My Old Ass (2024)
Teenager Meets Her Future Self
At first glance, this film about a teenager meeting her future self seems too cute and lightweight, but emerges as something extraordinary
Love and Romance
There are few films that do not feature some romantic element to them somewhere, traditionally an attraction between the leading man and lady or in more recent years between same sex couples. Romance can be both a subplot in a film or else an entire genre on its own focusing on the attraction between two people, usually delivered with a maximum of heart-tugging emotional catharsis.
Genre variants include attractions between humans and non-human entities that can range from angels to ghosts and androids to persons in different eras of time to even love being something that has the power to transcend life and death.
The Romantic Comedy is its own genre and concerns a light, upbeat fantasy where the focus is on romance with the addition of comedy elements. Not all romance films fit into this category. Some can also be relationship dramas ie. what happens after the initial attraction, or else take their romance more seriously and sometimes tragically. For what happens after people take their clothes off see Sex in Fantastic Cinema.
Nang Nak (1999)
Love After Death
Beautifully made Thai film about a husband whose wife dies in childbirth but where he refuses to let go of her ghost
New Moon (2009)
Twilight Sequel/Vampire Romance
The second of the Twilight films where the moderately grounded original is blown up into the near laughable with the ridiculously over-the-top hyper-sexualised posturing of its male leads
Obsession (2025)
Love Wish Gone Wrong
A nerdy guy’s wish to have a girl love him goes badly wrong turning her into something deranged. This became a word of mouth box-office hit and signals Curry Barker as a major new genre director
Of Love and Other Demons (2010)
Possible Demonic Possession/Magical Realism
Lush Magical Realist adaptation of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez book about demonic possession that takes the view that it is no more than Church superstition
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)
Reincarnation and Clairvoyance Musical
Romantic musical in Barbra Steisand discovers psychic powers and her reincarnated past lives. Despite being a flop, this is a film of oddball charms and features an effervescent Stresiand
On the Beach (2000)
The Nuclear Holocaust
TV mini-series remake of the 1959 nuclear war film. With no longer the need to make messages as in the original, the story has been expanded out with a lush romantic sweep
Orphee (1950)
Modernised Greek Myth
Jean Cocteau’s beautiful modernisation of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice updated to post-War France
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)
Immortally Cursed Sea Captain/Romantic Fantasy
Exquisitely shot Technicolor fantasy in which Ava Gardner is romanced by James Mason as the Flying Dutchman, cursed to eternally sail the seas
Parallel World Love Story (2019)
Man Leads Two Parallel Lives
Japanese film that has overtones of Sliding Doors as a man finds he leads two different parallel lives
Passion of Mind (2000)
Woman's Double Life in Dreams
This has the intriguing idea of two Demi Moore’s living on either side of the world, each dreaming that they are the other but the premise pans out as no more than a routine Chick Flick
Penelope (2006)
Modern Fairytale/Girl Cursed with a Pig-Like Face
This has the feel of a fairytale where Christina Ricci plays a girl who suffers from a hereditary curse that has left her with a pig-like snout
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Disfigured Madman Beneath the Opera House/Musical Adaptation
The long-planned film adaptation of The Phantom musical emerges as disaster under Joel Schumacher. The Phantom’s presence has all been watered down and the film exists as no more than a series of scenographic poses
PK (2014)
Bollywood Film/Innocent Alien Visitor
Absolutely fascinating Bollywood venture into science-fiction. A comedic variant on the theme of the blankly innocent alien visitor trying to make sense of human culture, this has a daringly ambitious bite in tackling the topic of religion and delivering some sharply pointed barbs
Play It Again Sam (1972)
Romantic Advice from Humphrey Bogart's Ghost Comedy
Comedy based on a Woody Allen play in which Allen plays his usual hapless character who receives romantic advice from the ghost of Humphrey Bogart
Portrait of Jennie (1948)
Supernatural Romance
