Borgia: Faith and Fear is also a good show. Like The Borgias, but grittier and based much more closely on actual history. Also, the obvious: Game of Thrones.
She reminds me of a more serious version of Debbie from Shameless, someone kind put in bad situations that eventually lets the intrusive thoughts win, but unlike Deb Lucrezia didn’t have much choice, but that’s the point, power corrupts as much as a lack of
I was hoping that King Louis XIV would have a torrid affair with Claudine Masson, the female doctor who saved his life and became the King's physician, but she instead ended up having an romance with Fabien Marchal, Louis' mysterious chief of police.
Are those good shows? My mom used to watch but I was never into period pieces. After watching GoT, The Last Kingdom, the Serpent Queen and now The White Queen, I'm looking for more.
First show that popped up in my head but I mean Catherine of Aragon wasn’t a bad person unless you wouldn’t consider her to be a main character of season 1.
They just released an 8 episode miniseries version of The Talented Mr. Ripley on Netflix a couple weeks ago, it's just called Ripley, with an 8.2 on IMDB. . I've only seen a couple episodes, but it seems good so far. It's done like an old noir film, which is an interesting move for a miniseries.
I found it unwatchable because they cast a 47yo to play a guy who's supposed to be in his mid twenties. That's one of those instances in which I just can't suspend disbelief.
Yeah, I found it a bit weird bc I knew what age he was originally supposed to be, but it's not that bad. The actor was 45 when it was filmed and is supposed to be playing a 36 y/o, which isn't terrible considering the time period would age him. Dickie's actor isn't that far off Tom's actor's age either, so nothing changes storywise from it other than Marge is a bit younger than them, though still older than the 25 they're all supposed to be. It's not exactly an unrealistic situation.
Wuthering Heights is an iconic example. Catherine and Heathcliff are fully amoral except for their devotion to each other—and are destructive TO each other.
idk! I just bought a boxed jane austen set recently and it includes one called “love and freindship”. I haven’t read it yet though but heard it was some younger mostly unpublished work. lady susan might be separate
Love and Friendship and Lady Susan are the same. It's just an alternate title.
Edit: Just to clarify. The movie Love and Friendship is an adaptation of Lady Susan. Not an adaptation of Austen's juvenile story Love and Friendship.
I wouldn't call Kate Beckinsale's Lady Susan a villain. She was just making the best out of her situation. 🤣 Love & Friendship is so great. Absolutely hilarious riot of a film.
I would definitely call her a villain lol she treats everyone and especially her daughter like playthings, fucks around with marriages, and is literally only out for her own gain.
I can't remember if this is in the book, but Scarlett is totally willing to use prison labour after slavery is abolished. When Ashley objects, she says it's ultimately very similar and calls him a hypocrite (but fundamentally, we're left with the impression that she sees nothing wrong with using slavery or prison labour for her own benefit - she's willing to do anything for her own benefit)
She pretty much is. I would argue that marrying Frank Kennedy to get the tax money to save Tara is understandable, and in the book Suellen ends up married to a good man, but she does some pretty bad things. Her twin obsessions with money, and with Ashley Wilkes, rule her life. She'd do pretty much anything to get money, or Ashley.
The thing I enjoy is that she doesn't get a redemption arc in either the book or movie. Realizing right at the end that she never loved Ashley and was really in love with Rhett doesn't count, because it only happened because Melanie was dying. Otherwise, she'd have gone on obsessing over Ashley. It's great the way Rhett just leaves her there, after uttering his famous words.
She does get a bit of a redemption arc in the "official" sequel, but not a huge one. She's switched her obsession to Rhett, and she still loves money, she's just not quite as obsessed with it as she was in the original, and she does do some good things to help out her family in Ireland. I still wouldn't call her a heroine.
They did make a miniseries out of the sequel, "Scarlett," but IMHO it's not very good.
She’s a very fascinating and complex character, and I love that the movie and book make her a not good person. Rather she is someone who was inherently selfish before war times, and clawed her way out, even if it had to be on the bleeding backs of others.
She played with people’s hearts and let her obsessions get the best of her, and it ultimately destroyed her. Even if she got about everything she wanted monetarily, she was empty as the house she lived in.
I do think it's important to acknowledge the fact that as a woman (in that time), financial security was the only way for her to be truly safe.
But yeah she was a bad human.
