relations, friendship, hopes, friends, destiny, human nature, coming of age, girl, teenage girl, shepherd ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s
Place:
denmark, europe
Is relevant?
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Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
North & South is a British television drama serial, produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in four episodes on BBC One in November and December 2004. It follows the story of Margaret Hale, a young woman from southern England who has to ...
Style:
touching, period piece, serious, sincere, captivating ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick
Plot:
prejudice, initially antagonists, social differences, love and romance, pride and honor, society, young woman, rich and poor, fall in love, couple relations, love affair, owner ...
Time:
19th century, victorian era, 50s, turn of the century, 1850s ...
Place:
england, britain, london
Is relevant?
Genre: Thriller, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
In the summer of 1859, a widowed physician reluctantly agrees to take a recently freed slave and her mysterious Caucasian daughter on a five-day journey through the bloody West to find a distant town's Faith Healer. The woman believes her ...
Style:
historical drama, period piece, sinister, intense, bleak ...
Plot:
racial tension, moral ambiguity, supernatural, haunting, witch doctor, racism, journey, character study, ethical dilemma, grief, road trip, isolation ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 300 min.
TV show
Story:
Henry Drax is a harpooner and brutish killer whose amorality has been shaped to fit the harshness of his world, who will set sail on a whaling expedition to the Arctic with Patrick Sumner, a disgraced ex-army surgeon who signs up as the ship’s ...
Style:
captivating, disturbing, tense, suspense, suspenseful ...
Plot:
arctic, expedition, north pole, struggle for survival, whaling, sea, scientific expedition, psycho killer, sailor, ship, irishman, murder ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, victorian era
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
In Victorian England, a master criminal makes elaborate plans to steal a shipment of gold from a moving train.
Style:
suspense, intense, tense, talky, exciting ...
Plot:
heist, train robbery, robbery, gold, perfect crime, victorian england, betrayal, british, gangster, train travel, master criminal, partner ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, 1800s, turn of the century, year 1979 ...
Place:
england, britain, europe, united kingdom, london
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Western
Country: Australia
Duration: 25 min.
TV show
Story:
Set in the 1850s, as thousands of men flock to the goldfields to hit the jackpot, follow the adventures of sisters Gert and Marigold and their ambition to strike it rich by landing themselves newly-rich idiots.
Style:
satirical, captivating, thrilling, semi serious, psychological ...
Plot:
gold rush, sisters, satire, relationships, sister, golddigger, family relations, lifestyle, escapades, sister sister relationship, scheming, con artists ...
Time:
1850s, 19th century, victorian era, 1800s
Is relevant?
310
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
Bold and irreverent drama following the fortunes of a group of servants in an 1850s English country house.
Style:
costume drama, captivating, disturbing, tension, satirical ...
Plot:
victorian england, aristocracy, manor, servant, maid, butler, country estate, housekeeper, master servant relationship, domestic servant, estate, workplace situations ...
Time:
victorian era, 1850s, 19th century, 1800s
Place:
england
Is relevant?
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338
Genre: Biography, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Chile, France
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
In the nineteenth century, a French adventurer sets off to establish a kingdom in the inhospitable South of Chile, uniting the feared Mapuche under him. The response of the Chilean army is devastating.
Style:
serious, suspense, talky, rough, art house ...
Plot:
ambition, follow your dream, historical figure, dream, indians, bigger dreams, dream come true, following a dream, nature, escapades, life is a bitch, travel ...
Time:
1850s, 19th century, 1860s
Place:
patagonia
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Crime, Drama, History
Country: Australia
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story:
In 1850s Australia, in the lively colony of Port Victory, Jack Dawkins aka The Artful Dodger, has transferred his fast fingers as a pickpocket to the nimble skilled fingers of a surgeon. Dodger's past returns to haunt him with the arrival of ...
Style:
period piece, exciting, suspenseful, tense, captivating ...
Plot:
heist, surgeon, life, thief, male protagonist, master criminal, criminal underworld, criminal, pickpocket, thievery, surgery, class differences ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s
Place:
australia
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Family, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story:
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams is an American television series starring Dan Haggerty that aired on NBC from February 9, 1977 to May 12, 1978.
Style:
scenic, heroic, suspense, wild
Plot:
grizzly bear, nature, wilderness, survival, bear, fugitive, forest, animal, friendship, compassion, rescue, outlaw ...
Time:
1850s
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
Shinsengumi! is a Taiga drama television series produced by Japanese broadcaster NHK. It was a popular drama about the Shinsengumi, a Japanese special police force from the Bakumatsu period.
