Celine Song’s releases in theaters next weekend, and the director’s follow-up to Past Lives is one of this summer’s most anticipated movies. The film stars Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans in an unlikely love triangle, as a New York matchmaker struggles to choose between her “perfect” match and her ex-boyfriend.

Thankfully, there’s no shortage of brilliant romance movies from the past few years to keep audiences entertained while waiting for Materialists to finally be released. These kinds of fun, original stories are more than welcome in today’s cinematic climate, that’s typically on the big screens.

Celine Song’s previous feature, Past Lives, is an excellent debut that immediately put the filmmaker on the map as one of the industry’s leading voices in rich, human stories. The movie follows, leading to them reuniting in New York as adults.

What’s so powerful about Past Lives is how universal it is; it’s a story that genuinely speaks to the audience with its patient, empathetic narrative that everybody can relate to in some way. It’s a very singular work that , which Song explores through complex characters and gorgeous visual imagery.

Kogonada’s Columbus is a very unconventional romance, following the budding friendship between a Korean architect who finds himself stranded in rural Ohio and a young girl tasked with looking after her recovering mother. While in the same way that Materialists is, its powerful atmosphere and deeply human characters should work for a similar audience.

Columbus takes a leaf out of Lost in Translation’s book in many ways, blurring the lines between friendship and romance as these two strangers learn about the world around them through the lens of each other's lives., but rather something that evolves in more complicated ways.

Paul Thomas Anderson has always been interested in rich, character-driven stories, but Phantom Thread is the first time he’s centered his narrative so firmly around romance. The story follows a , allowing his newfound romance to reshape his perspective of the world. It’s a very slow, methodical drama that really lets the audience get inside the minds of these characters, with Daniel Day-Lewis’ lead performance remaining some of his most tender and vulnerable work to date.

Noah Baumbach is renowned for his ability to create deeply personal and empathetic characters to lead his stories, and Frances Ha is no different. Despite following a fairly simple and formulaic coming-of-age structure, in its presentation of early adulthood.

Greta Gerwig delivers her most entertaining performance to date as Frances, a young woman who is forced to tackle the endless challenges of life head-on when her roommate moves away. The result is one of Baumbach and Gerwig’s best movies; a for the rest of our lives.

The Souvenir follows a young film student, played by Honor Swinton Byrne, who falls in love with a close friend but soon realizes that her idealized portrait of romance isn’t quite what she signed up for. in the modern era that highlights just how complicated human emotions can be.

However, director that gives The Souvenir a very powerful and uplifting atmosphere. She weaves so much astute commentary into her screenplay, exploring themes of classism and luxury that are very similar to the ideas Celine Song promotes in both Past Lives and Materialists.

Starring Cristin Milioti and Andy Samberg as two unlikely lovers caught in an endless time loop during a mutual friend’s wedding, Palm Springs uses its signature blend of romance and comedy to offer a lighter, more uplifting insight into modern romance. It’s an excellent subversion of the Groundhog Day time loop formula, using these recurring moments as a.

While the comedy is unsurprisingly great, Palm Springs really shines thanks to its ability to blend this humor with a more tender, philosophical commentary on human connection. As these characters move through the same day over and over again, it becomes easier to ignore the world around them and merely see each other, which is .

Often cited as the defining romance story of the past decade, there’s no doubt that Celine Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a modern classic. This heartbreaking drama charts , touching on themes of unrequited love and repressed sexuality along the way.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is such a mature and powerful story about the ubiquity of love, and how unstoppable the magnetism of romance can be. It’s much more dramatic than projects like Materialists, but .

Decision To Leave may not seem like a romantic story on the surface, but the way is what makes it such a staggering piece of work. The movie follows a jaded homicide detective whose work takes him on an arduous journey through South Korea, as he begins to develop strange feelings for his latest case’s widow.

Although Decision to Leave is often remembered for its brilliant cinematography and thematically rich visual language, Park rarely gets enough credit for the level of writing and storytelling on display in this film. Decision to Leave was famously snubbed at the 2023 Oscars, but there’s no denying that his subtextual analysis of love and longing in this project is some of his most powerful work to date.

Richard Curtis’ films are known for their overt sentimentality and melodramatic storylines, but About Time is . The movie follows a young man who learns that he can travel backwards in time, and uses this ability to spend more time with the woman he’s fallen in love with.

While About Time’s concept is brilliant in itself, what Curtis really excels at here is about the fleeting nature of time and the immutability of life’s decisions. Much like Past Lives and Materialists, it’s a film where the fairytale romance is just a catalyst for the director to offer a richer, more holistic exploration of what it means to be human.

Although less of a traditional romance and more of a coming-of-age drama that celebrates every emotion a person could possibly feel during their early adulthood, Joachim Trier’s despite being only four years old.

The story follows a young woman named Julie, played by Renate Reinsve, who struggles to balance her personal and professional lives following a major blow to her relationship. The concept is certainly nothing new within this genre, but it’s Trier’s deeply human screenplay that really makes the project stand out with . It feels like a spiritual companion piece to in many ways, and it’s very possible that Song was inspired by Trier’s work when crafting her own screenplay.