Oh, how I love February. It’s the month of love, candy, and well, it’s finally not January anymore. (Praise.)
I love February for many reasons but one of my favorite reasons is the excuse to watch endless amounts of romantic movies. (My favorite ones being romcoms, but still, a big focus on the love.)
If you’re like me, you’ve probably seen them all, and like most people, you end up rewatching the Notebook like 100 times between February 10th and the 16th.
Well, ladies. It’s time to move on. If you’re looking for some new content to consume (while opening up yet another tub of Ben & Jerry’s), search no further. Here are five of my favorite underrated romantic movies.
1. Uptown Girls (2003)
This is actually my all time favorite movie. I was absolutely obsessed with this film as a kid, and I still love watching it today. In an attempt to pick up her shambled life, an orphaned adult daughter of a rich rockstar learns how to navigate her way through the real world. Of course there’s a love connection and of course, this is a major part of the story, but the true love is found in her relationships with the people around her. This movie will tug at every heart string you have.
Major themes: family, love, growth
2. A Little Bit of Heaven (2011)
Listen. Rotten Tomatoes gave this movie a FOUR PERCENT and I could not have been more shocked when I was rereading reviews. I LOVED this movie from the first time I saw it. It’s absolutely hilarious and embraces the truth behind life-devastating news and forces you to think about what you put value behind in your life. If you only had a few days left, how would live it? Our main character, Marley Corbett (Kate Hudson), learns what it’s like to live with love and tragedy all wrapped into one. This is a MAJOR tearjerker. Bring the tissues.
Major themes: tragedy, friendship, acceptance
3. About Time (2013)
This movie. Ugh. I had NO idea what I was getting myself into when I saw this movie for the first time. It is an absolute treasure and unpredictable in every way. Our main character, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson), learns he has the ability to travel back in time, we get to experience firsthand the importance of living each day like you will only see it once. By changing the smallest moment in the past, your entire future could be turned upside down. (If you’re really into the scientific possibilities and real world applications of time travel, don’t see this movie.) The focus of this movie lies in the strength of the universes intentions of true love and the inevitable goodbyes that we all must say. Incredible movie. Incredible actors. Incredible soundtrack. This movie is a MUST SEE.
Major themes: family, life choices, embracing reality, friends
4. Heartbeats (2010)
I recently saw this movie in a film class that I took at OSU and I fell in love with it. It’s not my normal go-to, but this Canadian film took a deconstructed, realistic approach to love and how it plays from day to day. Not each moment in the film is a dramatic revelation, but rather a small change through the eyes of two friends, a guy and a girl, both in love with the same man. The struggles of sexual identification amongst the trials of relationships themselves push the boundaries of typical love based cinema.
Major themes: LGBTQ+, friendship, competition
5. Beautiful Creatures (2013)
Okay, okay. I know. This movie is so middle school, right? The basic plot line and predictable turns are no match for us intelligent movie experiences. But, whatever. We all need that outrageous, “this makes no sense” love story every now and then. The southern setting is perfect, the witchcraft is dramatic, and of course, the love scenes will make you wish you knew something even close to what the characters are expressing on screen. Indulge a little.
Major themes: Drama, family, magic