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Blue Valentine poster

Movies that feel likeBlue Valentine (2010)

Dean and Cindy live a quiet life in a modest neighborhood. They appear to have the world at their feet at the outset of the relationship. However, his lack of ambition and her retreat into self-absorption cause potentially irreversible cracks in their marriage.

If you loved Blue Valentine, the closest films we have are Closer (2004), Remember Me (2010) and P.S. I Love You (2007). All three share Blue Valentine's contemplative and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is 45 Years (2015).

πŸ… 87% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.3 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Derek Cianfrancecontemplativeromantictendermelancholy
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· HBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video

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If Blue Valentine hit the spot, these will too

Closer poster
Closer
2004 Β· dir. Mike Nichols
πŸ… 67%β˜… 7.1drama Β· romance

The same mix in both: stillness, then romance

The relationships of two couples become complicated and deceitful when the man from one couple meets the woman of the other.

Remember Me poster
Remember Me
2010 Β· dir. Allen Coulter
πŸ… 26%β˜… 7.1drama Β· romancePeacock

Two people drawn together while each is quietly falling apart

The difference: Tragedy from outside intrudes here, not slow erosion from within

Still reeling from a heartbreaking family event and his parents' subsequent divorce, Tyler Hawkins discovers a fresh lease on life when he meets Ally Craig, a gregarious beauty who witnessed her mother's death. But as the couple draws closer, the fallout from their separate tragedies jeopardizes their love.

P.S. I Love You poster
P.S. I Love You
2007 Β· dir. Richard LaGravenese
β˜… 7drama Β· romance

Tender and melancholy in the same breath

A young widow discovers that her late husband has left her 10 messages intended to help ease her pain and start a new life.

Five Feet Apart poster
Five Feet Apart
2019 Β· dir. Justin Baldoni
πŸ… 53%β˜… 7.2romance Β· dramaRent or buy

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

Seventeen-year-old Stella spends most of her time in the hospital as a cystic fibrosis patient. Her life is full of routines, boundaries and self-control β€” all of which get put to the test when she meets Will, an impossibly charming teen who has the same illness. There's an instant flirtation, though restrictions dictate that they must maintain a safe distance between them. As their connection intensifies, so does the temptation to throw the rules out the window and embrace that attraction.

Romeo + Juliet poster
Romeo + Juliet
1996 Β· dir. Baz Luhrmann
πŸ… 75%β˜… 6.7drama Β· romanceMaxHulu

Romantic romance in both cases

In this contemporary take on William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, the Montagues and Capulets have moved their ongoing feud to the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly wed. Though the film is visually modern, the bard's dialogue remains.

Only Lovers Left Alive poster
Only Lovers Left Alive
2013 Β· dir. Jim Jarmusch
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.2drama Β· romance Β· fantasy

The same preoccupation in both: love

The difference: Leans harder into fantasy than Blue Valentine does

A depressed musician reunites with his lover. However, their romance, already played over several centuries, is disrupted by the arrival of her uncontrollable younger sister.

Midnight Sun poster
Midnight Sun
2018 Β· dir. Scott Speer
πŸ… 21%β˜… 6.6romance Β· dramaPrime VideoHulu

Both lean on tenderness more than on drama

Katie, a 17-year-old, has been sheltered since childhood and confined to her house during the day by a rare disease that makes even the smallest amount of sunlight deadly. Fate intervenes when she meets Charlie and they embark on a summer romance.

Your Fault poster
Your Fault
2024 Β· dir. Domingo GonzΓ‘lez
πŸ… 20%β˜… 5.3drama Β· romancePrime Video

Romance built on melancholy, twice over

The love between Noah and Nick seems unwavering despite their parents' attempts to separate them. But his job and her entry into college open up their lives to new relationships that will shake the foundations of both their relationship and the Leister family itself.

Atonement poster
Atonement
2007 Β· dir. Joe Wright
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.8drama Β· romance

One thread runs through both: nurse

A young girl irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.

45 Years poster
45 Years
2015 Β· dir. Andrew Haigh
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.1drama Β· romance

A marriage quietly cracking under a truth neither partner can unsay

The difference: Decades in, not the early years β€” the wound here is older

There is just one week until Kate Mercer's 45th wedding anniversary and the planning for the party is going well. But then a letter arrives for her husband. The body of his first love has been discovered, frozen and preserved in the icy glaciers of the Swiss Alps. By the time the party is upon them, five days later, there may not be a marriage left to celebrate.

All the Bright Places poster
All the Bright Places
2020 Β· dir. Brett Haley
πŸ… 67%β˜… 6.6romance Β· dramaNetflix

Both keep coming back to the same thing: depression

Two teens facing personal struggles form a powerful bond as they embark on a cathartic journey chronicling the wonders of Indiana.

A Ghost Story poster
A Ghost Story
2017 Β· dir. David Lowery
πŸ… 91%β˜… 6.8drama Β· fantasy Β· romance

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Recently deceased, a white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife, only to find that in his spectral state he has become unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away.

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Blue Valentine’s defining feeling.