Style:
historical drama, captivating, tense, exciting, period piece ...
Plot:
samurai, edo period, fight for supremacy, battles, ronin, warrior, fight, showdown, war, samurai era, power struggle, loyalty ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s
Place:
japan
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 53 min.
TV show
Story:
In the 1850s, Captain Charles Boone relocates his family of three children to his ancestral home in the small, seemingly sleepy town of Preacher’s Corners, Maine after his wife dies at sea. Charles will soon have to confront the secrets of his ...
Style:
suspense, captivating, gothic, tense, disturbing ...
Plot:
stephen king, vampire, confronting the past, small town, monster, supernatural, secret past, family curse, family relations, father son relationship, secret, dysfunctional family ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, 1800s
Place:
maine
Is relevant?
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Genre: Drama, Horror
Country: West Germany, France
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
Ghoulish Count Dracula lures a naive estate agent, Jonathan Harker, to his decaying Transylvanian castle with the promise of easy money. But when he spies a portrait of the man's beautiful young wife Lucy, the vampire becomes obsessed and sets ...
Style:
gothic, gothic horror, dark, bleak, creepy ...
Audience:
teens, adult
Plot:
vampire, blood, castle, melancholy, plague, nosferatu, death, rat, medieval, loneliness, insanity, solitude ...
Time:
19th century, year 1979, 1850s, 1800s, 20th century ...
Place:
romania, transylvania, europe, germany, black sea ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
Quincy Drew (Garner) and Jason O'Rourke (Gossett) travel from town to town in the south of the United States during the slavery era. Drew claims to be a down-on-his-luck slave owner who is selling O'Rourke as a slave. Quincy gets the ...
Style:
funny, realistic, semi serious, humorous
Plot:
slave auction, mexican american border, slavery, con artists, slave trade, black, racism, con man, con men, hustler, american civil war, civil war ...
Time:
1850s, year 1971, 19th century
Place:
missouri, kansas, usa, southern usa, texas
Is relevant?
677
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, Music
Country: UK, Austria, Hungary
Duration: 300 min.
TV show
Story:
A huge panorama of Wagner's life and work, from before the 1848 Revolution, through his exile in Switzerland, his rescue by the besotted King Ludwig II of Bavaria to the final triumph at Bayreuth.
Style:
historical drama, serious, realistic, epic, emotional ...
Plot:
composer, opera, musician, classical music, politics, biopic, singing, singer, orchestra, anarchist, classical composer, anti semitism ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, year 1981, victorian era
Place:
germany, europe, prussia, switzerland, austria ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Musical
Country: USA, Canada, Australia, Taiwan
Duration: 75 min.
Story:
Set several years after the first film, Ariel and Prince Eric are happily married with a daughter, Melody. In order to protect Melody from the Sea Witch, Morgana, they have not told her about her mermaid heritage. Melody is curious and ventures into ...
Style:
fairy tale, semi serious, humorous, touching, feel good ...
Audience:
kids, family outing, teens, chick flick, girls' night ...
Plot:
mermaid, underwater, imaginary kingdom, princess, good versus evil, coming of age, wish come true, disney princess, stupidity, ocean, sea, family relations ...
Time:
1850s, 1830s, 19th century
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story:
Explore the fine line between survival and law, the consequences of violence, and the corrosive power of secrets, as this family fights to keep their land.
Style:
neo western, tense, suspense, psychological, bleak
Plot:
family drama, land dispute, small town, moral ambiguity, class conflict, greed, survival, corruption, revenge, vigilantism, secrets, resistance ...
Time:
1850s, 19th century
Place:
oregon
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, War
Country: UK, Hong Kong
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
The true story of Lakshmibai, the historic Queen of Jhansi who fiercely led her army against the British East India Company in the infamous mutiny of 1857.
Style:
costume drama, captivating
Audience:
adult
Plot:
fight for freedom, resistance, independence movement, victorian england, freedom fighter, war for independence, showdown, historical character, medieval, power struggle, female warrior, fighting the system ...
Time:
19th century, 1850s, victorian era
Place:
india, britain
Is relevant?
Genre: Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min.
Story:
Survivors of a feral flesh-eating clan are chowing their way through the locals. Amy Halbard and Claire Carey strive to survive their abduction by the cannibals and save their children. A subplot involving Claire's despicable husband, Steven, ...
Style:
scary, suspenseful, suspense, psychological, underground film ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
cannibalism, murder, survival, danger, confined, captivity, isolation, small town, mental disorder, killer child, sadism, gory ...
Time:
1850s, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
maine, usa
Is relevant?
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