The Addams Family to St Elmo’s Fire: 12 of the best alternative romantic films

Julie & Julia (2009)

Nora Ephron wrote When Harry Met Sally and she wrote and directed Sleepless in Seattle, so you might not think of this as her most romantic film. But Julie & Julia is a buttery, unconventional love story. On the surface, it’s a time-lapsed fantasia of beautiful food, but beneath all the basting montages is a swooning ode to parasocial love: it illuminates how a role model can rescue you when you feel adrift. As Julie Powell (Amy Adams) works her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking, her imagined bond with the book’s author, Julia Child (Meryl Streep), becomes a lifeline, even when the real Child disapproves. There’s something achingly romantic in that yearning: the idea that you can discern your purpose by loving another person’s work from afar. The film suggests that connection, even asymmetrical connection, can make existence more delicious. (Riley Farrell)

WALL-E (2008)

The eponymous robot in WALL-E isn’t in the best of shapes when we first meet him, which is one of the many delightful things about Pixar’s Oscar-winning cartoon. Stranded on a post-apocalyptic Earth that has been ruined by human overconsumption, he diligently cleans up humanity’s mess while salving his loneliness by rewatching the 1969 musical Hello, Dolly!. His only friend appears to be a kind of pet cockroach, until another robot, EVE, makes her entrance and a will-they-won’t-they romance begins. They’re the perfect cinematic odd couple, with WALL-E looking like something out of Soviet-era Russia, and EVE very much the type of 21st-Century creation that Steve Jobs might have dreamed up. But in true Hollywood fashion, this doesn’t stop the little-robot-who-could from trying. He pursues EVE across the galaxy to cement their love, which for WALL-E seems to mean the rather charming act of just holding hands. (Cal Byrne)

Human Traffic (1999)

A surreal, low-budget rave comedy may not immediately scream romance. But inside Human Traffic – written and directed by Justin Kerrigan and set in Cardiff – is a sweet love story between two friends. Jip (John Simm) opens the film with a direct address to camera, outlining his own difficulties – his dead-end job, complicated home life and “sexual anxiety” – and introduces his four friends, all of whom have their own reasons for living for the weekend. One of those is Lulu (Lorraine Pilkington), who has split up with her boyfriend and doesn’t have a ticket for that evening’s rave. Over the course of the night’s drug-fuelled hedonism, the two come together – and realise that it’s only ever been each other. Kerrigan’s film can be seen as a love letter to so much: to youth, friendship, late-90s rave culture. But the grounded romance between Jip and Lulu stands out, and sticks with you long after the party’s over. (Amy Charles)

Sing Street (2016)

Oh, the things people would do to have a song written about them – even if it is written by a teenage boy like Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). He’s going through a rotten time in 1980s recession-hit Dublin: his parents are divorcing and money is tight. He waves goodbye to his private-school education and says hello to a rougher inner-city Catholic school, where the principal shoves his head in a sink for wearing brown shoes. To adjust to his new reality, Conor forms a rock band with some schoolmates, while also seeking to win the heart of the mysterious wannabe-model Raphina (Lucy Boynton), who is fighting battles of her own. Lo and behold, his perseverance eventually pays off – because what’s more romantic than honouring someone in your art, and sharing a dream? Written and directed by John Carney, Sing Street is a charming coming-of-age story brimming with teenage love and friendship, hope, and importantly, feel-good music. It will leave you warm and fuzzy inside. (Molly Gorman)

The Blond One / Un Rubio (2019)

Marco Berger is the Argentinian master of erotic tension – and The Blond One is his most impossibly romantic film. It’s set in an old house in a working-class suburb of Buenos Aires. When his brother moves out, Juan (Alfonso Barón) needs to rent out his old room to help pay the rent. His shy factory colleague Gabriel (Gaston Re) moves in. After work every day, Juan flaunts his body – and various girlfriends – often while staring provocatively at Gabriel, who sits quietly, reading books and listening to music. Gabriel, who has a daughter and a girlfriend of his own, doesn’t know how to interpret Juan’s cocksure gaze, especially when Juan’s laddish mates are around, blocking any opportunity for romance. But when the men are alone, the sexual tension gives way to deep emotion, identity exploration, and the most complex and conflicted feelings. (Javier Hirschfeld)

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