Classic, exquisitely made weepie romantic fantasy about an artist obsessed with a woman who appears to travel through time
Quest for Love (1971)
Alternate History
One of the rare cinematic ventures into alternate history, a British film adapted from a story by John Wyndham. This holds up as a fair and reasonable alternate history outing, driven by a strong and original romantic story
Restless (2011)
Oddball Romance/Ghost Companion
The oddity of an emo romance from indie director Gus Van Sant about an alienated teenager with a ghost companion who falls for a girl dying of cancer. Needless to say, the film’s mopey romance between oddball outsiders and Van Sant’s aimless improvisational style never quite gel
Ruby Sparks (2012)
Writer Brings His Ideal Woman to Life
The Little Miss Sunshine directors follow their hit up with a film about a writer who brings his ideal woman to life. Scriptwriter Zoe Kazan sparkles in the title role but the film never pushes its central concept too much beyond being a quirkily sweet indie romance
Safe Haven (2013)
Romantic Film/Fantastic Twist Ending
Weepie romantic chick flick adapted from a Nicholas Sparks novel, included here for a fantastic twist ending. Sparks has stolen much of his plot from Stephen King’s Rose Madder. Even as such, wife-beating as the backdrop to a romance casts a distasteful shadow over the exercise
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Possible Time Machine
Quirky indie film about a possibly deluded man who advertises for a time travel companion. The actuality of the time travel element is kept ambiguous and this plays out as a relationship drama that overflows with charm and freshness
The Science of Sleep (2006)
Dreams and Wacky Surrealism
A Michel Gondry film that blurs the line between dream and reality with hilariously offbeat regard. Gondry indulges his eccentricities to the maximum with quite sublime results
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
Teenage Nerd Romance/Gonzo Superheroics
An Edgar Wright directed comic-book adaptation made in a bewildering restless visual style that feels like two different films happening at once, one a sweet nerd romance and the other a completely gonzo superhero film
Sea of Love (1989)
Psycho-Thriller/Romance
Standout thriller with great scripting and performances where detective Al Pacino goes undercover in the dating scene to track a killer and comes up against a sultry Ellen Barkin
Serendipity (2001)
Fate Romance
Romance film where John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale meet and leave their details on random items in the belief luck will bring them back together
The Shape of Water (2017)
Romance with an Amphibian Man
Guillermo Del Toro makes monster movies with sympathy for the monster. This is his take onThe Creature from the Black Lagoon where the romance between creature and heroine is brought out to centre stage
Simply Irresistible (1999)
Magical Realism/Magical Cooking
Very silly romantic comedy in a Magical Realist vein where Sarah Michelle Gellar gains magical cooking abilities. Like Water for Chocolate did this better.
Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus (2004)
Santa's Son Seeks a Wife
Mawkishly sentimental Christmas tv movie with Steve Guttenberg as Santa’s son who needs to find a wife before he can take over the role. So cliched and written to expectation that it lacks any conflict
Sliding Doors (1998)
Alternate Life Pathways
Popular Gwyneth Paltrow hit that spawned a series of films that follow a woman’s alternate life pathways
Somewhere in Time (1980)
Time-Travel Romance
Old-fashioned romantic weepie with Christopher Reeve hypnotising himself into travelling back in time to 1912 to woo actress Jane Seymour
The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2011)
Wu Xia Film
Hong Kong director Ching Siu-Tung returns with a Wu Xia film made with extravagant Chinese backing. Wu Xia of the 00s have slowly taken to CGI and Ching readily adapts his moves to this with often breathtaking effect
The Space Between Us (2017)
First Kid Born on Mars Comes to Earth
Following the huge success of films like Gravity and The Martian that portray space travel with scrupulous realism, this can be considered the Young Adult version. It pays surprising attention to getting its science right; on the other hand, that doesn’t excuse the gaping implausibilities elsewhere
Splash! (1984)
Mermaid Comedy
One of the earliest films from Ron Howard as director, a bubbly infectiously light comedy with Tom Hanks in a romance with mermaid Daryl Hannah. This was a hit and offered major career breakthroughs for Howard, Hanks, Hannah and John Candy.
