Each February, it seems as though the world has taken on a rose-colored tint. This month is filled with poetry, dramatic gestures, pricey dinners, and tender words murmured in exactly the right-lit spaces. Since it is cold outside, lovers hug closer to one other. This is a period of renewed and rekindled enthusiasm. You can see it in your neighbourhood grocery store, where those large teddy bears are holding out their arms in anticipation and the flower department is smelling better than ever. There are so many movies that depict how this might be the best time of the year for lovers.
This is not a list for couples, though. For those who might find themselves alone on Valentine’s Day and for whom those teddy bears might seem to be making fun, this is a list. There are many films about perfect love, the kind that endures adversity, other people who catch one’s eye, disapproving parents, disease, and sorrow. But the movies that depict how messy love is, how lonely it can be when it’s gone, how beautiful it can be when it’s found, how painful it can be when it breaks apart, and how slowly but steadily hope keeps rising even when everything seems to be at its darkest are far more engaging. The main characters in these movies are romantics and dreamers who struggle to rediscover themselves while also finding love along the road. So go ahead and pour yourself a large glass of wine, have a slice of pizza, and be close to your pets because loving oneself is the most essential love of all.
(500) Days of Summer
The theme of the difficulties of memory is continued on this list with Marc Webb’s (500) Days of Summer. The film, which is presented nonlinearly, centres on Tom Hansen, a writer of sappily romantic greeting cards, as he reflects on his brief love with Summer, who is played beautifully by Zooey Deschanel.
Tom believed that the relationship was ideal and that it should have lasted forever. This is what the viewer initially sees, along with a musical scenario complete with Disney-style cartoon bluebirds. But as the movie progresses, the flaws become more obvious. Tom’s twisted romanticism and his unwillingness to see the flaws in his ideal love story become apparent to the viewer. The movie doesn’t hold back when it comes to showing the beauty that can result from love as well as the sadness and sense of futility that can be felt when someone realises they are losing affection for someone. It nevertheless comes to a hopeful conclusion with the possibility of new love, of what lies ahead, and in the form of the cyclical nature of the seasons.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Jim Carrey portrays Joel, a guy who badly wants to move on from his ex, Clementine, in Charlie Kaufman’s mind-bending tale of love forgotten, in yet another tragic performance by a great comedic actor (an incredible Kate Winslet). He chooses a treatment that will make him forget that he and Clementine ever met in order to accomplish this. He is taken through every unpleasant memory of the relationship, including both the good and the terrible, as the procedure progresses.
The film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind offers a melancholy look at what makes a person unique—the memories that combine to make up who they are. It is a tale of love, rage, grief, and holding fervently to something that has been lost. It serves as a reminder of how significant the difficult times may be by being both sweet, hilarious, consoling, and tragic.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
In Nicholas Stoller’s film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Peter (Jason Segal) first thinks he is pleased with his life. His five-year relationship with actress Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) and the life they have created for themselves are the centre of his universe. That is, until Sarah returns home and abruptly calls it quits, breaking Peter’s heart as he stands before her dazed and practically naked.
Peter continues to be continually reminded of Sarah in the weeks that follow. His flat is filled with her possessions and gifts that she bought for him, and since he is the TV show’s composer, he must watch every frame in which she appears. He chooses to travel to a fancy Hawaiian resort to unwind after realising that one-night affairs are insufficient diversions. However, when he arrives, he discovers Sarah and her new rock star lover Aldus Snow (Russell Brand) staying in the room next to him. Despite the circumstances, Peter manages to adjust to life on his own by making friends with the locals who work at the hotel and starting a new relationship with Rachel, the hotel receptionist (Mila Kunis), who offers him the kind of support Sarah never did. The movie is a wild love letter to the brokenhearted and is hilarious, sympathetic, and full of hope and understanding. It is ideal for a single Valentine’s Day.
Her
Her from Spike Jonze’s Warner Bros. is next. Theodore Twombley, played by Joaquin Phoenix, is an introverted man who is depressed about getting divorced from his longtime partner, Catherine (Rooney Mara). He incorporates Samantha, an AI companion, into his home in order to cope (Scarlett Johansson). He finds himself falling in love with the artificial being as he gets to know this new addition to his life and as it gradually takes on more and more importance in his life.
Her is the tale of what happens when a world that once made sense ceases to make sense. It thinks about how technology fits into contemporary culture, but it also values the value of interpersonal relationships. Theodore gradually starts to understand what love is and begins to embrace the outside world, illustrating the emergence of independence that follows a tragic breakup. It demonstrates to the viewer that love may take many different forms and is infused with genuine empathy and hope.
High Fidelity
In the Stephen Frears film High Fidelity, Rob (John Cusack) spends his days lazing around the record shop he owns with his friends Dick (Todd Louiso) and Barry (Jack Black, in the lead role that launched his career). They wax lyrical and compete with one another in terms of their pop culture knowledge. His nights are dedicated to Laura, a stunning attorney who breaks up with Rob because she thinks he is stuck in his life and she is ready to go on. In order to find out why he keeps getting dumped by the people he loves, Rob chooses to get in touch with his five most significant breakups.