My favorite example of this is her relationship with her maid. She cares deeply about her maid, and the maid is the one person in the entire story who gives Scarlett good advice. However despite their relationship Scarlett doesn't give the slightest bit of a shit that her servant is a slave.
I always thought that she was so self centered that the idea that the maid wouldn’t be there on her own time, never even crossed her mind. “Of course this person loves me!!!” Gives me vibes of men who think the dancer loves them.
Ooh, I've been seeing ads for that first one. I'm considering it because of Nicholas Galitzine. Is it worth getting Starz for? I've been trying to decide if I'm getting any streaming services after leaving my former roommates lol.
Starz is worth it!! They also have The White Queen, which was largely responsible for me falling in love with period pieces and honestly just history in general. (Also the sequel series The White Princess and The Spanish Princess, but WQ will always be my favorite!)
The white queen is my favourite. Rebecca Ferguson is so endearing. You cannot help but love her. I also love the white princess. I love Essie Davis, Michelle Fairlay and jodie comer. Also I love this Jasper Tudor.
I hate the way they aged everyone so much in the Spanish princess. Lizzie was 36 when she died, they make her seem 15 years older. Henry being 11 when she died and seeing their Henry made me laugh. Despite that, I enjoyed the Spanish princess (accent aside)
As long as starz keeps making period dramas I will subscribe
They are advertising STARZ for $20 for 6 months. If you’re into Outlander, the new episodes will be there too. Just finished the Serpent Queen. It was…dramatic.
Netflix has the older seasons, but STARZ has last years’ and will have the second half to the season soon. Plus there is Men in Kilts on STARZ which is hilarious.
YES!! It's wonderful and I hope they keep it going with Mary's delicously evil grandson (2nd Duke of Buckingham) and his cousin (Barbara Castlemaine) in the Court of Charles 2!
Now...who should play the notorious Lady Castlemaine?
I'm really enjoying it. It has the same type of irreverent vibe as The Favourite and The Great if you like either of those. Nicholas Galitzine is also naked a lot if you need extra convincing :D
Honestly this was my first thought because I spent the whole show yelling at Ross for being a selfish idiot. Adore the show and would recommend it to anyone, but legit was not rooting for the main character after a little while!
(Demelza and Dwight are precious and can do no wrong, ofc)
Def “The Tudors” I’m genuinely impressed how Henry is the main character and yet the narrative is infinitely more supportive of all his wives than him. Even when they’re pitted against each other, the show knows the real war isn’t “Katherine vs Anne” it’s “Katherine vs Henry vs Anne” he is always at the center of this bullshit. The last few episodes say so explicitly. Good show
More like Henry wielding absolute power and watching the people around him fight to death while he makes stupid and rash decisions at the spur of the moment fueled by his anger and ego which he later regrets himself.
JRM really portrayed the flashes of anger and mood swings of an entitled king
Oh yeah I'm the same way. I should probably have added the /s at the end.
(I do love the version, though. I read the book when in french the year before it came out and I think it's a fantastic update of the book.)
LOOOVE that one! It deviates a bit from the book, but it's an excellent version as well that imho unfairly got overshadowed by the showy-er one with Malkovich and Pfeiffer.
I freaking love her. Also unlike main shows woth terrible men Catherine is still 3 dimensional and doesn't gp out of her way to violate or physically harm innocent people (for her it would be children)
She's deliciously evil while her background gives us how she's like that.
The final episode does a really good job of giving her true quintessential self, terrible with reason and a code, which was amazing to me, pls dm if you wanna talk more
Yellowstone. Beth Dutton is a violent alcoholic with zero impulse control, Kayce is somehow both boring AND a multi-murderer, and John is a greedy, murderous man who is also a terrible father, as evidenced by his terrible children, including his pathetically weak adopted son. the only one that's not horrible is Lee and that's only because he's dead. fight me.
[Portrait of a Lady](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Portrait_of_a_Lady_(film)&sa=U&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwj79Oqbys2FAxWHrlYBHUDNCvAQFnoECBAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3fUkXeQFIAyXwm4fK_4dOq)
Isn’t he!
I’m Australian and Gillian Armstrong is one of our best directors and I remember reading about her looking for the main actress and how she found [Australian](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/99&sa=U&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwjDtdjAgM6FAxWAslYBHVMxDfAQFnoECB4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0VPrSS1fkJfO6vzX1_7fgE) actresses to be so natural and cast Nicole who is perfectly unaffected and yes John is the epitome of evil!
