5 cliché-free movies to watch this Valentine’s Day

5 Valentine’s Day Movies

Jake Christensen

Valentine’s Day is one of the worst holidays of the year. It’s filled with chocolates, flowers, lace lingerie, horrible greeting cards, high expectations and a lack of available restaurant reservations. The whole thing is overrated and the pressure makes it difficult to have an enjoyable time.

It usually gets even worse when it comes to choosing a movie to watch on a romantic night. If you’re looking for a break from the usual cheesy romantic comedies, I’ve got some solid cliché-free films for you. Here are the five best movies for you to watch this Valentine’s Day.

“Blue Valentine” (2010)

“Blue Valentine” is a romantic drama depicting a married couple, Dean Pereira (Ryan Gosling) and Cynthia Heller (Michelle Williams), flashing back and forth in time between dating and their failing marriage years later. Featuring a wall-to-wall score from Grizzly Bear, it’s one of the most brutally realistic love stories to ever be put on film.

“Lost in Translation” (2003)

Lost in Translation is a film about two people at different ends of their life who are equally lost. Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) meet by chance while staying at a hotel in Tokyo and discover a heartfelt connection. The two end up sharing a night out on the town where just about everything happens. It’s a beautiful film, especially if you’re in a place in your life where you’re lost and trying to figure things out.

Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013)

Blue is the Warmest Colour explores the emotional and sexual relationship between a french teenager (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and the blue-haired art student (Lèa Seydoux) she meets in a lesbian bar. The film does a great job of portraying intimacy; everything about the relationship feels real and relatable. The director allows scenarios to play out longer than you see in most movies, making the characters seem more like real people. It’s an excellent coming-of-age drama.

“Annie Hall” (1977)

“Annie Hall” helped to define the romantic comedy genre and is arguably Woody Allen’s best movie. In the film, we meet Alvy Singer (Allen) who is trying to figure out why his relationship with Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) ended a year prior. “Annie Hall” does an excellent job of showing the harsh truth of relationships and how people inevitably grow apart while also capturing the American metropolis in all its 1970s glory.

“Her” (2013)

Set in Los Angeles in the near future, “Her” follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), who makes a living writing personal letters for other people. Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, he becomes interested with a new advanced operating system that promises to be an intuitive entity. After activating the system, Theodore meets Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), a bright female voice who is complex and humorous. Theodore and Samantha develop a friendship during the movie that eventually deepens to love. You become sincerely connected to the story despite the unconventional relationship. “Her” is a truly beautiful movie.