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MOVIEPIQ · RELATIONAL MOMENTS

Films for When You Miss Someone You Chose to Leave

Every film here was picked because it works for when missing someone you chose to leave. The editorial team picks for emotional honesty over comfort or spectacle.

Films for missing someone you had good reasons to leave. The reasons still hold. That's the contradiction.

The anger is clean and it has a legitimate address and you are not done with it yet, which is fine. Some feelings need to run their full length before they turn into something else, and the anger is one of those feelings, and you do not owe anyone a faster turnaround. These films let it run. They understand the particular dignity of a feeling that knows it is justified, and they will not talk you down or rush you through to the resolution on the other side.

Amélie movie poster
1
2001 · 122min · ★★★☆☆ 6.7/10

At a tiny Parisian café, the adorable yet painfully shy Amélie accidentally discovers a gift for helping others. Soon Amelie is spending her days as a matchmaker, guardian angel, and all-around do-gooder. But when she bumps into a handsome stranger, will she find the courage to b

It runs on the same fuel you are running on. The anger has somewhere to go inside this story, and it moves.

Runs on the same fuel

Casablanca movie poster
2
1943 · 102min · ★★★★☆ 7.7/10

In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.

The film does not ask you to be reasonable about it. It lets the feeling run at the temperature it is actually at.

Lets the anger move

American Gangster movie poster
3
2007 · 157min · ★★★★☆ 7.9/10

Loosely based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina, who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by Newark Detective Richie Roberts.

Nobody is going to tell you to calm down in this one. The anger is treated as information, which is all you need right now.

No rush to the other side

Cinema Paradiso movie poster
4
1988 · 124min · ★★★★☆ 8.3/10

A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.

It validates the feeling without resolving it too quickly. You will come out the other side with slightly less pressure, on your own schedule.

Justified

The best thing about these films is that nobody is going to tell you to calm down.

Gabriel's Inferno movie poster
5
2020 · 122min · ★★★★☆ 8.2/10

An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love, and redemption, Gabriel's Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible--forgiveness and love.

It runs on the same fuel you are running on. The anger has somewhere to go inside this story, and it moves.

Runs on the same fuel

Searching movie poster
6
2018 · 102min · ★★★★☆ 8.2/10

After David Kim's 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter'

The film does not ask you to be reasonable about it. It lets the feeling run at the temperature it is actually at.

Lets the anger move

Gabriel's Inferno: Part II movie poster
7
2020 · 106min · ★★★☆☆ 7.3/10

Professor Gabriel Emerson finally learns the truth about Julia Mitchell's identity, but his realization comes a moment too late. Julia is done waiting for the well-respected Dante specialist to remember her and wants nothing more to do with him. Can Gabriel win back her heart bef

Nobody is going to tell you to calm down in this one. The anger is treated as information, which is all you need right now.

No rush to the other side

Wrath of Man movie poster
8
2021 · 119min · ★★★☆☆ 7.3/10

A cold and mysterious new security guard for a Los Angeles cash truck company surprises his co-workers when he unleashes precision skills during a heist. The crew is left wondering who he is and where he came from. Soon, the marksman's ultimate motive becomes clear as he takes dr

It validates the feeling without resolving it too quickly. You will come out the other side with slightly less pressure, on your own schedule.

Justified

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl movie poster
9
2019 · 90min · ★★★☆☆ 6.7/10

In Fujisawa, Sakuta Azusagawa is in his second year of high school. Blissful days with his girlfriend and upperclassman, Mai Sakurajima, are interrupted by the appearance of his first crush, Shoko Makinohara.

It runs on the same fuel you are running on. The anger has somewhere to go inside this story, and it moves.

Runs on the same fuel

Io Capitano movie poster
10
2023 · 121min · ★★★★☆ 8.2/10

Longing for a brighter future, two Senegalese teenagers embark on a journey from West Africa to Italy. However, between their dreams and reality lies a labyrinth of checkpoints, the Sahara Desert, and the vast waters of the Mediterranean.

The film does not ask you to be reasonable about it. It lets the feeling run at the temperature it is actually at.

Lets the anger move

Sound of Freedom movie poster
11
2023 · 131min · ★★★★☆ 8.3/10

The story of Tim Ballard, a former US government agent, who quits his job in order to devote his life to rescuing children from global sex traffickers.

Nobody is going to tell you to calm down in this one. The anger is treated as information, which is all you need right now.

No rush to the other side

The Shadow in My Eye movie poster
12
2021 · 107min · ★★★★☆ 7.7/10

On March 21st, 1945, the British Royal Air Force set out on a mission to bomb Gestapo's headquarters in Copenhagen. The raid had fatal consequences as some of the bombers accidentally targeted a school and more than 120 people were killed, 86 of whom were children.

It validates the feeling without resolving it too quickly. You will come out the other side with slightly less pressure, on your own schedule.

Justified

The anger will move when it's ready. These let it.

From the Blog

READ Movies to Watch When Lonely
READ Movies When You Just Got Dumped
READ Movies When You Miss Someone

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