You cannot watch The Notebook without working your way through a box of tissues. I mean, it’s a given that if you are watching the 2004 Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams starring drama, your emotions would constantly be at an all-time high. And for good reason. The story really broke our hearts while also making us expect big, grand gestures when it comes to finding love in our own lives.
Set in 1940s South Carolina, mill worker Noah Calhoun (Gosling) falls desperately in love with rich girl Allie (McAdams), but, annoyingly, her parents don’t approve of their romance. And when Noah goes off to serve in World War II, it officially appears to mark the end of their relationship. With Noah gone, Allie seems to move on and becomes romantically involved with another man (James Marsden). But, just as she’s about to tie the knot, Noah suddenly returns to their small town, and it soon becomes clear that Allie’s feelings for him are stronger than ever. Cue the unbelievably romantic, lustful kiss in the rain that will forever be ingrained in our minds.
While we all love watching The Notebook over and over again for all the lovey-dovey vibes, we have to acknowledge that there are a bunch of other similar films that we may enjoy watching, too. So, if you need a break from Gosling/McAdams and are looking for another love story that will have you crying ugly tears, believing in the happily-ever-after, and championing love over everything else, then you should check out the following 10 movies.
1. The Fault in our Stars (2014)
Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort star in the super emotional book-to-movie adaptation of The Fault In Our Stars. They play two cancer-stricken teenagers, Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters, who bond deeply after meeting at a cancer support group. In particular, the pair share the same love for books and, when Augustus gets an invite to meet a famous but reclusive author in Amsterdam, the pair embark on an epic adventure to meet him.
2. Me Before You (2016)
Me Before You totally pulls at our heartstrings and shows that no matter how different two people are, deep love can always develop. In this movie, quirky and loveable Louisa “Lou” Clark (Emilia Clarke) hops from job to job to help her family make ends meet. When she lands a job as a caretaker for Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a young banker left paralyzed by an accident two years earlier, she helps him overturn his cynical outlook on life and see that life is worth living to the fullest.
3. The Big Sick (2017)
Interracial dating can alone bring in many problems for a young and in-love couple. Still, for Pakistani comic Kumail Nanjiani(who’s playing himself), things become even more complicated and challenging when the love of his life, an American graduate student named Emily Gardner (Zoe Kazan), comes down with a severe illness which leaves her in a coma. This prompts him to develop a close bond with her deeply concerned mother and father as they wait patiently for her to wake up.
4. Titanic (1997)
How could we possibly not include Titanic in our list?! In this epic James Cameron-directed love story starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, we’re told the forbidden love of wealthy teenager Rose DeWitt Bukater and poor artist Jack Dawson, set against the ill-fated voyage of R.M.S. Titanic in 1912. Our hearts will forever go on when watching this movie.
5. A Star Is Born (2018)
Sometimes you can love someone so deeply, but even that isn’t enough for them to battle their demons. In A Star Is Born, acclaimed musician Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) discovers struggling artist Ally (Lady Gaga) and propels her to international fame just as she’s about to give up on her dreams. But, while her career takes off, her romantic relationship with Jackson breaks down as he continues to get a grip on her own internal demons and battles.
6. Bones and All (2022)
Bones & All is like Titanic, but for weird people. Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell star as a young couple living on the margins of American society as they embark on a 3,000-mile journey through the backroads of America in an attempt to escape their disturbing pasts as “eaters”. A deranged tale, but one so beautifully shot by directed Luca Guadagnino and brilliantly acted by its brilliant leads.
7. Purple Hearts (2022)
Based upon the novel of the same name by Tess Wakefield, Purple Hearts stars Sofia Carson as aspiring singer-songwriter Cassie Salazar, who, in the act of desperation, agrees to get married to a marine Luke Morrow (Nicholas Galitzine) so that they can both receive military benefits and pay their soaring debts. Of course, their fake marriage starts to blur into real feelings for one another, making things super complicated for them.
8. Five Feet Apart (2019)
Young love has never been so heartbreaking. In Five Feet Apart, we’re introduced to seventeen-year-old Stella (Haley Lu Richardson), who spends most of her life in the routines and boundaries of the hospital as a cystic fibrosis patient. However, that all changes when she meets a charming teenager Will (Cole Sprouse), who has the same illness as her. While they instantly hit it off, the pair must maintain a safe distance between them, but as their connection intensifies, will they throw the rule book out of the window?
9. Loving (2016)
Based on the real-life courage and commitment of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving, the 2016 movie directed by Jeff Nichols sees Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga play the inspirational couple who spent the first nine years of their marriage fighting a legal battle to live as a family in their hometown of 1960s Virginia.
10. Dear John (2010)
Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried star in the tear-jerking drama Dear John, which sees soldier John Tyree fall for wholesome college student Savanahh Curtis. Over the next seven years, the couple is tested as John’s dangerous deployment separates them. While they are rarely able to meet him in person, they make a pact to stay in touch through letters, which leads to a series of triggering consequences that they were never able to predict.
(Featured image: New Line Cinema)
