It seems like one of the side effects of our modern society is that we’re hearing more and more about relationships that aren’t exactly Disney-levels of awesome. Domestic abuse, be it physical or mental, is at an all-time high in many countries and the statistics show no sign of going down anytime soon. Hollywood has picked up on that societal trend and has also started making more and more movies about these kinds of dysfunctional relationships. Granted, most of the people working in Hollywood are bumping those statistics up somehow but that’s a different issue.
Let’s take a look at some movies that manage to almost perfectly encompass what it is like to be in a dysfunctional or toxic relationship. Because yes, they do still make movies that don’t involve superheroes.
Marriage Story
Speaking of superheroes, this movie is about Black Widow and Kylo Ren being a part of a toxic relationship. It’s definitely not a movie for the faint-hearted but the acting and writing is top shelf and it’s definitely worth a watch if you have the time.
Natural Born Killers
When your entire relationship is built around a mutual desire to cause as much mayhem as humanly possible, there’s bound to be something going wrong, right? It’s an older movie, but it has Woody Harrelson in it and there’s been no era where he wasn’t one of the greats.
Blue Valentine
You can’t say “good romantic movie about a somewhat dysfunctional relationship” without saying “Blue Valentine”. The movie stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams and follows their relationship from the good parts at the beginning all the way until the end when things get very, very messy.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
This movie is definitely one of the wilder ones on this list, but it’s one you should watch nonetheless. It stars a great Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey and deals with a couple that literally erases each other from their memories.
Gone Girl
If you want to watch a movie about a woman really going above and beyond to take revenge on her cheating husband, this might be the one for you. It’s also a Ben Affleck movie, which is never bad. Unless you’re watching that Daredevil movie – that one was.
Birds Without Names
This movie is about holding on to an idealized version of love and not being able to stay away from a bad relationship or people that are bad for you in general. It’s a Japanese movie so definitely be ready to get some proper subtitles for it.
