6 Anti-Valentines Day Films That Will Make You Happy To Be Single – British Vogue

The glut of rom-coms set to land on screens over the next few weeks can only mean one thing: Valentines Day is just around the corner. But, if the thought of dating montages fills you with horror, look no further. Ahead of 14 February, we pick 6 films that will make you feel grateful to be single on the most romantic and potentially nauseating day of the year.

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Blue Valentine

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Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling are the picture of youthful exuberance in Derek Cianfrances account of a whirlwind romance that is until their relationship unravels. Armed with an ukulele and a goofy smile, Gosling is Dean, a house painter settled in Pennsylvania. Williams is his wife Cindy, a nurse trying to make ends meet. Their arguments are caught in agonising close-ups and become all the more tragic when interspersed with recollections of their carefree courtship.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

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The only way to get over a break-up? Targeted amnesia courtesy of medical corporation Lacuna Inc or so thinks Joel (Jim Carrey) in Michel Gondrys sci-fi classic about bruised egos and broken hearts. The woman he is so desperate to forget is Clementine (Kate Winslet), a force of nature who has already undergone the procedure to wipe him from her mind. Part fever dream, part melancholic reality, the film sees Joel mull over his painful memories and eventually pine for a reconciliation.

Frances Ha

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Shot in luminous black and white and stuffed with French New Wave references, Frances Ha has all the hallmarks of a sweeping romance but in the hands of director Noah Baumbach, its an ode to female friendship. Greta Gerwig stars as a dancer who has a quarter-life crisis when her best friend (Mickey Sumner) moves out of their apartment. She fills the void with family visits and an ill-fated solo trip to Paris, but their reunion is more moving than any teary declaration of love.

Booksmart

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Two friends wonder if their youth has passed them by in Olivia Wildes crowd-pleasing high school comedy. Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever are Molly and Amy, cautious bookworms keen to make the most of their final night before graduation. They party on a yacht, watch porn in the back of a Lyft, have disastrous run-ins with their crushes and attend an elaborate murder mystery dinner. It makes for a mile-a-minute romp imbued with genuine emotion as the pair prepare to part ways.

Little Women

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Greta Gerwigs heartfelt Louisa May Alcott adaptation is a meditation on women and commerce in the 19th century. It opens with Jo (Saoirse Ronan) selling her short stories in New York. Back home, her sister Meg (Emma Watson) is struggling with her finances while Amy (Florence Pugh) considers the economic benefits of marriage. The plot zips between the present and their rose-tinted past, but the focus remains on Jos enduring love of books and the novel she gives birth to at the end.

Animals

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After a decade of codependency, flatmates Laura (Holliday Grainger) and Tyler (Alia Shawkat) grow apart when the former starts dating a pianist (Fra Fee). Their millennial ennui and freewheeling hedonism are the driving forces behind Sophie Hydes poignant drama, adapted from Emma Jane Unsworths novel of the same name. Its magic, however, lies in the chemistry between its leads and their depiction of an all-consuming friendship. As they trawl through Dublins dive bars and dingy clubs, you cant help but follow them down the rabbit hole.

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