Man, British heritage cinema can be dull when assembly-lined for the export market.
The Young Victoria
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
United Kingdom, United States · 2009
Rated PG · 1h 45m
Director Jean-Marc Vallée
Starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson
Genre Drama, History, Romance
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
As the only legitimate heir of England's King William, teenage Victoria is caught up in the political machinations of her own family. Her mother wants her to sign a regency order, while her Belgian uncle schemes to arrange a marriage between the future monarch and Prince Albert, the man who will become the love of her life.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The New Yorker by Anthony Lane
From the start, it feels handsome, steady, and stuck; the ties that bind the historical bio-pic are no looser than those which constrain a royal personage, and the frustration to which Victoria would later admit is legible in the face of Emily Blunt, who takes the title role.
Vallée and his lead get high marks for kittenish revisionism. In all other respects, however, this movie is indistinguishable from every other throne-and-scepter biopic to hit the screen.
Well-groomed, upscale, three-hankie entertainment for the “Masterpiece Theater” crowd.
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
The Young Victoria feels like a wasted opportunity and is among the least impressive in a long line of motion pictures about British royalty.
An elegant, entertaining, informative picture with a gallery of vivid supporting turns, this provisionally crowns the winning Blunt as a Brit-pic star - but it skimps a bit on the bodice-ripping, blood and thunder.
The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
Emily Blunt, one of the best and most glamorous actresses to come out of England in recent years, makes an unusual but highly successful choice for the young Victoria.
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
The Young Victoria has a subtler flow than you might expect, and at times it's calmer than you may like. Director Jean-Marc Vallée's images have a creamy stateliness, but this is no gilded? princess fantasy.
Emily Blunt’s Victoria and Rupert Friend’s Albert come across like museum mannequins – utterly devoid of any genuine passion.
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Emily Blunt makes Victoria as irresistible a young woman as Dame Judi Dench made her an older one in "Mrs. Brown" (1997).
Users who liked this film also liked
Becoming Jane
A biographical portrait of a young Jane Austen and her early experiences of love, loss, and rebellion.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Ireland • 2007
- Director Julian Jarrold
- Cast Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith, Joe Anderson
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Hoopla, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Google Play Movies, YouTube, DIRECTV, AMC on Demand
Atonement
Torn apart by betrayal. Separated by war. Bound by love.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, France, United States • 2007
- Director Joe Wright
- Cast Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Romola Garai, Saoirse Ronan, Brenda Blethyn, Vanessa Redgrave
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Hulu, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Spectrum On Demand, Google Play Movies, YouTube, DIRECTV
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Woman. Warrior. Queen.
- ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, France, Germany • 2007
- Director Shekhar Kapur
- Cast Cate Blanchett, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush, Laurence Fox, Tom Hollander, Abbie Cornish
- Genre Drama, History, Romance
- Available on Starz, Starz Roku Premium Channel, Starz Amazon Channel, DIRECTV, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Google Play Movies, YouTube, AMC on Demand
Coco Before Chanel
(Coco avant Chanel)
Before she was Coco, she was just a young girl in an orphanage, moonlighting as a cabaret singer.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium • 2009
- Director Anne Fontaine
- Cast Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Marie Gillain, Emmanuelle Devos, Régis Royer
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, DIRECTV, AMC on Demand
The Other Boleyn Girl
Two sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn, driven by their family's blind ambition, compete for the love of King Henry VIII.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2008
- Director Justin Chadwick
- Cast Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Jim Sturgess, Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Netflix, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Spectrum On Demand, Google Play Movies, YouTube, DIRECTV, AMC on Demand
The Duchess
A chronicle of the life of a dutchess, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Italy, France • 2008
- Director Saul Dibb
- Cast Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Charlotte Rampling, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell, Simon McBurney
- Genre Drama, History, Romance
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, MGM Plus, , fuboTV, Paramount Plus, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, MGM Plus Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Redbox, Spectrum On Demand, DIRECTV, AMC on Demand
The Painted Veil
Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- China, United States, Canada • 2006
- Director John Curran
- Cast Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber, Diana Rigg, Toby Jones, Anthony Wong
- Genre Romance, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Google Play Movies, YouTube, DIRECTV
Northanger Abbey
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States, Ireland • 2007
- Director Jon Jones
- Cast Felicity Jones, Carey Mulligan, JJ Feild, Geraldine James, Sylvestra Le Touzel, Desmond Barrit
- Genre Romance, Drama, TV Movie
- Available on Hoopla, Kanopy
Through the Mist
(Dédé, à travers les brumes)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada • 2009
- Director Jean-Philippe Duval
- Cast Sébastien Ricard, Joseph Mesiano, Dimitri Storoge, Bénédicte Décary, David Quertigniez, Claudia Ferri
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
An Education
An education isn't always by the book.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2009
- Director Lone Scherfig
- Cast Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, Olivia Williams, Alfred Molina
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, DIRECTV, AMC on Demand, The Roku Channel
Jane Eyre
She sought refuge... and found a place haunted by secrets.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2011
- Director Cary Joji Fukunaga
- Cast Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Judi Dench, Su Elliott, Holliday Grainger
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on DIRECTV, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Spectrum On Demand, Google Play Movies, YouTube, AMC on Demand, Freevee
A Royal Affair
(En kongelig affære)
Their love affair would divide a nation.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic • 2012
- Director Nikolaj Arcel
- Cast Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, David Dencik, Cyron Melville, Trine Dyrholm
- Genre Drama, History, Romance
- Available on Hoopla, Magnolia Selects, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Redbox, Alamo on Demand
Anna Karenina
In St. Petersburg, members of aristocratic society pine after objects of their affection who are seldom their own spouses.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2012
- Director Joe Wright
- Cast Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Domhnall Gleeson
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Google Play Movies, YouTube, DIRECTV
Suite Française
During World War II, a lonely Frenchwoman begins a romance with a German soldier while her husband is away.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, France, Canada • 2015
- Director Saul Dibb
- Cast Michelle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas, Matthias Schoenaerts, Sam Riley, Ruth Wilson, Heino Ferch
- Genre Drama, Romance, War
- Available on DIRECTV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, Cinemax Amazon Channel, YouTube, Apple TV
A Little Chaos
During the reign of Louis XIV, a woman with unconventional ideas comes to help the designer of the gardens of Versailles.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2015
- Director Alan Rickman
- Cast Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alan Rickman, Stanley Tucci, Helen McCrory, Steven Waddington
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, YouTube, Apple TV
With Left Hand Only
(Одной левой)
A self-absorbed womanizer finds himself in a pickle when his right hand gets possessed by the spirit of a young woman who hates him.
- ✭ ✭
- Russia • 2015
- Director Armen Ananikyan, Vitaly Reingeverts
- Cast Dmitriy Nagiev, Polina Gagarina, Konstantin Kryukov, Yan Tsapnik, Mikhail Galustyan, Darya Hramtsova
- Genre Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
- Available on No streaming locations found.