Romance is alive and well, and we’ve got just the collection of films to show you that.
Who says romance is dead? Whether it’s something quirky, poignant, darkly funny, or even tinged with action or horror, embrace the messiness and beauty of falling in love with these movies.
The Idea of You
Real person fiction (RPF) is a sometimes controversial genre of fanfiction written about real people, usually celebrities. Harry Styles, formerly of the boyband One Direction, is something of an RPF magnet. The After series of novels, which was adapted into five movies with more on the way, was inspired by Styles. And now, Robinne Lee’s The Idea of You, another story that began life as a Harry Styles RPF, is adapted into a movie.
Solène Marchand (Anne Hathaway) is a gallery owner in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighbourhood. Solène’s ex-husband Daniel (Reid Scott) buys their teenage daughter Izzy (Ella Rubin) VIP tickets to a Coachella performance by boyband August Moon. When Daniel bails on Izzy because of a business trip, Solène ends up accompanying her to the festival. She meets August Moon frontman Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), and an unlikely romance ignites. As things between the pair grow more serious, they must keep their relationship on the down-low as the press hounds Hayes.
Sure, The Idea of You contains Mills & Boon-esque romance fantasy elements, but it is a solidly constructed and acted film that is deeply emotional. The film also features original songs that the cast members playing the August Moon members recorded and released as an album.
</a>
The Idea of You centers on Solène, a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell, the lead singer of August Moon, the hottest boy band on the planet.
View Details
The Fall Guy
This movie takes ‘falling for someone’ quite literally: Ryan Gosling stars as Colt Seavers, a veteran stunt performer who quit a year ago after a major injury on the set. Emily Blunt plays Colt’s ex-girlfriend, Jody Moreno, a first-time director who is filming the big-budget sci-fi Western Metalstorm in Australia. The movie-within-a-movie’s lead star, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), suddenly goes missing, jeopardising the production and Jody’s career. Colt, who formerly doubled for Tom, goes searching for him, uncovering a sinister cover-up in the process.
Based on the ‘80s TV series of the same name, The Fall Guy is a loving tribute to stunt performers — naturally, you can expect plenty of explosive action. It also boasts sparkling chemistry between Gosling and Blunt and even has a throwback Chicago-esque love ballad called “Waiting for Love” by the film’s composer Dominic Lewis.
</a>
A stuntman working in movie production is hired to find the missing lead actor; instead, he gets framed for murder and must use his stuntman skills to expose the true killer.
View Details
Hit Man
Glen Powell is the star of the moment. He’s on a winning streak, having starred in a string of hits, including Top Gun: Maverick, Devotion, Anyone but You, and Twisters. In the romantic comedy Hit Man, he heats up the screen with fellow rising star Adria Arjona. He also co-wrote the film, which is directed by Richard Linklater (they both collaborated on 2016’s Everybody Wants Some!!).
Powell plays Gary Johnson, a professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of New Orleans who provides tech support to the New Orleans Police Department as a side gig. When cop Jasper (Austin Amelio) is suspended, Gary steps in to pose as a hitman and proves to be adept at the job. He crafts various disguises and personas, successfully helping the police apprehend people intent on hiring assassins. When he meets Madison (Arjona), a beautiful woman stuck in an unhappy marriage who orders a hit on her husband, she just might be Gary’s undoing.
</a>
Gary Johnson breaks protocol to help a desperate woman trying to flee an abusive boyfriend. He finds himself becoming one of his false personas and turning into a criminal himself.
View Details
Challengers
One of the most talked-about movies of the year, Challengers is directed by provocateur Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name, Suspiria, Bones and All). Zillennial superstar Zendaya headlines and produces this movie, featuring up-and-comers Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, about a love triangle — or really, a ‘throuple’ of sorts. Set in the world of professional tennis, Challengers is part sports movie, part romantic drama, and part psychological thriller.
Zendaya plays Tashi Duncan, a former professional tennis player who now coaches her husband, Art Donaldson (Faist). Art is a world-famous Grand Slam champion whose career Tashi has personally shaped. The couple has a young daughter named Lily (AJ Lister). Art faces a career slump due to age and injury, and Tashi enters him in a Challenger event (a low-level tournament on the pro tour) in New Rochelle, New York, hoping to give Art a much-needed boost. Patrick Zweig (O’Connor), Art’s former best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend, is a struggling low-level player who is living out of his car and enters the New Rochelle Challenger as well. The trio share a long, complicated history, with years of tightly lidded tension culminating in a face-off between Art and Patrick on the court.
</a>
Tennis player turned coach Tashi has taken her husband, Art, and transformed him into a champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she makes him play a “Challenger” event.
View Details
Turtles All the Way Down
Based on the bestselling young adult novel by John Green (The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska) and directed by Hannah Marks, Turtles All the Way Down is a sensitive portrait of a young person falling in love as she copes with a lifelong mental illness. Isabela Merced stars as Aza, a teenager who has obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that makes her fixated on germs and gives her a constant fear of infection. After her father’s passing, Aza attends a camp for kids with recently deceased parents. There, she meets Davis (Felix Mallard), a lonely boy whose mother has died and whose billionaire father, Russell, has vanished. Aza investigates Russell’s disappearance with her two best friends, Daisy (Cree) and Mychal (Maliq Johnson), as she starts to develop feelings for Davis. However, she must face obstacles like an aversion to kissing him because of her fear of bacteria.
Turtles All the Way Down tackles anxiety. When she reconnects with her childhood crush, Aza is confronted with fundamental questions about her potential for love, happiness, friendship and hope.
View Details
Lisa Frankenstein
The idea of ‘the one’ for you is often romanticised. But for the protagonist of this dark comedy, ‘the one’ isn’t even a living person but an undead Victorian guy. In this 1989-set spin on Mary Shelley’s classic 1818 novel Frankenstein, Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) is lonely and struggling to fit in. She is grieving her mother, who was murdered two years ago. Her popular stepsister Taffy (Liza Soberano) tries to get Lisa to change her style so she can be trendier. While Lisa hangs out at a cemetery, a bolt of green lightning strikes the grave of a young Victorian man who died in 1837. Dubbed ‘the Creature’ (Cole Sprouse), he is reanimated and falls in love with Lisa, committing a murder or two along the way. A bolt of ’80s nostalgia, Lisa Frankenstein is the feature-length directorial debut of Zelda Williams, daughter of the late actor Robin Williams. It is written by Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body), which perhaps explains its eccentric sense of black humour.
</a>
A coming of 'rage' love story from acclaimed writer Diablo Cody about a misunderstood teenager and her high school crush, who happens to be a handsome corpse.
View Details