Movies

5 Best Age-Gap Romantic Movies to Watch If You Liked The Idea of You

5 Best Age-Gap Romantic Movies to Watch If You Liked The Idea of You
Image credit: Amazon Prime Video, Legion-Media

The age gap between the partners is sometimes touching, but more often it raises questions and suspicions. Nevertheless, directors continue to explore this type of relationship, mainly because they want to reflect on the inner workings of such families.

If you have already seen The Idea of You and are looking for something similar, then these movies are for you.

1. Hello I Must Be Going, 2012

An indie rom-com that is most valuable for its lead actress – Melanie Lynskey, who started her career with a bang in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures and went on to star in one of the biggest hits of recent years, Yellowjackets.

In Hello I Must Be Going, she plays a middle-aged divorced woman who loses everything and moves into her parents' house. She is sure that the dark streak in her life will never end, but a confident 19-year-old boy appears on the horizon and unexpectedly illuminates a possible path to a new life.

2. Licorice Pizza, 2021

Gary Valentine is a charismatic teenager who loves to go on adventures. It's the early 1970s and Gary is trying to become both an actor and an entrepreneur, but he actually dreams of something else – he has fallen in love with Alana, who is ten years older than him.

Like the best works about teenagers and youth, Licorice Pizza is a movie about everything and nothing: Gary and Alana's story is difficult to recall point by point, but as you watch the movie, you will definitely want it to go on for as long as possible.

3. Carol, 2015

An elegant love story set in 1950s New York. A saleswoman in a large Manhattan store meets a married woman who is about to divorce her husband. The women are attracted to each other, but the husband tries to use this attraction to gain custody of the child.

Adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel The Price of Salt, the film stars Cate Blanchett as a wealthy but suffering housewife and Rooney Mara as a saleswoman. The director has created a truly poignant love story, bright and rich in detail.

4. Behind the Candelabra, 2013

Steven Soderbergh's movie tells about the complicated love relationship between 17-year-old Scott and the already famous pianist Liberace. This is not just a biopic of a famous showman, but a portrait of an era and a sad love story, from first love to painful separation and death.

And it is also a reflection on how stars can easily change the lives of ordinary people at their whim – not only decorating them with gold, but also throwing them into the dirt.

5. And Your Mother Too, 2001

Two teenagers, Julio and Tenoch, said goodbye to their girlfriends who were going to visit Italy, met an older woman and went with her to relax on a beach with the poetic name Heaven’s Mouth.

One of the most important Mexican films of the 2000s, and perhaps the most frank statement about love in Latin American cinema. The love triangle in Alfonso Cuarón's film is set up by a road trip that two friends take with a Spanish woman.