The fact that movies are less exhausting than unhealthy relationships is a solace. Although relationships and movies both have their flaws, the latter serves as good material for the former due to the former’s relatability and propensity for tackling difficult emotions. For instance, based on the plot of the movie Gaslight, in which a lady is duped into doubting her reality by her husband, the word “gaslighting” was first used. Similarly, film has played a significant role in seeing how connections limit human agency and eventually lose all significance.
By romanticising the notion of love that knows no bounds, a notion that has been questioned by various films, the cinema has also contributed to the continuation of issues in real relationships. These movies serve as warnings and reminders that love and hate are two sides of the same coin, and they show how relationships fall apart when people mistake their shared romantic experience for ownership.
(500) Days of Summer
The movie studio Fox Searchlight (500) Marc Webb’s romantic comedy-drama Days of Summer, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom and Zooey Deschanel as Summer, is a work of art. The narrative of the movie follows the two people’s ambiguous relationship in a nonlinear fashion. The self-defeating practise of overly romanticising relationships based on media is depicted in the movie. As Summer states plainly that she does not want to be in a serious relationship, Tom reflects his own fears onto her. Tom continues to cling to the idea of a committed relationship, which causes him to let himself down. Tom didn’t explain his objectives and villainized Summer for not providing what he had requested, so their relationship was doomed to collapse.
August: County Osage
What county in August should I start with? The drama, which was helmed by John Wells, is based on the same-named Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis, Julianne Nicholson, and Benedict Cumberbatch all give strong performances.
A dysfunctional family is the focus of the movie, and they come together once the father goes missing. The three daughters are left to care for their cancer-stricken mother, who is portrayed by Streep, who is also mentally unstable. After she loses her husband, she becomes a loose cannon who stops at nothing to hurt every member of her family. As family secrets are revealed, the movie takes a sinister turn as the family members become increasingly more estranged from one another. The movie presents an accurate depiction of how, on sometimes, breaking the generational cycle requires social estrangement from one’s own family.
Before Midnight
Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprise their roles as Jesse and Celine in Richard Linklater’s love drama Before Midnight, the third and concluding installment of the Before Trilogy. The movie stands out for illustrating the negative effects of having an affair and how there is never a win-win scenario for both parties. By challenging the romantic and hopeful relationship that the first two movies establish between the pair, the movie takes an interesting turn.
Before Midnight’s third act is entirely centred on the pair arguing while meant to be enjoying a romantic evening in a hotel in Greece. For their realistic portrayal of a pair who are inherently compatible but nonetheless end up harming each other, the sequences starring Delpy and Hawke are regarded as acting masterworks.
Blue Valentine
The Weinstein Company Blue Valentine is a tragic love story drama starring Ryan Gosling as Dean and Michelle Williams as Cindy, and it was directed by Derek Cianfrance. The couple appears to be leading a typical life and resides in a humble neighbourhood, but the movie exposes that their relationship is far from ideal. While Dean lacks motivation and Cindy remains self-absorbed, they do not get along and are not on the same page, which negatively affects their marriage.
The movie is renowned for its emotional openness and genuine portrayal of a couple’s steadily eroding love by actors Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in a non-linear plot. The video explores the difficulty of not being able to place blame for a relationship’s demise, but it also shows how understanding and empathy are ineffective in trying situations.
Don Jon
Joseph Gordon-romantic Levitt’s comedy Don Jon centres on a young man named Jon who struggles with a porn addiction and his inability to handle closeness in love relationships. Gordon-Levitt makes his directorial debut with the movie, which explores the damaging effects of porn on relationships with insight and levity as Don, played by Joseph, objectsifies real women the same way that women are objectified in pornographic movies. Scarlett Johansson’s Barbara, who Don falls for, forces him to decide between being in a committed relationship and watching porn. The movie openly mocks men’s locker room attitudes and how being a man makes them less sensitive to intimacy.
Kramer vs Kramer
Robert Benton’s legal drama Kramer vs. Kramer depicts the harshness of a couple’s divorce and how it affects their young son while his parents fight over custody of him. Ted is portrayed by Dustin Hoffman, while Joanna, who is experiencing a painful separation, is portrayed by Meryl Streep. Ted is left to care for his son alone when Joanna breaks up with him. As the sole parent when his wife distances herself from him, he develops a bond with his son for the first time. The dynamic created between Ted and his kid is upset as Joanna requests custody of her son, making the divorce more contentious. The movie adopts an understanding tone while discussing fatherhood and how the father’s role is disregarded in divorce proceedings.
Hoffman and Streep’s and the movie’s sensitivity in capturing the spiralling dynamics of divorce continue to make it a classic.
Malcolm & Marie
Sam Levinson’s drama Malcolm & Marie, starring Zendaya and John David Washington, explores the turbulent relationship between writer-director Malcolm and his lover Marie. The couple has just attended the premiere of the former’s movie, which is sure to be a box office and critical success. His girlfriend, though, doesn’t appear happy with his success. Due to both of them maintaining their pent-up feelings on the surface, the evening takes a bad turn. Marie feels mistreated and reduced to serving as Malcolm’s inspiration for his writings because she does not receive the same level of attention as Malcolm does for his writing.
The movie demonstrates how codependency may make it difficult for couples to communicate because one expects the other to be the resolution of one’s past pain while underestimating the human capacity for imperfection.
Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story on Netflix The drama Netflix Marriage Story, which is written and directed by Noah Baumbach, centres on the bitter divorce of a theatrical director (Adam Driver) and his actress wife (Scarlett Johansson). The movie becomes a courtroom drama as the couple battles for custody and both of them feel guilty for putting the other through difficult situations. There are terrible instances when a married couple’s commonplace behaviours are utilised to character-assassinate one another in court. The movie moves slowly, and the couple’s arguments feel far too real as the audience watches the characters experience unimaginable helplessness and contempt for one another.
Revolutionary Road
Based on Richard Yates’s book of the same name, Revolutionary Road is a romantic drama film that Sam Mendes has directed. The movie centres on a couple who are attempting to escape a union that seems to bring out the worst in them. Both actors—Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank and Kate Winslet as April Wheeler—play married people who do not desire to become typical couples but discover that their union is just as flawed and unexceptional as others.
The movie is set in the 1950s and explores how monogamous marriages are impacted by issues like adultery, forgiveness, loneliness, and repressed wrath. The video is challenging to see, yet it accurately captures relationships at a crossroads where they either succeed or fail.
The Squid and The Whale
Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach’s drama The Squid and The Whale is partially based on Baumbach’s experiences dealing with his parent’s divorce. The movie starts with a tennis battle between the parents trying to injure one other. This establishes the mood of the movie, which ultimately results in the couple requesting a divorce. The couple’s two sons are severely impacted by the breakdown of their marriage, with one of them acting out at school and the other tacitly supporting his mother. The Squid and The Whale is a touching movie because it demonstrates how children in a marriage process and interpret divorce.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Rebecca Hall, and Scarlett Johansson are among the actors who appear in Woody Allen’s romantic comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which was written and directed by the director. Two American women who meet an artist in Barcelona and fall in love with him are the subject of the movie Juan Antonio, which stars Javier Bardem. Juan is drawn to both, but he can’t get away from Cruz’s portrayal of his emotionally unstable ex-wife Mara Elena. The movie depicts the bohemian relationship between Scarlett Johansson’s Juan, Mara, and Cristina as well as how Mara’s personal issues contribute to the instability of the trio. The movie demonstrates how polyamory may become unwieldy when it becomes challenging to meet everyone’s demands and insecurities.
