Not So Happy Valentine: 5 Romantic Movies About Most Toxic Relationships Ever

Even not during a week before Valentine’s Day, romcoms are one of the most beloved genres in cinema, but, sadly, life is not only about flowers, diamond rings and happily ever after.

Throughout the years, many movies tried to explore heartbreaking, but still more profound and complex stories about unlikely couples who make it all even worse by staying together, and somehow these films make their viewers feel like they can relate to such a toxic environment (even if they never experienced this in real life).

Whether they’re a good fit for the upcoming Valentine’s Day or not really, these movies are a sad reality check which is definitely worth visiting (or revisiting).

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Starring Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey, the movie follows Joel Barish and Clementine Kruczynski, a couple whose quickly blossoming romance soon went down to a breakup so painful that Clementine decided to undergo a procedure which would erase all of her memories about Joel and their unfortunate love story.

Finding out about his ex’s intention to forget about him entirely, Joel, heartbroken once again, signs up for the same procedure, but still records a tape recounting everything the former couple had been through.

The movie is a perfect watch for those who break up and still get back together for a hundredth time just because they’re too afraid to start life afresh.

Phantom Thread (2017)

Paul Thomas Anderson’s period drama might seem like a romantic story at first, though later it dives deep into issues like obsession with someone who doesn’t really appreciate you after all.

The movie stars Daniel Day-Lewis and is set in the 1950s’ London where a prominent haute couture dressmaker starts a romance with a waitress he takes as a muse for his next collection.

The latter’s feelings for the whimsical fashion designer also start growing, to the point where she finds herself serving as her lover’s toy until there’s an urgent need to change things.

Her (2013)

Sometimes it feels like not a single human can grasp the essence of your feelings, but ChatGPT somehow manages it; this is where Spike Jonze’s sci-fi drama Her comes in handy.

The movie stars Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore Twombly, a lonely and introverted man who, going through a painful divorce with his childhood sweetheart Catherine, isn’t really eager to find new love, but still needs to talk about past romantic failures.

Desperate to find someone he can pour his feelings out to, Theodore purchases a copy of a new operating system called Samantha, and, after several days of endless conversations with the robotic voice, he actually starts developing feelings for Samantha.

Before Sunrise (1995)

A movie that fascinates audiences 30 years after its release, Before Sunrise is a synonym for that bittersweet feeling when you realise that a short encounter with a person you’ll probably never see again was the greatest time of your life.

Starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, the movie follows two strangers who meet on a train to Vienna where they will go their separate ways, but before that both characters will live a day full of childish joys and heartbreaking confessions that they will never forget.

True Romance (1993)

Written by Quentin Tarantino, the movie follows modern Bonnie and Clyde who, after an accidental encounter in a film theatre, embark on a ruthless journey to save their blossoming love by, well, killing others.

It’s true, Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette’s chemistry is unmatched there, but that’s still not an excuse for their characters to go crazy in their selfish chase for personal happiness (which sometimes also happens to be toxic too).