For a breakup movie that makes you laugh, try The Awful Truth; for a wrenching romance, choose Casablanca; for a relationship that unravels in real time, watch Scenes from a Marriage. This list treats “best” as an editorial choice, not a definitive ranking: it brings together films about breakups, divorce, relationships in decline and the effort to move on, across genres, eras and cultures. Pick by the mood and intensity you want tonight.
How to choose a breakup movie
Breakup films are not all stories of one person leaving another. Some begin after a split, some follow a marriage coming apart, and others show the conflict of separation as part of a larger family or social drama. The selections below are grouped by the kind of viewing experience they offer, not ranked from best to worst.
- Want something light? Start with the screwball sparring of The Awful Truth.
- Want a romantic ache? Try Casablanca or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
- Want to watch a relationship deteriorate? Choose Scenes from a Marriage or Journey to Italy.
- Want an unconventional or intense take? Consider Happy Together, A Separation or Midsommar; the last is horror, not a gentle relationship drama.
The mood labels are practical guides, not an objective scale. Rotten Tomatoes’ sad-movie guide also organizes films around differing emotional intensity, while its romantic-comedy guide offers broader genre context. Neither is a definitive breakup-film canon.
For comic sparring and messy cohabitation
1. The Awful Truth (1937)
In this screwball comedy, socialites Lucy and Jerry suspect each other of infidelity and set divorce in motion. Their ensuing role-playing and verbal duels make the split feel less like a solemn ending than the beginning of a very entertaining contest.
#1 Best Overall
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2. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
A former husband returns to the orbit of a woman preparing to remarry, stirring up old loyalties and new complications. It is a polished romantic comedy about the social performance of moving on, rather than a straightforward account of life after a breakup.
3. The War of the Roses (1989)
This savage black comedy turns a divorce into a battle over the home and everything in it. Its cruelty and physical abuse make it a poor choice if you want a light breakup comedy, but a sharp one if you can handle relationship warfare played at an extreme pitch.
4. The Break-Up (2006)
Brooke and Gary decide to split, but neither leaves their shared condo. The comedy grows from the increasingly petty negotiations of two people who have ended the relationship without untangling their daily lives. Rotten Tomatoes lists the Peyton Reed film as a PG-13 romance/comedy/drama, released June 2, 2006, with a 1-hour-47-minute runtime; see its film page.
For romantic heartbreak and the choice to let go
5. Casablanca (1942)
Rick and Ilsa’s separation is shaped by sacrifice and duty, making this a classic for viewers who want heartbreak with a larger moral dilemma around it. The film’s farewell is not about winning an ex back; it is about accepting what love cannot settle.
6. Annie Hall (1977)
Woody Allen’s romantic comedy looks back on a relationship through the funny, awkward details that made it work and the differences that pulled it apart. Its retrospective structure suits anyone who recognizes how a breakup can turn shared memories into a story one keeps revisiting.
7. High Fidelity (2000)
After being left by his girlfriend, record-store owner Rob revisits his romantic history and tries to make sense of his own habits. It is a funny, self-involved account of post-breakup rumination, with music and memory doing much of the emotional work.
Rank #2
- DVD
- Multiple Formats, Box set, Color
- English (Original Language)
- 4
8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
After a painful breakup, former partners Joel and Clementine try to erase their memories of each other. The science-fiction premise turns a familiar impulse—wishing the past away—into a bittersweet question about what is lost when the bad memories disappear along with the good. Rotten Tomatoes lists Michel Gondry’s film as a romance/science-fiction release from March 19, 2004, with a 1-hour-48-minute runtime; its film page has the synopsis and metadata.
9. (500) Days of Summer (2009)
This nonlinear romantic comedy follows Tom as he revisits a relationship that has ended, moving between the exhilaration of its early days and the mismatch he struggled to see. It is a breakup story especially interested in the gap between what one person hopes a romance means and what the other person wants.
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10. Journey to Italy (1954)
An English couple’s trip to Naples exposes how far apart they have grown. The landscape and a visit to Pompeii’s excavation echo their emotional distance, making this a restrained choice for viewers who prefer quiet observation to a blowout argument.
11. Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
Ingmar Bergman’s unflinching portrait follows infidelity and separation within a marriage. The story exists as a Swedish television miniseries and as a three-hour film version; this recommendation refers to the film version. Choose it for close, difficult relationship drama, not a brisk comfort watch.
12. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
A marriage ends, and a father and son must adjust to a new life while the adults negotiate custody. The film widens the breakup story into a family drama, asking what responsibility and care look like after a household changes shape.
13. Blue Valentine (2010)
By placing the early romance beside the couple’s later disconnection, this drama makes a relationship’s decline feel intimate rather than abstract. It is a heavy choice for viewers ready to sit with disappointment and the painful contrast between how a love begins and how it ends.
Rank #3
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- Format: Box set, Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
- Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
- Number of discs: 3 / Rated: NR Not Rated / Run Time: 369 minutes
14. Marriage Story (2019)
Noah Baumbach’s drama follows a couple through the practical and emotional strains of divorce. Its focus on two perspectives keeps the separation from collapsing into a simple story of one villain and one victim.
