Even though Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kate McKinnon, Andy Samberg, Allison Janney, Sunita Mani, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Demetriou, and Zoë Chao tickle our funny bones in the recently released black comedy film The Roses, it is nonetheless aware of the emotional tragedy behind its premise and even the funniest punchlines are laced with self-referential chuckles over the loss of love.

Romance movies with dark turns often use humor to maintain atmospheres similar to rom-coms, but it’s not rare for them to commit to serious tones in order to let audiences feel the darkness of the stories. The latter is common in the best romance movies with tragic endings, because undercutting the sense of tragedy will feel disrespectful to the story.

While The Roses feels like a refreshing romance movie at a time when the genre’s offerings are often stale and soulless – two other recent releases, Together and Oh, Hi!, are also doing the same for many – movies about cheating and adultery, and by extension, about married couples fighting have been around since the invention of the feature film.

Marriage Story (2019)

Noah Baumbach’s tryst with this specific subgenre of romance cinema dates back 20 years to 2005, when he made The Squid and the Whale, loosely based on his experiences during his parents’ divorce proceedings. 14 years later, he returned to the fray with another divorce movie that has one of the most realistic portrayals of characters in such a situation.

Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver play a married couple who are divorcing each other. The film is a brutal exploration of the discovery of love and the gradual loss of it, as if it were eroded away by the flow of time. It’s practically impossible to forget the brilliantly blocked, staged, sH๏τ, and performed animalistic argument between the two characters.

Before Midnight (2013)

Richard Linklater’s Before is one of those movie trilogies where the second film is the best, but only marginally, because each film perfectly explores the couple’s dynamic during the development of their romance. The first film is the meet-cute, the second is the comforting and exciting stage that leads to the next step, and the third is the banal marriage.

Before Midnight is a grounded look at a resentful couple in a marriage whose arguments feel devastatingly authentic. The film is a heartbreaking exploration of struggling romance, but it’s refreshingly free of the cynicism commonly found in this subgenre, as it doesn’t end conclusively, and suggests this is only a stagnant step and not the final form of their dynamic.

Possession (1981)

I’ll always remember Possession for Isabelle Adjani’s horrifying performance in the harrowing subway miscarriage scene, which makes me audibly gasp every time I watch the shocking horror movie. However, the premise does involve a fighting couple, and it remains the focus of the story, even if the plot eventually shifts away from it and evolves into a larger-scale horror story.

Impending doom hangs over every frame of Possession like a monster capable of possessing, mind-controlling, and killing people, as increasingly chaotic and erratic behavior wreaks havoc in the couple’s lives. Possession begins with the wife asking for a divorce, but the supernatural elements make the film harrowing in every context.

Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)

Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep break hearts in Kramer Vs. Kramer as Mr. and Mrs. Kramer, a couple trying to finalize their divorce. As one of the finest legal dramas that is essentially perfect, the film is a devastating exploration of the nitty-gritty involved in a divorce proceeding, and how ugly the relationship between two people in love can become.

The outstandingly natural performances, the skillfully staged set pieces, the grounded editing, and the devastatingly authentic dialogue almost remove the lens of cinema and make you forget you’re not watching real-life divorce proceedings. This lack of cinematic flair elevates the emotional toll of the film, as it becomes impossible to distance yourself from the events on the screen at times.

Gone Girl (2014)

When you think of movies about couples fighting, you don’t imagine a campy fandom that triumphantly celebrates the movie and watches it for fun, but just like its twist, Gone Girl‘s cultural impact came out of nowhere, and is rightfully here to stay, as it’s still just as iconic and talked-about, over a decade since the release of the film.

The quintessential “Good For Her” movie, Gone Girl is known for the “cool girl” monologue, the big twist, the exploration of a stale marriage from the perspective of a wife who’s taken for granted, and her triumphant effort to avenge this. It all leads to the extremely uncomfortable conclusion that makes you wonder who is in the right anymore.

Skammen (1968)

Starring Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow star as a warring couple in Ingmar Bergman’s Skammen, set against the backdrop of literal war. Skammen explores how external turmoil manifests internally and affects interpersonal dynamics. While neither of them participates in it, the consequences of the war bring out the worst in the couple, who gradually develop resentment towards each other.

Skammen belongs among the best war romance movies, although the word romance only applies as a qualifier, as the film makes us spectators of the gradual deterioration of the married couple’s relationship as the war rages on around them. Both actors deliver such natural and harrowing performances that your heart will break while watching them lose their love with time.

Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Based on Edward Albee’s play of the same name, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is an exercise is patient writing, as you never realize when it goes from a timid dinner party to a couple’s mockery-laden argument driven by an utter lack of mutual respect. The fangs take their time to bare themselves, but they refuse to retract from there.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a great movie made to look like one long scene, so viewers can get the intended experience of a staged theatrical performance. With each harrowing revelation, the movie becomes less uncomfortable and more sorrowful, as the argument almost becomes farcical, and you wonder if there’s any love in the marriage at all.

A Separation (2011)

Often hailed as the modern master of the poignant human drama, Asghar Farhadi’s magnum opus is likely his divorce drama, A Separation, which puts the lens on a couple who are at a crossroads, trying to deal with life. Forced to choose between their child’s education and the deteriorating health of a parent, their festering resentment raises its ugly head.

The screenplay for A Separation, which was nominated for an Academy Award, is masterfully paced and devastatingly authentic. The couple’s emotional estrangement can be felt through the visual grammar too, where blocking puts barriers between them in the frames. The grounded performances bolster the blow of this harrowing exploration of how circumstances can negatively impact relationships, perhaps even permanently.

Scenes From A Marriage (1974)

While the theatrical version released in 1974 is often the more popular version because it’s structured more like a complete film, the 1973 version with nearly five hours of footage is arguably better to watch. It is an uncut and devastating close-up look at a couple who are trying to reconcile once before calling it quits and finalizing their divorce.

While the couple, who look idyllic from the outside, air grievances throughout the film, the film never loses itself to cynicism, and its tender exploration of their authentic conversations makes it even more heartbreaking than if it had been a little more dramatic. The proximity to reconciliation is hopeful, so the film takes an all-encompᴀssing look at the couple’s experiences.