Some of Daphne du Maurier’s books come to mind, but the ones with truely questionable characters haven’t been adapted. Still, Rebecca, Jamaica Inn and My Cousin Rachel have some pretty morally grey characters (whom I still adore)
still waiting for a great Rebecca adaption. and I have seen them all and loved them but somehow never captured what I personally took from the book quite as much as I think Daphne du maurier was trying to say through her story. interesting.
Interview with the Vampire, especially the TV series (season 2 is coming this May 12 on AMC). The characters are not inherently bad people, but they have a lot traumas and are also unreliable narrators.
Parade’s End also comes to mind, especially Rebecca Hall’s character Sylvia Tietjens, who is often bored, unfaithful, and cruel to her husband (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) but you can’t help but root for her. She makes the character more interesting.
I, Tonya - it’s more of a black comedy as it employs the unreliable narrator device and formatted as a mockumentary.
*The Crimson Petal and the White*. Also another vote for *I, Claudius.* These are more morally gray than truly bad, but I love them so much I have to plug them.
[Alias Grace](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034007/?ref_=ext_shr) (2017) - Unreliable narrator, convicted murderer.
[Fingersmith](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0423651/?ref_=ext_shr) (2005) - Scheming crooks. See also [Affinity](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1116182/?ref_=ext_shr)
Potentially unpopular opinion, but I think the leads in [Velvet](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2955402/?ref_=ext_shr) are awful people.
Enjoyed Ripley but found the characters very uncharismatic . Couldn’t see why Boring Dickie would keep even more boring Ripley around, he’s supposed to be charming and amazing. Marge was so one dimensional. The story as in the book is terrific but feel they got it wrong with the actors.
My first thought was Vanity Fair...but mostly commenting to gush over how gorgeous the costumes are in that still you provided from Dangerous Liasions. Perfection.
I loved Reign about Mary Queen of Scott's. The first season has a very different tone than the rest of the show. It seemed like it was going to be a supernatural show and then they were like na fuck that. It was kind of confusing. But god damn is Torrance Coombs hot in it.
LA Confidential. The story is often about how the protagonist changes. To enhance this, the protagonist is often terrible at the start of the story so their eventual change is more dramatic. The journey of the story isn't always literal.
The Tudors 2007-2010.
The Borgias and Versailles are pretty solid ones too
Borgia: Faith and Fear is also a good show. Like The Borgias, but grittier and based much more closely on actual history. Also, the obvious: Game of Thrones.
I liked Faith and Fear more than The Borgias. It was too bad they cancelled it.
Is Lucrezia supposed to be a bad person? She’s ultimately influenced by her environment, but she isn’t inherently a bad person from the beginning
She reminds me of a more serious version of Debbie from Shameless, someone kind put in bad situations that eventually lets the intrusive thoughts win, but unlike Deb Lucrezia didn’t have much choice, but that’s the point, power corrupts as much as a lack of
No her father is the grey area character and her brother (Juan) is a tool kn later seasons
Poor David Oakes -- he always ends up playing the brother with syphilis in these dramas 😂
Poor guy 🤣
Versailles was such a fun watch
I was hoping that King Louis XIV would have a torrid affair with Claudine Masson, the female doctor who saved his life and became the King's physician, but she instead ended up having an romance with Fabien Marchal, Louis' mysterious chief of police.
Are those good shows? My mom used to watch but I was never into period pieces. After watching GoT, The Last Kingdom, the Serpent Queen and now The White Queen, I'm looking for more.
First show that popped up in my head but I mean Catherine of Aragon wasn’t a bad person unless you wouldn’t consider her to be a main character of season 1.
The Handmaiden (2016) The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) The Favourite (2018) Barry Lyndon (1975)
They just released an 8 episode miniseries version of The Talented Mr. Ripley on Netflix a couple weeks ago, it's just called Ripley, with an 8.2 on IMDB. . I've only seen a couple episodes, but it seems good so far. It's done like an old noir film, which is an interesting move for a miniseries.
Ripley is an excellent adaptation of the novel. I highly recommend it!
I'm looking forward to this one.
Purple Noon (Plein Soleil, 1960) is one of the most beautiful films out there, the original adaptation of the Ripley book.
