7 Stylish Period Dramas to Swoon Over in 2026

A wild left turn from her delicate, meditative feature debut, The Lost Daughter, this stylized thriller from Maggie Gyllenhaal is a joy ride through ’30s Chicago. At its center is Jessie Buckley, a reimagined bride of Frankenstein in floaty silk dresses, shaggy fringe, leather jackets, and lace thigh-highs, paired with black, ink-stained lips; a frizzy bob; and an inscrutable smirk. Add Christian Bale as the monster, in pinstripe vests; a dapper Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard; and a vampy Penélope Cruz, and you have a mind-melter guaranteed to inspire a wealth of costumes come next Halloween.

Sense & Sensibility (in theaters September 11)

Grace Snell, the thoughtful and accomplished costume designer behind The Souvenir, is responsible for the bonnets, empire-waisted gowns, velvet coats, and embroidered muffs—glimpsed in the first photos from the set—in this wistful update on one of Jane Austen’s best-loved novels. Following in the vaunted footsteps of Ang Lee’s rain-soaked 1995 version starring the wonderful Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, it’s helmed by Blue Jean’s Georgia Oakley, penned by novelist Diana Reid, and features an ensemble led by Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esmé Creed-Miles, Caitríona Balfe, Frank Dillane, George MacKay, and Fiona Shaw. It’s poised to be a quieter, more traditional and poetic period piece than many of its showier rivals, certainly, but should be all the better for it.

The Other Bennett Sister (TBA)

Photo: James Pardon / BBC / Bad Wolf

Austen fever continues with this slightly more alternative look at the prolific writer’s world: a spirited adaptation of Janice Hadlow’s page-turner of the same name from The Power’s Sarah Quintrell, which turns the spotlight onto none other than Pride & Prejudice’s consistently overlooked middle sister, Mary Bennet (Bridgerton’s Ella Bruccoleri). Joined by Richard E. Grant, Indira Varma, Ruth Jones, and Tanya Reynolds, with The Girlfriend’s Laurie Davidson and The Wheel of Time’s Dónal Finn as prospective suitors, it sees our heroine boldly forge her own path in a society which seeks to relegate her to the sidelines. The costumes, meanwhile, are perhaps a little more serious than in other Austen romps, but no less opulent—think riotously patterned, lace-trimmed coats; feathered hats; silk frocks; and heavy, Indian-inspired costume jewelry.

Pride & Prejudice (TBA)

Photo: Ludovic Robert/Netflix