Director: Jordan Peele
Notable cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, Catherine Keener
While also not conventionally regarded as a breakup movie, there’s no denying that the terrifying events of Jordan Peele’s directorial debut culminate in the knowledge that Daniel Kaluuya’s Chris should run far, far away from his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams). What begins as a timely take on Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, with Rose’s performatively liberal parents (never forget, they would’ve voted for Barack Obama’s third term if they could!) meeting her Black boyfriend for the first time, soon turns into an exceedingly necessary split.
Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer in Call Me By Your Name.From Everett Collection.
Call Me by Your Name
Release year: 2017
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Notable cast: Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg
The tenderness of first heartbreak is best encapsulated in the film’s tearful one-take ending, in which Timothée Chalamet’s Elio begins to fully process the love he lost with Oliver (Armie Hammer) following their whirlwind summer romance. Chalamet’s mournful reckoning (later parodied by Drew Tarver’s Cary Dubek on The Other Two) seals the film’s central love story. But it’s the words from Elio’s father (Michael Stuhlbarg) that linger. “How you live your life is your business—just remember, our hearts and our bodies are given to us only once,” he says, reciting some of the words from André Aciman’s original novel. “And before you know it, your heart is worn out, and, as for your body, there comes a point when no one looks at it, much less wants to come near it. Right now, there’s sorrow, pain. Don’t kill it and with it the joy you’ve felt.”
Adam Driver, Azhy Robertson and Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story.From Everett Collection.
Marriage Story
Release year: 2019