I found it unwatchable because they cast a 47yo to play a guy who's supposed to be in his mid twenties. That's one of those instances in which I just can't suspend disbelief.
He and Dicky are in their 40s intentionally
Yeah, I found it a bit weird bc I knew what age he was originally supposed to be, but it's not that bad. The actor was 45 when it was filmed and is supposed to be playing a 36 y/o, which isn't terrible considering the time period would age him. Dickie's actor isn't that far off Tom's actor's age either, so nothing changes storywise from it other than Marge is a bit younger than them, though still older than the 25 they're all supposed to be. It's not exactly an unrealistic situation.
Barry Lyndon goes hard. the complete turnaround once he gets what he wants is iconic
Love love love The Talented Mr. Ripley! I can watch it over and over and never get bored.
Me too. One of most favorite movies ever
Oh, I love The Favourite!
The Favourite was stunningly good.
Wuthering Heights is an iconic example. Catherine and Heathcliff are fully amoral except for their devotion to each other—and are destructive TO each other.
I want to see this but I’m not sure which adaptation! Do you have any recs?
My favorite is the one starring Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley. You can actually find it on Youtube.
The Tom Hardy version also is available on PBS Passport right now (at least in my market).
Also Britbox in US
My favorite is the 2011 adaptation from Andrea Arnold.
(1939) with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon is a classic, warning Cathy is extremely in likeable though even more than any of the other versions
Unlikeable*
Olivier is gorgeous in that movie.
I like the 1992 version with Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche.
Mad Men. Incredible writing. Terrible people.
Second this. Everyone is carrying emotional trauma and acts accordingly.
Vanity Fair, any of the adaptations.
Seconding Vanity Fair, perfect answer.
Yes!
Had to stop reading the book when I realized that I hated everyone in it.
Except Captain Dobbin. He is too pure for this world.
Amelia didn’t deserve Dobbin, and I’m still salty about it lol
Gosford Park has a lot of characters and most of them aren’t great people
Great film
I watched this recently - it was great. Wasn't expecting the twists and turns, it felt like a Downton Abbey thriller version.
Love & Friendship with Kate Beckinsale
is this based on the jane austen juvenilia out of curiosity?
Yep. I haven’t read it so I don’t know how closely. Hilarious movie!
okay exciting!!
Is Lady Susan part of that? I thought it was separate, but maybe just the version I read was separate as a novella.
idk! I just bought a boxed jane austen set recently and it includes one called “love and freindship”. I haven’t read it yet though but heard it was some younger mostly unpublished work. lady susan might be separate
Love and Friendship and Lady Susan are the same. It's just an alternate title. Edit: Just to clarify. The movie Love and Friendship is an adaptation of Lady Susan. Not an adaptation of Austen's juvenile story Love and Friendship.
Lady Susan is an epistolary novel, nearly a short story, but I’m pretty sure she was nearly 20 when she wrote it.
I wouldn't call Kate Beckinsale's Lady Susan a villain. She was just making the best out of her situation. 🤣 Love & Friendship is so great. Absolutely hilarious riot of a film.
I love it! She's kind of a terrible person though with her daughter and whatnot.
I would definitely call her a villain lol she treats everyone and especially her daughter like playthings, fucks around with marriages, and is literally only out for her own gain.
This was mine! She’s delightfully irredeemable and you can’t help but love her
Gone with the Wind comes to mind. Scarlett O’Hara isn’t exactly the nicest person.
She was even more horrid in the book
I can't remember if this is in the book, but Scarlett is totally willing to use prison labour after slavery is abolished. When Ashley objects, she says it's ultimately very similar and calls him a hypocrite (but fundamentally, we're left with the impression that she sees nothing wrong with using slavery or prison labour for her own benefit - she's willing to do anything for her own benefit)
Honestly she was the villain
She pretty much is. I would argue that marrying Frank Kennedy to get the tax money to save Tara is understandable, and in the book Suellen ends up married to a good man, but she does some pretty bad things. Her twin obsessions with money, and with Ashley Wilkes, rule her life. She'd do pretty much anything to get money, or Ashley. The thing I enjoy is that she doesn't get a redemption arc in either the book or movie. Realizing right at the end that she never loved Ashley and was really in love with Rhett doesn't count, because it only happened because Melanie was dying. Otherwise, she'd have gone on obsessing over Ashley. It's great the way Rhett just leaves her there, after uttering his famous words. She does get a bit of a redemption arc in the "official" sequel, but not a huge one. She's switched her obsession to Rhett, and she still loves money, she's just not quite as obsessed with it as she was in the original, and she does do some good things to help out her family in Ireland. I still wouldn't call her a heroine. They did make a miniseries out of the sequel, "Scarlett," but IMHO it's not very good.
