bittersweet backdrop

Movies with bittersweet vibe

The Bucket List

1. The Bucket List

Drama Comedy Buddy Comedy Relationship Drama
7.3
20071h 37min

Overview

Corporate billionaire Edward Cole and working class mechanic Carter Chambers are worlds apart. At a crossroads in their lives, they share a hospital room and discover they have two things in common: a desire to spend the time they have left doing everything they ever wanted to do and an unrealized need to come to terms with who they are. Together they embark on the road trip of a lifetime, becoming friends along the way and learning to live life to the fullest, with insight and humor.

Themes

Travel as transformation, Class disparity and friendship, Mortality and meaning, Aging and legacy, Estranged family ties, Life-affirming experiences

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Dan in Real Life

2. Dan in Real Life

Comedy Romance Drama Romantic Comedy Family Drama
6.8
20071h 38min

Overview

Advice columnist Dan Burns is an expert on relationships, but somehow struggles to succeed as a brother, a son and a single parent to three precocious daughters. Things get even more complicated when Dan finds out that the woman he falls in love with is actually his brother's new girlfriend.

Themes

Generational expectations, Family duty vs romance, Rapid infatuation consequences, Jealousy among siblings, Deception for harmony, Forgiveness and boundaries

Available on

Disney Plus
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Waitress

3. Waitress

Drama Comedy Romance Romantic Comedy Awkward Comedy
7.0
20071h 45min

Overview

A small town waitress stuck in a lousy marriage finds love when an exciting out-of-towner enters her life.

Themes

Economic dependence and escape, Illicit relationship and consequences, Domestic abuse and autonomy, Female friendship and solidarity, Creative coping through work, Dream pursuit and risk

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

In Her Shoes

4. In Her Shoes

Comedy Drama Romance Romantic Comedy Relationship Drama
6.5
20052h 10min

Overview

Irresponsible party girl Maggie is kicked out of her father's and stepmother's home—where she lives for free—and is taken in by her hard-working sister, Philadelphia lawyer Rose. After Maggie's disruptive ways ruin her sister's love life, Rose turns her out as well. But when their grandmother, who they never knew existed, comes into their lives, the sisters face some complicated truths about themselves and their family.

Themes

Identity under pressure, Sibling rivalry and protection, Caregiving and entrepreneurship, Family secrets and illness, Romance and commitment pressure, Deception and rumor dynamics

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Little Manhattan

5. Little Manhattan

Comedy Romance Romantic Comedy
7.4
20051h 30min

Overview

Ten-year-old Gabe is just a normal kid growing up in Manhattan until Rosemary Telesco walks into his karate class. But before Gabe can tell Rosemary how he feels, she reveals that she will not be going to public school any more. Gabe has a lot more to learn about life, love, and girls.

Themes

Family reconciliation dynamics, First love memory, Urban coming-of-age, Jealousy and competition, Divorce tension, School choice pressure

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Hulu
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

A Moment to Remember

6. A Moment to Remember

Drama Romance Relationship Drama Passionate Romance
8.1
20041h 57min

Overview

A young couple's love is tested when Sun-jin is diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.

Themes

Aging and dependence, Memory loss strain on love, Commitment through illness, Care responsibilities in marriage, Social difference pressures, Resilience through hardship

Available on

Tubi TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

De-Lovely

7. De-Lovely

Drama Music Entertainment Industry Drama Music Biopic
6.6
20042h 5min

Overview

From Paris to Venice to Broadway to Hollywood, the lives of Cole Porter and his wife, Linda Lee Thomas were never less than glamorous and wildly unconventional. And though Cole's thirst for life strained their marriage, Linda never stopped being his muse, inspiring some of the greatest songs of the twentieth century.

Themes

Public vs private life, Blackmail pressure and control, Extramarital intimacy and secrecy, Creative life under scrutiny, Illness and aging, Muse and collaboration

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Science Fiction Drama Romance Simulation & Reality-Shift Sci-Fi Relationship Drama
8.3
20041h 48min

Overview

In a world where a clinic deletes your worst heartbreak, a quiet man signs up to erase his ex—only to relive their love in reverse as it’s ripped from his mind. Trapped inside his own vanishing memories, he scrambles to hide her in forgotten corners of his past before she disappears for good.

Themes

Memory manipulation ethics, Amnesia and longing, Memory erasure consequences, Jealousy in relationships, Nonlinear timelines of memory, Relationship problems under manipulation

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vizontele Tuuba

9. Vizontele Tuuba

Comedy Drama Political Drama Awkward Comedy
6.5
20041h 51min

Overview

Guner Sernikli is a government official who, with his wife and their wheelchair bound daughter, has been assigned as the head librarian to this isolated province, virtually an exile since there is no library in the village. The family is warmly welcome, but these are the years of political anarchy and leftist/rightist clashes in big cities and the youth of the village inevitably follow the tides. They arrive in Vizontele, just as the situation is becoming really absurd. Guner brings wisdom; his daughter Tuba brings beauty, innocence and love. Some like the Mayor, Nazmi Dogan and crazy Emin appreciate these things but they are in the minority and confusion continues to reign. The story is based on the memories of writer-director Yılmaz Erdoğan of the last summer of his childhood in Hakkâri, Turkey in 1980.

Themes

Family resilience, Rural isolation, Political violence, Community tensions, Cultural clashes, Library as beacon

Available on

Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Pieces of April

10. Pieces of April

Comedy Drama Family Drama Awkward Comedy
7.0
20031h 21min

Overview

Quirky and rebellious April Burns lives with her boyfriend in a low-rent New York City apartment miles away from her emotionally distant family. But when she discovers that her mother has a fatal form of breast cancer, she invites the clan to her place for Thanksgiving. While her father struggles to drive her family into the city, April -- an inexperienced cook -- runs into kitchen trouble and must ask a neighbor for help.

Themes

Dysfunctional family tensions, Breast cancer pressure, Urban neighborhood resilience, Apartment building solidarities, Estranged family dynamics, Road trip dynamics

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
fuboTV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.