As Rob encounters these ladies he once thought he loved and is forced to face his own role in each relationship’s breakdown, what follows is both hilarious and profoundly depressing. He discovers justification, guilt, exoneration, and the capacity to face his past in order to better his future by doing this. It is an incredibly beautiful movie that is both one of the best music movies ever made and a reflection on what love really looks like without the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia.
La La Land
Damien Chazelle’s film La La Land appears to be a musical about two young people falling in love. Seb, portrayed by Ryan Gosling, is a jazz pianist who performs at gigs that are much beneath him in order to support his family. Mia (Emma Stone), a fledgling actress, soon appears everywhere he goes. Despite the fact that they don’t get along at first, they eventually become romantically involved and start to support one another’s goals and keep each other afloat. The story reveals itself to be far deeper than a straightforward love story as the relationship starts to crumble under the pressure of obsession and failure.
This is a message of love to a city and the dreams it nurtures. It raises issues about the price of such aspirations, the decision to forgo comfort and routine in favour of escaping a Sisyphean existence, and when to give up. A more nuanced perspective of what love can actually look like is revealed by utilising the relationship between Seb and Mia as a lens through which to consider these issues; the incredible music and choreography are merely a side benefit.
Punch Drunk Love
Punch Drunk Love by Paul Thomas Anderson is a quiet movie with loud scenes. The tale centres on Barry Egan (Adam Sandler), a lonely proprietor of a novelty plunger business whose seven elder sisters continuously make fun of him, leading to a very poor sense of self-worth. However, soon after Lena (Emily Watson) and an antique piano come into his life, he starts to regain his confidence.
Barry discovers that Lena has given him the strength to finally start to stand up for himself as his scheme to extract money from a promotion combining pudding and frequent flyer miles threatens to put himself and Lena in jeopardy. The film, which also has one of Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s best outbursts, illustrates the depths to which loneliness can drive us and the carelessness that comes with falling in love.
The Lobster
The Lobster, directed by Greek master Yorgos Lanthimos, is without a doubt the oddest and darkest movie on this list. Colin Farrell plays David, a guy who checks into a peculiar hotel after his wife leaves him for another man. The hotel functions as a sort of singles’ getaway with one strange restriction: if a single guest does not find a companion within 45 days, they will be transformed into an animal of their choice. If he doesn’t achieve the objective, David decides to transform into the titular lobster.
What takes place in a ridiculous investigation into dating and relationship dynamics. David feels the time passing more quickly as he tries to connect but gets worse results, so he turns to extreme tactics. It is a study of what binds damaged individuals together and includes themes of grief, loneliness, revolt, and wrath. This is one that will leave you wondering long after it is over, however it is never without hope.
The Shape of Water
The Shape of Water by Guillermo Del Toro is dripping with love. Not just romantic love, but also the love of relationships, art, and beauty. In the end, the movie is about embracing differences and demonstrating that being unique does not preclude being deserving of love.
The movie centres on mute woman and cleaner Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins), who works in a top-secret government facility. While at work one day, she discovers a bizarre aquatic being being imprisoned in a water tank. The ruthless Strickland (Michael Shannon), who views difference as an abomination and strives to transform everything that doesn’t fit into his perverted worldview, tortures the creature on a regular basis. Through dance, sign language, and hard-boiled eggs, Elisa makes friends with the creature and comes up with a plan to set it free. Elisa discovers herself falling passionately in love with the creature as a result of the subsequent events, and they start dating. The narrative is a legendary celebration of the unusual, of what makes us unique and beautiful, and of the love that each and every person is entitled to experience.
There’s Something About Mary
There’s Something About Mary by the Farrelly Brothers is undoubtedly a romantic comedy. It’s as gritty, cynical, and bawdy as a romantic comedy can be, though. The plot centres on Ben Stiller’s character Ted, who is unlucky in love and is still fixated on the prom date from thirteen years ago, the titular Mary, who is played by a very competitive Cameron Diaz.
Ted discovers that Mary has been the target of perverted devotion from multiple stalkers, some of whom may not actually be all that dissimilar from Ted himself, after hiring a private investigator to find her. Ted isn’t the only one who is infatuated with Mary, it turns out. It is a tale of twisted romanticism that makes observations about the life we imagine for ourselves and try to reconcile with reality in our minds and in our memories. Additionally, it has some of the funniest, most viscerally uncomfortable scenes ever captured on camera. Just be careful to check the labels of any products you use on your hair.
There is never a wrong time for love, despite the fact that the holiday will come and go. It will come at some point, perhaps after you’ve given up seeking for it if you haven’t already or if you have and lost it. But until then, curl up with these movies and keep in mind that, despite what it might seem like, you are not alone.
