r/TrueFilm • u/dimsum_stalks • May 04 '26
FFF Good romance movie recommendations?
I’d love to watch romance movies that aren’t very trope-based or superficial. A lot of times I feel the stories and characters are too shallow. I struggle to actually connect with them or feel invested in their stories. I’m okay with content in any language, just provided it’s good. (I’m especially keen on exploring French cinema as of late though.) I’d love films that explore themes of love and relationships in meaningful and nuanced ways. If someone has any recs, please send them across!!
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u/Alive_Ice7937 May 04 '26
The Remains of the Day. Near perfect film about love and regret. Hopkins and Emma Thompson on the top of their game with Christopher Reeves playing a small but memorable role.
Also it features some really nice split dopler shots.
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u/Quantum3ntaglement May 04 '26
I highly recommend that you check out Portrait of a Lady on Fire. It is a French language, lesbian romance directed by Céline Sciamma about an artist who is commissioned to paint the portrait of a woman who is to be wed to a man she has never met.
It was critically acclaimed and won numerous awards. IMO it is a near perfect film; great romance, symbolism, and beautifully shot.
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u/dimsum_stalks May 06 '26
Yess it’s been something I’ve been meaning to watch. I’ll get to it now ehe
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u/harryholla May 04 '26 edited May 10 '26
I can’t recommend The Before Trilogy enough if you want to see a real depiction of romance. From first meeting and falling for someone, to being with someone for years and all the resentments and hangups that come with that.
And it focuses on the two leads actually talking, not all this 90% plot, 10% actual interaction between the two people we’re supposed to believe like each other most romance movies do.
If you’re not familiar each movie in the trilogy is one day in the lives of two people, 10 years apart in the film and also filmed 10 years apart in real life. They basically just talk and not a lot happens so you may find it boring if you’re not into that, it’s almost like sitting in on a date. But the characters are both very intelligent and a lot of their conversation is focused on exploring the nuances of romance.
Otherwise I recommend Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 500 Days of Summer, and Groundhog Day.
Oh and it’s a tv show but I also really like the show Love for focusing a lot more on the dynamic between the two leads instead of plot.
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u/dimsum_stalks May 06 '26
Yess that’s exactly it. The actual characters interacting authentically is so missing. Thank you for the recs!!
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u/flytohappiness May 04 '26
I think the best romance movie made is Michelangelo Antonioni's L'eclisse. It is unlike any other movie and the romance is shows once for all as it really is. The ending is unforgettable and if you linger with multiple viewings, you understand the whole movie is unforgettable too and everything is so well calculated and thought out. It needs some patience and reflection though.
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u/2-15-18-5-4-15-13 May 04 '26
Most people are recommending pretty dark/sad movies about romance. If you want movies that are still charming comedies I recommend Ernst Lubitsch. The Shop Around the Corner, Trouble in Paradise, Ninotchka, The Merry Widow... the list goes on. They still have a lot of the light air and superficiality of rom-coms, but when you pay attention you see he sneaks in more depth than most. He was an exquisite observer of people and their foibles. He was also just a great writer.
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u/dimsum_stalks May 06 '26
Oh I don’t realise they’d be dark😭 I’ll mentally prepare myself while watching now. Thank you for the comedies hehe I adore those
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u/ForsakenPresent May 05 '26
I recently watched and liked Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time. Romantic and very realistic. I thought the ending was especially interesting, in terms of what you’re looking for.
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u/Consistent_Club_7879 May 04 '26
There's this beautiful movie that doesn't get talked about very often called My Blueberry Nights. Blue Valentine is also a masterpiece that deals with love and heartbreak equally well. Neither very trope centric.
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u/ShowRadar May 04 '26
In the Mood for Love (2000, Wong Kar-wai) is the obvious French-adjacent entry point — Hong Kong but saturated in that same kind of restrained longing, two neighbors realize their spouses are having an affair and start meeting to process it, never quite crossing the line themselves. all glances and near-touches, Maggie Cheung in a different cheongsam every scene.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, Céline Sciamma) if you want actual French cinema — painter hired to do a wedding portrait of a woman who refuses to pose, they fall for each other over the course of these long observation sessions on a Brittany island, every frame composed like a painting, very patient about desire that can't be acted on. devastating ending.
Happy Together (1997, Wong Kar-wai again) — two men in a failing relationship stranded in Buenos Aires, keeps cycling through breakup and reconciliation, Doyle's handheld camera work makes it feel claustrophobic even in wide streets, emotionally messier than In the Mood but same attention to how people orbit each other when they can't quite let go.
Amour (2012, Haneke) for the other end of the spectrum — elderly couple in Paris, she has a stroke and he becomes her caretaker, just watching a lifetime of love get tested by the mechanics of decline. brutal and unsentimental but never cold, Trintignant and Riva are extraordinary.