Brief Encounter
Directed by David Lean · 1945
Almost certainly the most British film ever made about almost-love. Whatever you think you know, watch it again with the sound up.
Local pick
The Relatip Library
Films worth watching
Six films that will tell you more about long-term relationships than most self-help. Ranked by how often they come up in our staff Slack.
45 Years
Directed by Andrew Haigh · 2015
Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay. A long marriage cracks in a single week. Quiet and devastating.
Local pick
Notting Hill
Directed by Roger Michell · 1999
You can argue about whether it is good or bad. Either way, it is the romcom every British relationship has somehow absorbed.
Local pick
Submarine
Directed by Richard Ayoade · 2010
Welsh teenage anxiety in the foreground; the parents' marriage in the background is the real heart of the film.
Local pick
Before Sunset
Directed by Richard Linklater · 2004
Nine years after Sunrise, Jesse and Céline meet in Paris. The eighty-minute conversation that follows is a masterclass in romantic regret.
Global classic
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Directed by Michel Gondry · 2004
Made us think love is what is left after you remove the highlight reel.
Global classic