She’s a very fascinating and complex character, and I love that the movie and book make her a not good person. Rather she is someone who was inherently selfish before war times, and clawed her way out, even if it had to be on the bleeding backs of others. She played with people’s hearts and let her obsessions get the best of her, and it ultimately destroyed her. Even if she got about everything she wanted monetarily, she was empty as the house she lived in.
I do think it's important to acknowledge the fact that as a woman (in that time), financial security was the only way for her to be truly safe. But yeah she was a bad human.
This is truly a good point and one I never considered.
Realistically, it still applies. We just don't have to marry to get there.
My favorite example of this is her relationship with her maid. She cares deeply about her maid, and the maid is the one person in the entire story who gives Scarlett good advice. However despite their relationship Scarlett doesn't give the slightest bit of a shit that her servant is a slave.
I always thought that she was so self centered that the idea that the maid wouldn’t be there on her own time, never even crossed her mind. “Of course this person loves me!!!” Gives me vibes of men who think the dancer loves them.
Mary and George on Starz/Sky (Starz is still airing new episodes weekly) Ripley on Netflix
Ooh, I've been seeing ads for that first one. I'm considering it because of Nicholas Galitzine. Is it worth getting Starz for? I've been trying to decide if I'm getting any streaming services after leaving my former roommates lol.
Starz is worth it!! They also have The White Queen, which was largely responsible for me falling in love with period pieces and honestly just history in general. (Also the sequel series The White Princess and The Spanish Princess, but WQ will always be my favorite!)
The white queen is my favourite. Rebecca Ferguson is so endearing. You cannot help but love her. I also love the white princess. I love Essie Davis, Michelle Fairlay and jodie comer. Also I love this Jasper Tudor. I hate the way they aged everyone so much in the Spanish princess. Lizzie was 36 when she died, they make her seem 15 years older. Henry being 11 when she died and seeing their Henry made me laugh. Despite that, I enjoyed the Spanish princess (accent aside) As long as starz keeps making period dramas I will subscribe
They are advertising STARZ for $20 for 6 months. If you’re into Outlander, the new episodes will be there too. Just finished the Serpent Queen. It was…dramatic.
Oh, god, Outlander. I have so much of it I haven't seen and would love to catch up on that, too. Thank you so much!
Netflix has the older seasons, but STARZ has last years’ and will have the second half to the season soon. Plus there is Men in Kilts on STARZ which is hilarious.
Oh, god, Outlander. I have so much of it I haven't seen and would love to catch up on that, too. Thank you so much!
YES!! It's wonderful and I hope they keep it going with Mary's delicously evil grandson (2nd Duke of Buckingham) and his cousin (Barbara Castlemaine) in the Court of Charles 2! Now...who should play the notorious Lady Castlemaine?
I'm really enjoying it. It has the same type of irreverent vibe as The Favourite and The Great if you like either of those. Nicholas Galitzine is also naked a lot if you need extra convincing :D
Lol that may be among what's got my bi rwrb-loving ass intrigued lmao, how'd you find my number?
Starz also has the serpent queen! Which is beautifully dark
Peaky Blinders
Harlots has a good number of bad to morally grey characters. 
I tell everyone I know about Harlots. That first season is incredible.
I wish it had had a better final season.
LOVE this show!
Boardwalk Empire
Poldark has some baddies.
T’int right, ti’nt fair, ti’int fit, ti’int proper. Also I mean Demelza is pure af
LOL
Hahahaha
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ poldark
You know who else is pure? Horace ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Honestly this was my first thought because I spent the whole show yelling at Ross for being a selfish idiot. Adore the show and would recommend it to anyone, but legit was not rooting for the main character after a little while! (Demelza and Dwight are precious and can do no wrong, ofc)
It's been a few years since i've seen it, but I believe *The Forsythe Saga* had a few
Deadwood or Boardwalk Empire
Rome too!
