Step back in time with our new collection of period pieces: four historical dramas that combine exquisite costumes, eye-catching production design, and thrilling narrative sweep to recreate lost worlds of intrigue and excitement.

Adapted from the classic novel by Nobel laureate Władysław Reymont, Andrzej Wajda’s epic The Promised Land captures Poland’s painful transition to industrial modernity from amidst the bustling textile factories of nineteenth-century Łódź. Heralded as a new Russian masterpiece on its release in 2002, Aleksandr Sokurov revolutionised the period drama with Russian Ark, which unfolds in a single unbroken take, transporting the viewer through three centuries of history as contained within St Petersburg’s famous Hermitage Museum. Hungary’s László Nemes transports us into the decadent heart of late imperial high society in Sunset, his hypnotic follow-up to the Oscar-winning Son of Saul that weaves together political thriller and murder mystery to depict a civilisation on the brink of self-destruction. Finally, János Szikora’s rip-roaring Hadik (2023; available until 29 January) plunges us into the heart of battle as the Seven Years’ War tears across Europe and a Hussar general is tasked with undertaking a daring raid on the Prussian capital Berlin.