What To Watch
10 Award-Winning Book Adaptations That Deserve a Streaming Ovation
And the winner is … you, the viewer.
By Ashley Lee
Aug. 26, 2026
10 Award-Winning Movies and Shows Based on Books - Netflix Tudum
The Queen’s Gambit centers on a 1950s chess prodigy named Elizabeth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy). During one key tournament, her opponent offers to end the match with a tie.
“A draw, however, is not a win,” explains the game’s announcer. “The one thing we know about Elizabeth Harmon is that she loves to win.”
That taste of victory is one that is shared among these award-winning movies and shows — all of which are based on books. These period romances, sweeping Westerns, ensemble dramedies, and stylish thrillers have been recognized by the prestigious organizations behind the Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, Film Independent Spirit Awards, Peabody Awards, and more.
Stream these acclaimed films and series to experience impeccable screenplays, imaginative sets, meticulously made costumes, and unforgettable performances. These winners might even inspire a round of applause.
Bridgerton
Based on Julia Quinn’s period romance novels, this Regency-era series centers on the titular family’s matchmaking ventures. Each season follows a different Bridgerton sibling as they navigate the do’s and don’ts of the social scene — courtship protocol, dating etiquette, and scandal sheets. The love stories of Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor), Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), Colin (Luke Newton), and Benedict (Luke Thompson) have won Emmy Awards for costumes, hairstyling (three times!), and voice-over performance (by Julie Andrews as Lady Whistledown).
FOREVER
You always remember your first. Keisha (Lovie Simone) and Justin (Michael Cooper Jr.) are childhood friends who reconnect as teenagers while juggling the demands of high school, parental pressures, and the intensity of young love. Over the course of eight episodes, they experience the highs and heartbreaks of their first real relationship and develop a powerful bond. Set against the backdrop of 2018 Los Angeles, the adaptation of Judy Blume’s 1975 novel from creator Mara Brock Akil won a Peabody Award.
Frankenstein
This adaptation of Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic novel stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, the tortured scientist who harvests body parts from fallen soldiers, stitches them together, and harnesses the power of lightning to reanimate the result: the Creature (Jacob Elordi). Rejecting his unnatural creation, Victor attempts to destroy him, but the Creature makes his way out into a world that fears him. The film from Guillermo del Toro (Pinocchio, Cabinet of Curiosities) won Oscars for costume design, makeup and hairstyling, and production design.
Heartstopper
Charlie (Joe Locke) is a recently outed sophomore who’s struggling with bullies and self-worth. He befriends Nick (Kit Connor), a charismatic junior who’s beginning to question his sexual identity. The three-season British series — and the follow-up movie Heartstopper Forever — charts their slow-burn romance from their very first two-letter greeting. Based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novel series, the show won the Children’s & Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Young Teen Series, with additional accolades for its writing, casting, and performances by Locke, Connor, and Olivia Colman.
The Lost Daughter
Maggie Gyllenhaal both wrote and made her feature directorial debut with this adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s 2006 novel. The story follows Leda (Olivia Colman), who’s on vacation in Greece when she bumps into a young mom, Nina (Dakota Johnson), struggling to juggle the demands of motherhood. The incident brings up Leda’s own memories and guilt about her years as an overwhelmed young mother (Jessie Buckley). At the Film Independent Spirit Awards, the film took home honors for Gyllenhaal’s directing and screenplay, as well as the award for Best Feature.
Orange Is the New Black
Lock into all seven seasons of this dramedy, which goes behind the bars of a women’s minimum-security prison. Based on Piper Kerman’s 2010 memoir, the series initially follows a privileged white woman (Taylor Schilling) who’s incarcerated for aiding her drug-smuggling girlfriend (Laura Prepon) a decade prior. Uzo Aduba won two Emmys for her performance as the beloved Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren. The hit show also took home a Peabody Award and Emmys for casting and editing.
The Power of the Dog
Set on the plains of Montana, this sweeping Western centers on two brothers whose lives diverge when George (Jesse Plemons) meets a widow, Rose (Kirsten Dunst). George’s brother, Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch), never warms to Rose, and he badgers her son, Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), for being effeminate and unprepared for cowboy life. Soon, Phil’s inner demons begin to reveal themselves. Written and directed by Jane Campion, the adaptation of Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel won the Oscar for Best Director.
The Queen's Gambit
It’s smart strategy to watch this seven-episode thriller, starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Elizabeth Harmon, a uniquely gifted orphan in 1950s Kentucky who rises to the top of the international chess world while also grappling with addiction. Moses Ingram, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Marielle Heller, and Bill Camp co-star in the adaptation of Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel. The Queen’s Gambit won 11 Emmys — the award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, as well as honors for directing, casting, cinematography, editing, production design, period makeup, period costumes, music composition, sound mixing, and sound editing.
RIPLEY
Meet Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott), a petty grifter in early ’60s New York who’s hired to convince a businessman’s wayward son, Dickie (Johnny Flynn), to come home. But a taste of Dickie’s luxurious lifestyle in Italy makes Ripley want more out of the job than he’s been promised — and he’ll use his considerable talents to get it. This stylish take on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 crime novel The Talented Mr. Ripley won Emmys for directing, cinematography, sound editing, and visual effects, as well as a Peabody Award.
Train Dreams
Joel Edgerton plays Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad worker who occupies the forests of the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the 20th century. Based on Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella, the acclaimed drama not only depicts a historic moment of immense and rapid change in America but also celebrates the beauty of nature, as well as the extraordinary lives of even the most ordinary people. At the Film Independent Spirit Awards, Train Dreams won the award for Best Feature, plus honors for directing and cinematography.
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