As couples on Valentine's Day, you and your partner might just be fed up with typical, run-of-the-mill stories recommending rom-coms and films that everyone's watched at least a thousand times.
So this year, put on your thinking caps and watch films that make you question everything, as you celebrate how you and your partner make a good, intelligent pair, and how far you both have come.
Here are five films that ramp up the difficulty, but double up on the experience:
Sore: Wife from the Future (2025)
This Indonesian sci-fi romance hits the very core of what this article's all about. Snuggle close as you take in the story of Jonathan, a nature photographer, who one day wakes up to find his—you guessed it—future wife, Sore, right next to him. Chaos ensues as the film literally shows you how love is a series of choices, using just time travel, the butterfly effect, and memory: simple enough to feel like you're getting it, and careful enough to stop you in the nick of time.
Tenet (2020)
What's more romantic than watching one of Christopher Nolan's most underrated mindbender films? Trying to make sense of it as a team. "Don't try to understand it; just feel it," as the director is known to say. So go ahead, feel time flow inversely as you follow a CIA operative, known as The Protagonist, save the world, armed with only the word 'TENET'.
Vanilla Sky (2001)
No, this might not be your typical Tom Cruise action film, but when the Top Gun star acts alongside Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Michael Shannon, Kurt Russell—and more—to deliver a mindbender of the finest quality, you tend to give it a try. A surreal love story is at the beating heart of this film, guaranteed to either leave you two dazed and confused, or delirious and happy.
Get Out (2017)
This banger from Jordan Peele may not get you holding each other in fright, but it will surely leave behind a lurking sense of dread as you look at each other after, and wonder: "What the heck did I just watch?" Again, while a crazy film on a duo might not be everyone's cup of tea, the film will surely make you take a moment and appreciate the beauty of having a partner who is not [SPOILER].
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Get ready to laugh, cry, be amazed, scratch your heads, and goodness knows what else, in this rollercoaster of a film from the Daniel brothers. You may even have heard its iconic "laundry and taxes" line, but the film is so much more—it is an experience of epic proportions for the soul, and this article's final reminder to you to celebrate the worth of the love you share, and why it is worth fighting for.
