Relationships end for all sorts of reasons, but if films have taught us anything it’s that the cause of the downfall was likely there all along — you just chose to ignore it. Perhaps the two of you were from opposing households, both alike in dignity, that hated each other’s guts. Maybe your romance was considered culturally taboo; simply, ahead of its time. It could be (arguably the worst tale of them all) that neither of you were brave enough to follow your heart in the first place. Or perhaps you were simply passengers on the Titanic.
Whatever the reason, a tragic love story on film can be just as addictive as a romcom or drama where there’s a lot more assurance that the central pair will stick the landing. Inspired by the release of new A24 drop Past Lives — a Sundance favourite written and directed by Celine Song in which two soulmates are never quite in the right place at the right time — we’ve compiled a selection of great doomed romance movies for you to wallow in.
Read on, work your way through the films and have a good old cry.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Cited as a major influence behind La La Land (2016), director Jacques Demy’s French classic is a musical where every single word uttered is in song form; where gorgeous pastel colours collide with poignant melancholy. Young lovers Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve) and Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) intend to marry, but the latter’s military service in the Algerian War prevents it. When a pregnant Geneviève only receives very sporadic letters from Guy, her mother sets her up with a local man who has no issues marrying a woman carrying another man’s child. When her love eventually returns, hearts on- and off-screen are guaranteed to break.
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Recently appearing in the Top 10 of Sight and Sound’s poll of the greatest films of all time, Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love, starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung, takes place in rainswept Hong Kong of 1962. It’s a melancholic story about two neighbours forming a friendship after they suspect that their partners are having an affair with one another. When their own blossoming romance develops, they try their best to keep things platonic despite growing desires.
Miami Vice (2006)
Hear us out. While director Michael Mann’s reboot of the 80s detective show is largely known as one of the ultimate “vibes movies” of the last two decades (it’s one of the biggest influences on Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers), a blossoming romance and archetype of tragic love is a key emotional throughline — in between all the double crossing, brutally realistic shootouts and occasionally mystifying dialogue, of course. It’s that between undercover cop James “Sonny” Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Isabella (Gong Li), the financial adviser and lover of a transnational drug trafficking kingpin who leads a cartel James is working to bring down.
Theirs is an impossible love doomed by the inevitability of either James getting killed while trying to bring down her colleagues, or her response to the reveal of the betrayal if he manages to pull it off. But as is abundantly clear through their chemistry, there’s no deception involved with his feelings for her.
Bright Star (2009)
A real-life example of tragic romance, Jane Campion’s tender Palme d’Or nominee portrays the final few years in the life of 19th-century English poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw), and his relationship with Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). The poet’s struggling career and lack of monetary security mean Fanny’s mother can’t approve of the marriage, but it’s Keats’ eventual contraction of tuberculosis that seals the deal when it comes to the story’s sad resolution.
Blue Valentine (2010)
Sometimes it’s less a case of major seismic events ending a relationship in one fell swoop, and more that irreversible little cracks get bigger and bigger over time until the foundations crumble. Director Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine contrasts the happier beginnings and gloomy final act of the relationship between characters Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) by cutting back and forth between time periods years apart. It’ll get you right in the gut.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Céline Sciamma’s modern classic sees a prospective romance doomed by both matters of class and the relationship itself being taboo in the society of the time. In 18th century France, painter Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is commissioned to do the wedding portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), while her countess mother (Valeria Golino) is away. The young women become closer and closer during their time together, sharing the betrothed woman’s last days of freedom before her impending wedding to a man.
Past Lives (2023)
One of the most lauded titles from this year’s Sundance, Past Lives tracks the fortunes of two deeply connected childhood friends, whose paths are forced apart when the family of one emigrates from South Korea to Canada. Twenty years later, Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) have a chance at reconnection when he visits New York, where Nora now lives, though she’s married to kind-hearted writer Arthur (John Magaro). The pair are reunited across one eventful week, as they confront notions of love, fate and what could’ve been.