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MOVIEPIQ · RELATIONAL MOMENTS

Films for When the Relationship Is Fine but Something Has Left It

These films were chosen by the Moviepiq editorial team for when the relationship is fine but something is gone. No forced resolution. These films sit with the feeling rather than rush past it.

Films for when everything is technically fine and the low-grade absence underneath has no name you can locate.

Something tipped. The feeling that used to just sit there turned into something with direction, something that has decided it is going somewhere rather than staying where it is, and you are now the kind of person who gets up early and moves fast and builds things with a very specific subtext nobody else can read. The spite is not ugly. It is a feeling that found a use for itself. These films run on the same conversion and they know how to make it look like something more than what it is, which is what you need right now.

Dirty Work movie poster
1
1998 · 82min · ★★★★☆ 8.0/10

Unemployed and recently dumped, Mitch and his buddy Sam start a revenge-for-hire business to raise the $50,000 that Sam's father needs to get a heart transplant.

Built from the same fuel you are running on right now. The conversion from feeling dismissed to doing something about it is very clean in this story.

Built for forward motion

Toy Story 4 movie poster
2
2019 · 100min · ★★★★☆ 8.1/10

Woody has always been confident about his place in the world, devoted to taking care of his kid:whether that's Andy or Bonnie. But after Bonnie creates a reluctant new toy called "Forky", a road trip adventure alongside old and new friends challenges everything Woody believes abo

Characters who were underestimated and did not disappear. The spite is in the architecture of the whole thing.

Knows this engine

Casablanca movie poster
3
1943 · 102min · ★★★★☆ 7.7/10

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

It knows this energy and treats it as legitimate. You will feel understood before you feel better, which is the right order.

Clean conversion

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie poster
4
2001 · 179min · ★★★★☆ 8.2/10

Young hobbit Frodo Baggins, after inheriting a mysterious ring from his uncle Bilbo, must leave his home in order to keep it from falling into the hands of its evil creator. Along the way, a fellowship is formed to protect the ringbearer and make sure that the ring arrives at its

It runs on the same engine and it knows how to use it. You will recognize the feeling in here without having to name it.

Doesn't look away

Built from the same conversion you are running right now. Feeling into motion.

The Second Mother movie poster
5
2015 · 112min · ★★★★☆ 7.8/10

After leaving her daughter Jessica in a small town in Pernambuco to be raised by relatives, Val spends the next 13 years working as a nanny to Fabinho in São Paulo. She has financial stability but has to live with the guilt of having not raised Jessica herself. As Fabinho’s unive

Built from the same fuel you are running on right now. The conversion from feeling dismissed to doing something about it is very clean in this story.

Built for forward motion

Kitbull movie poster
6
2019 · 9min · ★★★★☆ 7.6/10

An unlikely connection sparks between two creatures: a fiercely independent stray kitten and a pit bull. Together, they experience friendship for the first time.

Characters who were underestimated and did not disappear. The spite is in the architecture of the whole thing.

Knows this engine

The Longest Ride movie poster
7
2015 · 128min · ★★★★☆ 8.1/10

The lives of a young couple intertwine with a much older man as he reflects back on a lost love while he's trapped in an automobile crash.

It knows this energy and treats it as legitimate. You will feel understood before you feel better, which is the right order.

Clean conversion

The Art of Racing in the Rain movie poster
8
2019 · 109min · ★★★★☆ 8.5/10

A family dog - with a near-human soul and a philosopher's mind - evaluates his life through the lessons learned by his human owner, a race-car driver.

It runs on the same engine and it knows how to use it. You will recognize the feeling in here without having to name it.

Doesn't look away

Dedicated to my ex movie poster
9
2019 · 94min · ★★★★☆ 8.3/10

The film tells the story of Ariel, a 21-year-old who decides to form a rock band to compete for a prize of ten thousand dollars in a musical band contest, this as a last option when trying to get money to save their relationship and reunite with his ex-girlfriend, which breaks du

Built from the same fuel you are running on right now. The conversion from feeling dismissed to doing something about it is very clean in this story.

Built for forward motion

Portrait of a Lady on Fire movie poster
10
2019 · 121min · ★★★☆☆ 6.4/10

On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.

Characters who were underestimated and did not disappear. The spite is in the architecture of the whole thing.

Knows this engine

Memoir of a Snail movie poster
11
2024 · 94min · ★★★★☆ 7.7/10

Forcibly separated from her twin brother when they are orphaned, a melancholic misfit learns how to find confidence within herself amid the clutter of misfortunes and everyday life.

It knows this energy and treats it as legitimate. You will feel understood before you feel better, which is the right order.

Clean conversion

Palmer movie poster
12
2021 · 110min · ★★★★☆ 7.9/10

After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer returns home to put his life back together:and forms an unlikely bond with Sam, an outcast boy from a troubled home. But Eddie's past threatens to ruin his new life and family.

It runs on the same engine and it knows how to use it. You will recognize the feeling in here without having to name it.

Doesn't look away

The fuel is real. These know how to use it.

From the Blog

READ Movies to Feel Something Again
READ Movies When You're Bored & Tired
READ Movies to Watch When Bored

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