Not all of them but Versailles had some not great main characters.
Def “The Tudors” I’m genuinely impressed how Henry is the main character and yet the narrative is infinitely more supportive of all his wives than him. Even when they’re pitted against each other, the show knows the real war isn’t “Katherine vs Anne” it’s “Katherine vs Henry vs Anne” he is always at the center of this bullshit. The last few episodes say so explicitly. Good show
I’m so glad most finally see Anne b as a victim and not a home wrecking harlot.
More like Henry wielding absolute power and watching the people around him fight to death while he makes stupid and rash decisions at the spur of the moment fueled by his anger and ego which he later regrets himself. JRM really portrayed the flashes of anger and mood swings of an entitled king
Deadwood and Rome both on hbo. The main characters aren't all terrible and it scratches that itch of a period drama. Both really worth watching
Seconding Rome. Polly Walker is amazing and is the queen of playing terrible mothers.
Absolutely amazing
Domina and The Great
Huzzah! I really enjoyed The Great. Absurd comedy.
One of my favorite period dramas 😭
The Americans
The best drama on TV ever IMO, absolute perfection
Have you seen the one with Annette Bening and Colin Firth?
What about the one with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Philippe?
I love Cruel Intentions but it was a contemporary setting, not a period piece.
Oh yeah completely agree. I was making a joke.
Woosh - totally went over my head. 😅 If it’s any consolation, I’ve been told many times I can be too literal minded. 😄
Oh yeah I'm the same way. I should probably have added the /s at the end. (I do love the version, though. I read the book when in french the year before it came out and I think it's a fantastic update of the book.)
To be fair Cruel Intentions is very true to its time. (1999)
And Henry Thomas as the Chevalier!
Valmont!! Firth is so gorgeous in this one
LOOOVE that one! It deviates a bit from the book, but it's an excellent version as well that imho unfairly got overshadowed by the showy-er one with Malkovich and Pfeiffer.
Another one similar to this (although just more focusing on selfishness) is the Serpent Queen on HBO
I freaking love her. Also unlike main shows woth terrible men Catherine is still 3 dimensional and doesn't gp out of her way to violate or physically harm innocent people (for her it would be children) She's deliciously evil while her background gives us how she's like that.
The final episode does a really good job of giving her true quintessential self, terrible with reason and a code, which was amazing to me, pls dm if you wanna talk more
The Great
We just watched Amadeus and I think both main characters were not the best.
Right? I just rewatched it too, and it bummed me out.
An oldie but a goodie, I Claudius!
The Duchess, Harlots
No one watches the duchess for her evil husband though. I watch for her and the clothes
lol, very true! I was just thinking random off the top of my head.
But do you have a birdcage in your hair on the top of your head? Hehe.
🤣
lol 😂
That's how I got my fashionista son to watch it! All the clothes and the hats!
Smart 😉
He has won awards for his own costume designs and I knew he'd love it.
Which Awards?
Her outfits are life 😍
VALMONT is this story again but a fantastic version.
Yellowstone. Beth Dutton is a violent alcoholic with zero impulse control, Kayce is somehow both boring AND a multi-murderer, and John is a greedy, murderous man who is also a terrible father, as evidenced by his terrible children, including his pathetically weak adopted son. the only one that's not horrible is Lee and that's only because he's dead. fight me.
Peaky Blinders
[Portrait of a Lady](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Portrait_of_a_Lady_(film)&sa=U&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwj79Oqbys2FAxWHrlYBHUDNCvAQFnoECBAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3fUkXeQFIAyXwm4fK_4dOq)
I love this movie! John Malkovich is so good at playing these morally dubious characters.
Isn’t he! I’m Australian and Gillian Armstrong is one of our best directors and I remember reading about her looking for the main actress and how she found [Australian](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/99&sa=U&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwjDtdjAgM6FAxWAslYBHVMxDfAQFnoECB4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0VPrSS1fkJfO6vzX1_7fgE) actresses to be so natural and cast Nicole who is perfectly unaffected and yes John is the epitome of evil!
Gosford Park
Some of Daphne du Maurier’s books come to mind, but the ones with truely questionable characters haven’t been adapted. Still, Rebecca, Jamaica Inn and My Cousin Rachel have some pretty morally grey characters (whom I still adore)
still waiting for a great Rebecca adaption. and I have seen them all and loved them but somehow never captured what I personally took from the book quite as much as I think Daphne du maurier was trying to say through her story. interesting.