Spring (2014)
Human-Immortal Mutant Relationship Drama
Fascinatingly original monster movie – a wild mix of H.P. Lovecraft, The Man from Earth and Before Sunrise. A beautifully realised work that leaves you with the sense of not knowing what to expect from one minute to the next
Strange Magic (2015)
Animation/World of Fairies
George Lucas’s venture into animation was critically pilloried. It’s not bad, just no different from a formula film like Rise of the Guardians or Epic. From the man who made Star Wars, you had higher expectations
Superman II (1980)
Comic-Book Superhero
Shot back-to-back with the first Christopher Reeve film, this then became a mess behind the scenes. The end result emerges fairly well with the show dominated by the magnificent Phantom Zones villains and giving depth to the Superman-Lois relationship
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)
Comic-Book Superhero
The original version of Superman II became mired in problems over the firing of director Richard Donner. After the rediscovery of the original footage, Donner was able to go offer up a restored version. Seeing the storylines the way they were meant to be and Marlon Brando’s original scenes as Jor-el make for a work that is superior in every way
Tale of a Vampire (1992)
Vampire Romance
Part of the 1990s fad for dark romantic vampire films with vampire Julian Sands lurking around a library and fixating on Suzanna Hamilton
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)
Horror Anthology
Film spinoff from the Tales from the Darkside tv series, this is an anthology of three horror tales, the result is a surprisingly slick and well made film
The 10th Kingdom (2000)
Fairytale Parody Mini-Series
Hallmark mini-series set in a world 200 years after the classic fairytales have occurred, this wittily deflates or contrasts classic story elements with the present-day
Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (2024)
Bollywood Android Romance
A Bollywood take on the android/A.I. themes, where a roboticist falls for an android girl and tries to have her accepted by his family
13 Going on 30 (2004)
Young Girl in a Woman's Body
Essentially a rehash of Big in which a tormented teen wishes she was thirty and wakes up as Jennifer Garner. Amiably average without ever finding the wistful charms that Big had
Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)
Djinn Appears
George Miller of Mad Max fame makes a fantastical and charming film where djinn Idris Elba appears to Tilda Swinton
The Time Capsule (2022)
Man’s Teenage Love Returns Unaged from a Space Journey
This has an interesting premise where a middle-aged man suddenly faces his teenage girlfriend returned unaged from a relativistic space voyage
Time Freak (2018)
Time Travel
Time travel film in which Asa Butterfield invents a time machine to go back and stop Sophie Turner breaking up with him. On the lightweight side but eventually not unworthwhile
The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)
Time Travel Romance
Film adaptation of the best-selling story about a romance between a woman and a man with the ability to travel through time. Nicely made if not quite holding the emotional involvement the book did
Tristan + Isolde (2006)
Historical Romance
Adaptation of the legendary historical romance was considered a box-office flop but emerges as a better film than one expected it would
Twice Upon a Yesterday (1998)
The Past Revisited/Romance
Appealing and well told fantasy in which a couple are each individually offered the opportunity to go back in time and change the circumstances that led to their breakup
Twilight (2008)
Vampire Romance
Before the teen idol phenomenon took over, the original in the massively popular Young Adult series works as an earnest romance where all involved are clearly making an effort to play with a conviction
2046 (2004)
Memories of Lost Relationships
An exquisitely dreamy Wong Kar Wai film as a man remembers his liaisons with various women. Only peripherally a science-fiction film concerning a story the protagonist is writing.
The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan (1979)
Time Travel Romance
Classic tv movie in which Lindsay Wagner travels back to the 19th Century to romance Marc Singer. Classic what is the question – what we have is a weepy romantic version of a time travel film that eliminates any of the interesting things like culture clash, advanced knowledge and time paradox
The Unknown (1927)
Love and Amputation
Classic, wonderfully twisted Tod Browning film with Lon Chaney as an armless circus performer who lusts for Joan Crawford
Upside Down (2012)
Two Worlds with Gravity in Opposing Directions
The frustration of a film that has a scientifically nonsensical premise – two planets where gravity is oriented in opposing directions – that is also surprisingly imaginatively made. This creates some genuinely amazing visuals and designs of the two worlds and showing the people on them interacting
A Valentine Carol (2007)
Romantic Redemption Fantasy
Lifetime Channel Valentine’s Day movie that rewrites A Christmas Carol to have Emma Caulfield visited by the ghosts of relationships past, present and future
The Whole Wide World (1996)
Robert E. Howard Biopic
Biopic of Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja and others. Contains some fine acting from Vincent D/Onofrio and Renee Zellwegeras the teacher he becomes involved with
Winter’s Tale (2014)
Urban Fantasy/Romance/Fate and Miracles
Akiva Goldsman, a screenwriter who has laid a trail of devastation through the genre, attempts to film a classic fantasy novel that has aptly described as unfilmable, resulting in a curtailed story that works in individual scenes but is mostly a spawling patchwork of fantasy elements and a romance that never seems to spark
Xanadu (1980)
Disco Fantasy/Greek Muse Comes to Earth
Bizarre disco fantasy that could have only been conceived out of 80s cocaine madness. Olivia Newton-John is a Greek muse come to Earth to inspire the building of a roller disco. Frequently cited as a bad movie classic, this has mind-boggling scenes that have to be seen to be believed
Your Name. (2016)
Anime/Cross-Time Bodyswap
Makoto Shinkai anime that starts as a light and fluffy piece about a boy and a girl who keep waking up in each other’s bodies but expands out into a wholly different story, gaining unexpected emotional depths