Breakups are difficult. They can be friendly at times, difficult, messy, and emotionally damaging at other times. In a breakup, there are a lot of emotions to deal with, and it can be challenging to be by oneself and think. People are drawn to breakup songs for a reason because they can express the emotions that a broken heart needs to express.
The same is true with movies, which provide a glimpse into the lives of others. Even while it might not seem like the best method to deal with the trauma, reading about breakups can be cathartic. They could aid in imparting knowledge and direction to someone. Even holding up a mirror, they can let someone see their own breakup from a different angle and perhaps even facilitate healing.
With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, many classic romance films will be filling up recommendation queues on streaming services. These are some options for the Valentine’s Day season, though, for anyone going through a breakup or even if they have ever struggled with one. These are the top breakup-related movies.
(500) Days of Summer
in 8 Days of Summer frequently receives the incorrect interpretation that it demonizes the character of Summer because it is told from Tom’s point of view and the story is shaped by him. However, Tom’s emotional state of mind is a typical human one that is also unfair to the other party in the relationship.
The final stretch of (500) Days of Summer, which follows a relationship from its inception to what happens next, is where the movie reveals its central lesson. Tom and Summer were significant to both of them, but their relationship didn’t work out. Even though it doesn’t make sense, it might not be just, and it will hurt, a new chapter is always just around the corner.
Casablanca
The story of Casablanca is one of sadness. Rick (Humprey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) are already apart at the start of the movie, and Rick has become into a bitter, cynical character. In the course of the movie, Rick is forced to choose between his own happiness and Ilsa’s husband’s ability to continue fighting the Nazis in World War II.
Because of his love for Ilsa, Rick lets her leave. Albert Schweitzer once said, “If you love something so profoundly, let it go.” Insisting that she board the plane because she will eventually regret it, he puts her needs and the needs of the world before his own. The pair splits up towards the end of Casablanca, but they both have high hopes for a brighter tomorrow and a better world.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, directed by Michel Gondry, is a visually stunning work of art that also features outstanding performances from Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. When Joel (Carrey) learns that Clementine (Winslet) underwent the same surgery, he resolves to have his memories of their previous connection erased.
While his memories are being stolen away as he travels deeper into his subconscious, he starts to remember wonderful experiences he does not want to let go of and starts to fight back because he is so overcome with heartbreak that he can only concentrate on the agony. He and Clementine naturally reconnect after their memories of one another have been erased by a transcendent act of love, and they start to fall in love. However, they soon realize they have already been through this, and they must decide how to proceed going ahead.
The conclusion of the movie can be taken in a variety of ways: is this couple doomed, and will they revert to their previous behaviors and start the cycle all over again? Or can they start over fresh and create a new relationship now that they are aware of everything? Although it has a happy ending, it still doesn’t fully address the complexities of rel ationships and breakups. Even if they no longer share memories, they have nevertheless impacted one another, and what initially brought them together is still present.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Forgetting Sarah Marshall explores the devastating emotions associated with a breakup, particularly when one’s ex is dating someone else. The movie uses it to play both ridiculous humor and some sincere melancholy. In order for Peter (Jason Segel) to move past his previous relationship, he must undertake a serious journey, and it takes the course of the entire film for him to do so. When he allows himself to consider fresh options and acknowledges that the connection he has maintained for so long might not have been exactly what he had in mind, he eventually moves on.
I Want You Back
The humorous I Want You Back puts a more lighthearted and comedic twist on a breakup with two characters who vow to work together to undermine their ex’s new relationship in order to get them back before slowly realizing they have love for one another.
I Want You Back captures the depressive state one has after a breakup, where they desperately want their ex-partner back despite the fact that they have moved on, and how focusing on that causes them to miss what is in front of them. It was one of the most underappreciated movies of 2022 and is recommended if you want to laugh a lot.
Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer, which won five Academy Awards including Best Picture, was released 40 years before Marriage Story. The film follows a divorce, the effects it has on the couple’s child, and the development of their relationship afterward. The film presents both sides of the divorce case while also demonstrating how a breakup in a romantic relationship impacts not just the parties involved but also people in their immediate vicinity. It is a fascinating deconstruction of the marriage.
La La Land
In many aspects, La La Land is positioned as a traditional Hollywood musical romance, even coupling recurrent love interests Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. The romance in the film is tragic, despite being a romance. Mia (Stone) and Sebastian (Gosling) do not ultimately get together. They are at a stage in their lives when they are on two distinct roads yet still in love with one another.
The movie’s epilogue, which takes place five years after the main story, shows Mia and her new husband going to Sebastian’s club and him playing a song on the piano that describes what their life may have been like if they had ended up together. It is a beautifully tragic scene. The two exchange a final gaze as the film comes to a close. Although their love just developed at the wrong time, they were still supportive of one another’s growth.
La La Land’s finale is a more realistic, naturalistic one rather than the typical Hollywood happy ending. Although relationships may have a significant impact on a person, this does not always imply that they are designed to continue. Even if you have a strong love for someone, being together is not necessarily the result. However, this does not diminish the reality of the love or the significance of the other person.
Marriage Story
Marriage Story, a 2019 Academy Award Best Picture candidate, depicts the painful process of a marriage disintegrating through a contentious divorce. Marriage Story follows the complicated emotions between two people with a long shared history and how it affects the other in their failing relationship. It is a complex emotional roller coaster. They genuinely care about one another and speak to one another in a particular rhythm, but they also harbor a lot of pent-up bitterness and fury.
The two partners are still a part of each other’s life and can move on by the movie’s conclusion. Their relationship as a whole and their long-term happiness (as well as the happiness of those around them) are better with them apart, despite their efforts to make it work. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson feature in Noah Baumbach’s movie, which is a depressing yet exquisitely honest portrayal of marriage and divorce.
The Banshees of Inisherin
The Banshees of Inisherin, while not a romantic break-up, is a universal representation of both platonic and romantic relationships and is about a breakup in a partnership. Any type of relationship that ends can be compared to the tale of two best friends who lose interest in one another and cut him out of their lives. The story is around two people who were formerly quite close. When one party’s perspective changes, he starts to drift away from the relationship while the other is taken completely by surprise.
It has a certain unpredictability to it in that one person’s sentiments might shift to another almost instantly and without warning, shocking the other person who is left to pick up the pieces. Martin McDonagh’s film focuses on the sensation of being abandoned and the helplessness that follows from the perspective of the person who is breaking up with someone, for what seems to be no apparent reason. For all intents and purposes, The Banshees of Inisherin is a breakup film.
The Break-Up
The Break-Up follows the effects of a protracted romantic relationship, so the title should give you pretty much all you need to know. While the two protagonists would typically make up in romantic comedies, The Break-Up stays true to its theme. The two characters understand that while they may still care for one another, their relationship simply cannot continue in this way.
By the movie’s conclusion, the two are still apart, and although though they still have memories together that they will cherish forever, they must forge separate paths. It is a challenging lesson and a hard fact to accept, but it is an emotionally rewarding outcome that many aspire to.
