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Movies to Watch if You Love (or Hate) Valentine’s Day

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Movies to Watch if You Love (or Hate) Valentine’s Day

  • 1992

    ‘Mississippi Masala’

    Mira Nair’s film about star-crossed lovers in the American South is rich with themes. Centering on the daughter of an Indian family from Uganda who left after persecution by Idi Amin’s government, “Mississippi Masala” tackles assimilation and colorism, among other thorny topics. But at the center of it all is the romance between a young Indian woman, Mina (Sarita Choudhury), and a Black man, Demetrius (Denzel Washington), who first meet when she accidentally rear ends his van. Choudhury and Washington are electric together, with Washington especially turning on a kind of smolder that stands out even in his storied career. Ultimately, it’s a tale of love thriving in a world governed by racism that doesn’t offer trite reconciliation, but does provide genuine chemistry.

  • 1953

    ‘Roman Holiday’

    Was Rome considered one of the most romantic cities in the world before William Wyler’s film? Probably, but this classic did a lot to bolster the Italian destination’s reputation as a sparkling spot of dreams. Audrey Hepburn, in the role that won her an Oscar, plays Princess Ann, a young royal balking at her professional responsibilities. So she wanders out into the night and into the arms of Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck), an American journalist who thinks he’s lucked into the story of his life. Both Ann and Joe are trying to conceal their true identities from one another, but over the course of their tour through the ancient sites, their eyes reveal their true amorous intentions. Yes, the ending is bittersweet, but it’s also beautiful.

  • 2004

    ‘Saving Face’

    Alice Wu’s film belongs in the pantheon of great underappreciated rom-coms. This lesbian romance centers on Wil (Michelle Krusiec), an ambitious surgeon in New York who hides her sexuality from her mother (Joan Chen) so as not to rattle the close-knit Chinese community in Queens where she grew up. Wil’s attempts to keep her secrets are complicated when she finds a love interest in her boss’s dancer daughter, Vivian (Lynn Chen). Meanwhile, Wil’s mother develops a scandal of her own: She finds herself unmarried and pregnant. Exiled from her insular world until she finds a husband, Ma moves in with her daughter. Wu’s film balances the love story between Wil and Vivian with a mother-daughter bonding saga that makes this film a treat.

  • 2017

    ‘Phantom Thread’

    Is poisoning your loved one with toxic mushrooms so that you can care for him on his sick bed romantic? The writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s drama posits that it is — devastatingly so. Anderson’s most sumptuous film casts Daniel Day-Lewis as Reynolds Woodcock, a fashion designer in 1950s London whose world is upended by the arrival of Alma (Vicky Krieps), a waitress who becomes his muse and model. Alma and Reynolds are both feisty figures, and their refusal to bend to each other results in a hilarious and twisted conclusion that is somehow also swoon-worthy. “Phantom Thread” is for the lovers with a bit of an edge.

  • 1995

    ‘Before Sunrise’

    The spark of young love has never been more intoxicating than it is in Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise,” the walk-and-talk rom-com that spurned so many imitators, along with two sequels. An American, Jesse (Ethan Hawke), and a Frenchwoman, Céline (Julie Delpy), meet on a train and impulsively decide to get off in Vienna, agreeing to spend one glorious day together. Linklater seemingly understands that the sexiest possible way of flirting is through conversation. The whole movie feels like intellectual foreplay, because Jesse and Céline get deep quickly: Before they even disembark they are talking about death. By the time they sleep together it feels like they understand more about each other’s opinions than most couples in movies or real life.

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