10 Movies That Perfectly Explain Your Current Relationship (or Lack Thereof)
It seems as though there is a movie that can perfectly describe any relationship. There are movies about business partnerships. Some of these movies include The Godfather, Jerry Maguire, and The Devil Wears Prada. Other movie relationships are a little more personal.
The 10 movies below perfectly describe common personal relationships we see today.
1. When It's Not Meant To Be (500 Days of Summer)
In this movie, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a simple greeting card writer with a monotonous life. The moment he lays eyes on Summer (Zoey Deschanel), his world gets flipped upside down.
For some, love at first sight is a very real thing. In this movie, Tom experiences this feeling first hand. If you know, you know. Falling in love at first sight is dangerous. You don’t know anything about this person. You are in love with the idea you have created in your head.
The downfall of this type of relationship is when you fall for the idea of someone rather than who they are as a person, you will always be let down. In 500 Days of Summer, Tom is the one crushed in the end because he falls for a girl that doesn't believe in love.
2. When It's Written in the Stars (The Notebook)
The Notebook is a classic love story for the ages. The summer's end tears Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams) apart after spending the summer falling in love.
Yet, they find a way back to one another again. After Allie's Alzheimer's takes over, she can no longer remember the relationship on her own. Noah continues to read their love story to her every day.
Dreaming of a relationship like the one Noah and Allie share is something we all do. Maybe not one that ends in memory loss, but a happy one. A relationship filled with lots of memories and a family of kids and grand-kids to love and hold close.
Relationships usually aren't like you see in the movies. That said, the ups and downs that Noah and Allie experience in The Notebook are believable. So believable, in fact, that it seems achievable for ordinary people like you and me.
3. The Manipulator (Cruel Intentions)
Not all relationships have the purest motives, and Cruel Intentions is the 1999 film that brought this notion to light. Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) are step-siblings. They attend a prep school that gets a new headmaster. They make a pact to deflower the new headmaster's daughter, Annette (Reese Witherspoon).
Annette becomes the victim of their manipulation game turned love triangle. By the end of the movie (spoiler alert), the master behind the manipulation turns out to be Kathryn all along.
Being a victim of a manipulative partner can cause more pain than just heartache. This type of relationship can leave the victim with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.
What is the biggest takeaway from this movie?
Always listen to your gut and keep an eye out for red flags because they are never wrong.
4. The Supportive Relationship (Hidden Figures)
In the movie Hidden Figures, Mary (Janelle Monáe) and Levi Jackson (Aldis Hodge) aren't the star couple of the film. Yet, they are the perfect example of what a supportive relationship looks like.
Mary is the confident and independent lady-boss type, and her husband is there for her every step of the way. He doesn't try to knock her down from achieving her dreams. This is a relationship many would feel lucky to have. It is one that celebrates the individuality of each person in the relationship.
5. The Painful Break Up (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the movie you want to watch after experiencing a painful break-up. In this movie, Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) hit it off from the start. Clementine was definitely the more vocal of the two. Still, they worked well together.
Clementine and her fiery personality made a snap decision to have all her memories of Joel erased. This led Joel to do the same.
We learn from this movie that even the most painful break-ups are worth remembering. Break-ups teach us a valuable lesson about ourselves. If we don't remember the relationship, we are destined to repeat ourselves. We all have days when we think we can make it work with our ex. The nights you find yourself wondering, watch this movie, you might just change your mind.
6. The Friends With Benefits (Friends With Benefits)
Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and Jamie (Mila Kunis) are two friends. They showed the world what happens when friends decide to have a relationship without strings in the movie Friends With Benefits.
The relationship starts the way most friends with benefits relationships do. The two felt jaded after recently failed relationships and didn't want anything exclusive. Conflicts arise when sex comes into play. The arrangement pushes them to the brink. The two can no longer be friends afterward. It is then that Dylan realizes his feelings for Jamie and tries to win her back as his girlfriend.
Granted, most friends-with-benefits relationships might not end in a lasting relationship. Yet, this movie gives us a glimpse of what it is like trying to have sex with no strings attached.
7. The Polygamous Relationship (Savages)
In the movie Savages, O, (Blake Lively) is in a triage relationship with Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). The recently reunited throuple soon experience problems. Chon and Ben's pot-growing business gets mixed up with the Mexican drug cartel. The cartel kidnaps their beloved O as a result.
Throughout the movie, different obstacles try to come between the bond these three people share. In the end, their bond comes out on top, proving to the world that polygamy is real and can work.
In the evolving world of today, polygamy is not only more common but is a normal expression of love. Your polygamous relationship hopefully isn't packed full of crime and violence. Yet, we could all take a page or two from their book, in regards to an example of a healthy relationship. No throuple has ever seemed more close-knit than O, Chon, and Ben.
8. The One Night Stand (Knocked Up)
We've all been there, for one reason or another, we've all found ourselves drunk and in love for a night. If you are the confident few that have not experienced this, I commend you.
Knocked Up is the crowning example for one night stands. Specifically, how to make it work after a one night stand leaves you caring about more than if he wore a condom. In this movie, Ben (Seth Rogen) and Alison (Katherine Heigl) find themselves pregnant after a drunken stupor. They somehow manage to pull it together enough to make it work for their baby.
Whether you have been in this situation personally or not, this movie provides a great lesson for us all. You don't have to just live with the consequences of your actions. You can thrive. Being a parent is hard enough. Getting to know the father of your child while you're pregnant is a whole different ball game.
9. The Divorce You Can't Shake (Bounty Hunter)
If you haven't seen Bounty Hunter, Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler) is a bounty hunter. He learns his next target is none other than his ex-wife, Nicole Hurley (Jennifer Aniston).
He spends the entire movie hunting her down, but of course, she knows him all too well. She was his wife, after all. Nicole is able to stay a cool two steps ahead of him the entire time. It isn't until they both land themselves in jail that they admit their love for each other is still there and stronger than ever.
In most cases, when you divorce your ex, it is best to say farewell and move on. Yet, Bounty Hunter gives us the glimmer of hope. The hope we need in the few circumstances where divorce isn't the answer. You may realize he might drive you crazy, but he is still the only person crazy enough to handle you.
10. When He Cheated (First Wives Club)
We are now taking it back to 1996 when The First Wives Club became an instant classic. In this movie, Elise (Goldie Hawn), Brenda (Bette Midler), and Annie (Diane Keaton) are three divorced friends. They seek revenge on their cheating ex-husbands that left them for younger women.
The First Wives Club is the kind of movie you can watch whenever you need that boost of confidence. Elise, Brenda, and Annie are forever known and praised among women. They are arguably the women that paved the way for lady bosses everywhere.
These three women proved that you don't need a man to be happy or successful. They also showed us how to properly bounce back after getting cheated on, which is a gift no woman can put a price on.
It seems as though there is a movie out there that perfectly explains any type of relationship you may come across. Some movies are more realistic than you might initially think.
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