For sharp, unconventional and culturally specific stories
15. Three Colours: White (1994)
This tragi-comedy follows Karol after Dominique abandons him. His attempts to win her back become increasingly vengeful, making the film an offbeat choice for viewers interested in the humiliation and resentment that can follow a split.
16. Happy Together (1997)
Wong Kar-wai’s film follows two Hong Kong men trying to restart a volatile relationship in Buenos Aires. Their cycles of abuse and depression make this a raw, emotionally demanding portrait of a couple unable to escape its damaging patterns.
17. A Separation (2011)
In Asghar Farhadi’s Iranian drama, a couple’s conflict over leaving Iran with their daughter or staying to care for an ailing father expands into a wider family and social story. Separation here is not simply a private romantic choice: it is tangled with caregiving, responsibility and competing obligations.
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18. Marriage, Italian Style (1964)
This Italian drama follows a long, complicated relationship shaped by unequal power, attachment and the question of marriage. It offers a different cultural and historical lens on a couple’s struggle to define their future.
19. The Squid and the Whale (2005)
A Brooklyn family is reshaped by its parents’ divorce, with the children caught between the adults’ resentments and competing accounts of the past. It is a breakup movie from the children’s point of view as much as the parents’, and its comedy is often uncomfortable.
Rank #4
- Roadhouse Romance: Country music fan Callie is determined to continue her late grandfather's legacy. While TV director Luke is in town, he teaches her that sometimes it's best to look forward instead of back. Country At Heart: A struggling country singer meets a Nashville songwriter in need of inspiration. Teaming up to write a song, their work gets complicated but results in both a hit song...and true love. Big Sky River: Tara needs to go back to Parable, Montana, the place that made her the happiest, in order to move forward after a messy divorce. Her handsome neighbor presents an unexpected twist.
- A Summer Romance: Samantha’s Montana ranch is her family’s legacy, so when a developer, Richard, shows up to buy it, Sam isn’t interested. But as he tries to win her trust and her ranch, Sam finds he might also be winning her heart. Wedding at Graceland: When a spot opens up at Graceland Chapel, Laurel & Clay have only 3 weeks to plan their wedding. Their simple plans get all shook up as their very different families descend to help. Under the Autumn Moon: While visiting a dude ranch that her outdoor adventure company is considering buying, Alex discovers what matters most when she reignites her passion for the great outdoors.
20. Her (2013)
After a marriage ends, Theodore forms an intimate bond with an artificial intelligence. The speculative setup turns the process of moving on into a reflection on loneliness, connection and how a person changes after a relationship.
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21. Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
After divorce, a writer makes a fresh start in Italy and begins rebuilding a life outside the plans she once imagined. This is a warmer, more hopeful option for viewers who want the breakup to be a beginning rather than the whole story.
22. Legally Blonde (2001)
Dumped by her boyfriend, Elle Woods follows him to Harvard Law School and discovers ambitions that have little to do with getting him back. Its buoyant comedy makes it a satisfying pick for a story about reclaiming confidence after rejection.
23. Someone Great (2019)
After a long relationship ends, a young woman leans on her friends during one final night in New York before a major move. The film treats friendship and the rituals of saying goodbye as part of getting through a breakup.
24. Waiting to Exhale (1995)
Four friends navigate relationships, disappointments and changing expectations in this ensemble drama. Its focus on women supporting one another gives the aftermath of romantic heartbreak a wider social life.
25. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
Peter’s attempt to recover from a breakup takes him to Hawaii, where his ex is staying at the same resort. The awkward setup fuels a broad comedy about the difficulty of avoiding an old relationship while trying to start over.
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26. Eat Pray Love (2010)
Following a divorce, a woman travels in search of a new direction and a more settled sense of self. It is a reflective, travel-centered option for viewers more interested in reinvention than in the details of the relationship that ended.
27. Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012)
A separated couple tries to preserve its friendship even as each faces the possibility of building a life apart. The film is a good fit for viewers interested in the blurred line between ending a romance and keeping someone close.
28. Like Crazy (2011)
A young couple’s relationship is strained by distance and circumstance, offering a tender, melancholy look at how affection can persist even when a shared future becomes difficult to sustain.
29. Fatal Attraction (1987)
This psychological thriller begins with an affair and escalates into a frightening domestic crisis. It is included as a dark cautionary story about betrayal and consequences, not as a realistic guide to relationships or a gentle breakup watch.
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Ari Aster has described this folk-horror film as his version of a breakup movie. Dani’s toxic relationship and her search for belonging sit inside disturbing, graphic horror, so choose it for an unsettling and intense experience—not for a soothing post-breakup story.
Sources and scope
BFI’s Leigh Singer selected ten films in its November 14, 2019 feature “10 great break-up films”, a focused starting point rather than a definitive ranking. The films above extend that foundation with additional relationship comedies, dramas and stories of moving on. Rotten Tomatoes’ genre lists provide context for romantic comedy and sad-film viewing, not proof that every title in those guides is a breakup movie.
Availability varies by country and changes over time; check a local library, rental service or streaming catalog for current options.
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