11 Films To Watch This Week If You’re Sick Of Cheesy Rom-Coms

Sarah

Hollywood rom-coms can make for pretty grim watching around Valentine’s Day if you’re single.

People just DO NOT meet the loves of their life while researching an article on how to lose a guy in 10 days. Believe me, I wish this was true.

If you’re in the mood to watch a real relationship flick (ugly crying and realistic break ups galore) then settle down with a big ol’ bowl of popcorn and enjoy watching these top indie romance movies that will make you feel smug and hopeful all at once…

1. Blue Valentine

Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) live a quiet life in a modest neighborhood. To the casual observer, everything appears normal. The movie goes into how they met as teen sweethearts but before long their failing marriage spirals out of control.

This will have you sobbing. Intensely.

2. Lars And The Real Girl

Another quirky Ryan Gosling one, here he plays extremely shy Lars who finds it impossible to make friends or socialize. His brother (Paul Schneider) and sister-in-law (Emily Mortimer) worry about him, so when he announces that he has a girlfriend he met on the Internet, they are overjoyed. But Lars’ new lady is a life-size plastic woman…

3. The One I Love

A sci-fi thriller, The One I Love follows the story of a couple (Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss) whose marriage is crumbling have a surreal experience during a weekend getaway at a house recommended by their therapist.

4. Ruby Sparks

A novelist struggling with writer’s block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence.

All is perfect until Ruby becomes a little bit too real, and wants to act out on her own will, with increasingly weird actions from novelist Calvin.

5. Blue Jay

Former high school sweethearts Jim and Amanda have been out of touch for more than 20 years — but they run into each other at a grocery store back in their alpine hometown of Crestline, California.

They get to talking, first over coffee, then over beer and jellybeans. Before they know it they’re at Jim’s mother’s house, where everything sends them spiraling back into the past. Have tissues on hand for this beaut.

6. Closer

Starring Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Jude Law and Clive Owen, Closer portrays betrayal and the strangely comforting fact that even beautiful people have shitty relationship problems.

Basically, the relationships of two couples become complicated and deceitful when the man from one couple meets the woman of the other.

7. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

After a painful breakup, Clementine (Kate Winslet) undergoes a procedure to erase memories of her former boyfriend Joel (Jim Carrey) from her mind. When Joel discovers that Clementine is going to extremes to forget their relationship, he undergoes the same procedure and slowly begins to forget the woman that he loved.

Just been dumped? This is for you.

8. Her

This award-winning film follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a lonely and recently divorced man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice.

Think Black Mirror but more stylish.

9. Carol

An aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman in 1950s New York. As their bond deepens and they become romantically involved, Carol finds the strength to leave her husband.

Unfortunately, her spouse starts to raise questions about her fitness as a mother when he realizes that Carol’s relationships with her best friend Abby (Sarah Paulson) and Therese are more than just friendships…

10. Celeste And Jesse Forever

Longtime sweethearts Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) married young, but are now drifting apart. Celeste is an ambitious business owner, while Jesse has a more laid-back attitude toward life and work. Celeste wants a divorce and believes that she and Jesse can remain friends – which soon gets pretty messy.

This is funny and sad and sweet all at once.

11. Take This Waltz

The film centres on Margot, a 28- year-old freelance writer who lives in a charming house on a leafy street in Toronto’s Little Portugal neighbourhood, as she struggles with and examines her feelings for Lou, her husband of five years, while exploring a new relationship with an artist who lives across the street.

A slow burner, but well worth the watch.