A dose of cinematic fantasy to make your time at home feel a little dreamier.

On my mahogany built-in's, nestled among my favorite books, is a small stack of DVDs. These discs are on the verge of becoming antiques, but, like the books, they are a fount of escape and inspiration. At the end of a long day, when you're far too tired to flip a page, certain films have the power to break through and revive your bleary soul. Remedying your state of creative fatigue requires more than just an enthralling story. Movies whose imagery is just as alluring as their lead characters have the power to engage you on a sensational level.

In that spirit, I composed a list of the films that will aid your flight from the mundane. These stories meld opulent sets and lavish costumes to delight you beyond just their narrative. Light a candle, or ten, dim the lights and let yourself wander through these worlds. You may find ways to make your own life just a bit more enchanted.

9 visually stunning movies

that will whisk you off to a dreamland

1. Moulin Rouge (2001) 20th Century Fox

A musical love story set against the backdrop of Belle Époque Paris's most legendary cabaret. "Moulin Rouge" weaves a romance with contemporary song, sumptuous costumes, and the green fairy. The entire movie transports you to a dreamspace.

2. Harry Potter Series (2001-2011) Warner Brothers

In the film adaptions of J.K. Rowling’s famed series, Harry leaves a drab, unfriendly world in Surrey, England for a magical school located in the Scottish Highlands. Set in a gothic castle where living portraits haunt the walls, Harry’s epic journey will whisk you to a place that will make your heart ache with it’s beauty.

3. Pride and Prejudice (2005) Focus Features

Set in the Georgian Era in rural England, everything from the dresses to the grand homes of Jane Austen's most well-known story comes to life. Prepare not to just fall in love with the costume, architecture, and Mr. Darcy himself, but by the breathtaking landscape of the English countryside. 

4. Marie Antoinette (2006) Columbia Pictures

A celebration of Rococo style, pastels, pastries, and all the excesses of the Versailles' last reigning monarch comes to the screen in one of Sofia Coppola's most visually stunning films. 

5. Alice in Wonderland (2010) Walt Disney Pictures

In the most recent film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic story an adolescent Alice is sucked from her paralyzing Victorian world to meet it’s topsy-turvy counterpart of Wonderland.

6. Anna Karenina (2012) Universal Pictures

Leo Tolstoy’s classic Russian tragedy is reimagined in this film as though the characters themselves are, unbeknonst to them, performing a play. Sets shift in the frame as the lavishly costumed cast dance headlong towards a certain doom.

7. The Great Gatsby (2013) Warner Brothers

Baz Luhrman has a thing for over-the-top films, and he delivers it yet again in his version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel. The Roaring Twenties anf Jay Gatsby’s world of bootlegging riches is brought to life in all its extravagant magnificence.

8.  The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) 20th Century Fox

Wes Anderson delivers murder, war, a secret society, stolen artwork, and a jailbreak all wrapped up in the setting of the palatial (and pink) Grand Budapest Hotel. Brilliantly imaginative, this movie will delight you with its wit and visually saturated scenes.

9. Beauty and the Beast (2017) Walt Disney Pictures

Emma Watson stars in Disney's live-action version of the French fairy-tale. Everything from Belle's charming "provincial town," to the library you've lusted after, comes to life in a spectacular Baroque fashion.

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