Film
Anna and the King
A lavish 1999 costume drama centered on the unlikely romance between a widowed British governess and the King of Siam in the 1860s. Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat anchor a lush, earnest story about culture clash, forbidden desire, and slow-dawning affection. It's sweeping in the way that appeals to people who love grandeur, restraint, and the idea that love can bridge almost anything.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like period dramas built on a clash of two stubborn worldviews, where the romance grows out of argument over manners, power and what a good ruler owes his household.
Skip it if you want a brisk, action-led history; this is talky and stately, with long stretches of courtly negotiation and a romantic thread that moves at its own unhurried pace.
What it asks of you: Nearly two and a half hours of patient, sumptuously staged scenes, where the stakes are conversational and the pleasure lies in watching two proud people circle each other.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The English Patient1996
Another grand, tragic romance set against a richly detailed historical backdrop, with similar themes of impossible love transcending duty and convention. Equally committed to visual beauty and emotional restraint.
But Nearly three and a half hours, and the fractured timeline can feel wilfully difficult. Some find the love story itself less convincing than the film believes it to be.
Shakespeare in Love1998
Contemporaneous period romance with genuine wit and chemistry between leads, exploring how creativity and passion can flourish in constrained circumstances. Lighter in tone but equally lush in design.
But The historical liberties are extreme—some view it as schmaltzy rather than romantic. It wears its own artifice very openly.
The Remains of the Day1993
Another story of British restraint meeting passion, with magnificent period detail and a central romance conducted almost entirely in glances and silences. Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson's chemistry is entirely unspoken.
But The emotional payoff is deliberately withheld. If you want grand declarations, this film actively denies them to you.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Anna and the King
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
A Tale of Two Cities1935
Both center on quiet, emotionally restrained male leads who are transformed by love for a woman from a different world. Both use historical spectacle to frame an intimate emotional story.
A British-American production from the 1930s that does something similar structurally: a romance caught between two worlds and two loyalties, with the male lead sacrificing everything for love. Ronald Colman's performance is almost wordless devotion.
But It's from 1935, so the pacing and style will feel foreign. Black and white and theatrical rather than cinematic in the modern sense.
More like this (7)
Far from the Madding Crowd2015
A romance between social unequals set in a richly realized historical period, with a heroine who claims agency and a landscape that feels as much a character as any of the cast.
But The 2015 version prioritizes mood over plot momentum. It moves slowly and asks patience from viewers.
Marie Antoinette2006
Sofia Coppola's version prioritizes the emotional and sensual experience of being trapped in luxury and formality, with a female lead learning to navigate power and desire in impossible circumstances.
But It's deliberately anachronistic and dreamy rather than historically grounded. Some find this approach trivializing rather than empowering.
Atonement2007
A masterwork of period romance with stunning craft, examining how love is thwarted by circumstance, class, and the weight of the past. A richer, more complex meditation on impossible desire.
But Requires and rewards close attention; it's not a comfort watch. The ending is deliberately ambiguous and potentially devastating.
The Young Victoria2009
A royal romance that mirrors some of the same themes—a monarch finding genuine partnership and love—told with warmth and visual splendor. Emily Bligh and Rupert Friend have easy charm together.
But It's notably lighter and more conventionally romantic than Anna and the King, which some may find less interesting.
The Favourite2018
A baroque, darkly funny exploration of desire and power in a palace setting, with incredible performances and filmmaking that makes constraint feel electric rather than limiting.
But The tone is deliberately brittle and comedic even in moments of real pain. Its cynicism may jar if you're seeking earnestness.
Crimson Peak2015
A haunted gothic romance with sumptuous production design and a narrative equally concerned with atmosphere and emotion. Tom Hiddleston offers romantic intensity in a decaying mansion.
But It's a ghost story first, romance second. If you want the supernatural elements secondary, this will frustrate you.
In the Mood for Love2000
Both films believe that the most powerful romance is one constrained by circumstance and propriety. Both use the space around the lovers—the palace, the apartment building—as a character that shapes their desire.
Wong Kar-wai's 2000 masterpiece about two neighbors discovering a mutual attraction, filmed in jewel-toned close-ups and symmetrical frames. It's romance as pure visual and emotional poetry, about what remains unsaid and untouched.
But It's extremely slow, gorgeously artificial, and almost deliberately frustrating. Nothing happens in a conventional sense. Some find it beautiful; others find it inert.
People
Cast
Jodie FosterAnna
Chow Yun-FatKing Mongkut
Bai LingTuptim
Tom FeltonLouis- Syed AlwiThe Kralahome
Randall Duk KimGeneral Alak- Lim Kay SiuPrince Chowfa
Melissa CampbellPrincess Fa-Ying- Keith ChinPrince Chulalongkorn
- Mano ManiamMoonshee
- Shanthini VenugopalBeebe
- Deanna YusoffLady Thiang
Directing
- Andy TennantDirector
Writing
- Anna LeonowensNovel
- Peter KrikesScreenplay
- Steve MeersonScreenplay
Production
- Priscilla JohnCasting
- Ed ElbertProducer
- Lawrence BenderProducer
- Leila KirkpatrickUnit Production Manager
Recommended by
The King and I, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Holly and the Ivy, High School Musical 3: Senior Year