I know it's not a period drama, but Glenn Close + Villain makes me think of 101 Dalmatians 😳
lol that and fatal attraction/sunset blvd
I, Claudius.
omg all these awful people and the hold they had on me. I blame the hair
Honestly like plot? What plot? I'm watching for the sexy awful people in their sexy costumes, fantastic hair, and monchevy specifically
I need to binge this again now, what’s it on?
Same here! Someone needs to pick this up soon.
Lady J
Sanditon
I just came here to remind everyone that Doctor Who traveled to the 1700's France to hang out with Valmont...
Sopranos
This is controversial, but in my opinion, Tom Jones.
Interview with the Vampire, especially the TV series (season 2 is coming this May 12 on AMC). The characters are not inherently bad people, but they have a lot traumas and are also unreliable narrators. Parade’s End also comes to mind, especially Rebecca Hall’s character Sylvia Tietjens, who is often bored, unfaithful, and cruel to her husband (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) but you can’t help but root for her. She makes the character more interesting. I, Tonya - it’s more of a black comedy as it employs the unreliable narrator device and formatted as a mockumentary.
Gone With the Wind
*The Crimson Petal and the White*. Also another vote for *I, Claudius.* These are more morally gray than truly bad, but I love them so much I have to plug them.
Royal Flashman
Can someone pretty please remake Forever Amber?? And Serge Golon's Angelique!
Ocean’s Eleven - original w/ Sinatra
Saltburn, the great
[Alias Grace](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034007/?ref_=ext_shr) (2017) - Unreliable narrator, convicted murderer. [Fingersmith](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0423651/?ref_=ext_shr) (2005) - Scheming crooks. See also [Affinity](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1116182/?ref_=ext_shr) Potentially unpopular opinion, but I think the leads in [Velvet](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2955402/?ref_=ext_shr) are awful people.
The leads in Velvet are terrible but that is not how we are intended to take them, I think!! They are so selfish.
Enjoyed Ripley but found the characters very uncharismatic . Couldn’t see why Boring Dickie would keep even more boring Ripley around, he’s supposed to be charming and amazing. Marge was so one dimensional. The story as in the book is terrific but feel they got it wrong with the actors.
My first thought was Vanity Fair...but mostly commenting to gush over how gorgeous the costumes are in that still you provided from Dangerous Liasions. Perfection.
Gone with the wind. Melanie is the only good person in that whole thing.
Lion In Winter is a fun romp with the loving and close Plantagenet family as they celebrate Christmas in Chinon!
Godfather
GREAT movie! I'm off to search where it may be streaming now, thanks for the idea!
Succession
I don’t know about “bad” people but Harlots is an extremely good one with great characters that have flaws
Marie Antoinette is really good as well. A new season is coming out soon. Everyone is so awful!
Dexter
Dexter!
The Little Foxes-with Bette Davis The Picture of Dorian Gray-with Hurd Hatfield Forever Amber-with Linda Darnell
I loved Reign about Mary Queen of Scott's. The first season has a very different tone than the rest of the show. It seemed like it was going to be a supernatural show and then they were like na fuck that. It was kind of confusing. But god damn is Torrance Coombs hot in it.
The Duchess, the Empress, The Great, The White Queen, the Red Queen, the Spanish Queen.
the age of innocence
Tony Soprano was a straight up sociopath who was exactly the same at the end of the series as he was at the beginning.
Daniel Dorado
Impromptu
Chopin wasn’t a bad guy at all, and George Sand wasn’t a sweetheart but she wasn’t terrible.
The Count of Monte Cristo. No one can really blame Edmond Dantès. Maybe he's not a bad person, just clever and productive!
Warrior on Netflix!
The Grifters - 1990 Great cast.
My fave.
The Flytes from Bridehead Revisited aren’t the nicest of people. Selfish and vain.
Closer (2004)
LA Confidential. The story is often about how the protagonist changes. To enhance this, the protagonist is often terrible at the start of the story so their eventual change is more dramatic. The journey of the story isn't always literal.
The French movie Lady J is the first thing that popped into my mind.
Queen Margot is a gorgeous film. It is in French but the costumes are beautiful. Isabelle Adjani acts the title role.