“Woman goes on a journey of self-discovery following a breakup” is practically a whole genre of movie. Legally Blonde, Under the Tuscan Sun, Kill Bill — women be eating/praying/loving. Most of the time, the dude is fine — he’s at the strip club before the woman’s first tear even hits the ground. In real life, of course, men are just as devastated by the destruction of a relationship as women are. It would just be a lot less fun to see a movie where a woman slashes the tires of a mopey lump who’s worn the same hoodie for 20 days straight.
As Redditor ImaginaryAI recently pointed out, breakups are “almost like a withdrawal from a drug,” but most movies are “very, very unrealistic” in their depictions of dumped men. And so, they asked r/Movies, “What are good movies that go through the emotions and feelings of isolation, grief and dread after a breakup from a long relationship?” Reddit recommended cinematic retreats into other countries, into art and occasionally into science-fiction dystopias.
500 Days of Summer
The Wedding Singer
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The Break-Up
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Marriage Story
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High Fidelity
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
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Forgetting Sarah Marshall
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Swingers
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The Five-Year Engagement
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Don Jon
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Blue Valentine
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Manchester by the Sea
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Mallrats
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Everything Must Go
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Cashback
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London
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Modern Romance
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Blue Jay
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Closer
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Shaun of the Dead
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