7 Anti-Valentine’s Day Films To Watch If You’re Really Not Feeling It This Year

There are few holidays that spark quite an extreme reaction each year as Valentine’s Day.

For some of us, this mid-February period affords us all the opportunity to celebrate love in all its forms, whether that’s romantic, platonic or familial.

However, others find this part of the calendar a little tougher to swallow, with some going as far as putting together anti-Valentine’s Day plans to counterbalance the somewhat forced romance of the season.

If you fall into the latter, we’ve rounded up a range of films that might help you get into the spirit should you be looking for an antidote to the usual Valentine’s Day suspects…

Now, make no mistake, obviously we at HuffPost UK do not condone the actions of the Hårga in Ari Aster’s grisly folk horror Midsommar.

But come on – anyone who’s ever had a crap ex would have to concede there’s something a little cathartic about seeing Florence Pugh’s dazed smile on the big screen as she watches Jack Reynor go up on flames. Right? Just us? OK…

What better way to celebrate the legacy of the late, great Diane Keaton this Galentine’s than by revisiting The First Wives Club?

A star-studded celebration of no longer putting up with anything less than what you deserve, this 90s classic manages to be both empowering and extremely camp, ending in an impromptu musical number between three of 20th century Hollywood’s most beloved female performers.

Arguably the break-up movie to end all break-up movies, Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch’s efforts look a little toothless in comparison to this original adaptation of The War Of The Roses.

Based on the 1981 novel of the same name, the dark comedy features Michael Douglas and the iconic Kathleen Turner as a warring couple whose divorce proceedings spiral out of control and take over their entire lives.

David Fincher’s thriller Gone Girl was a big-screen reimagining of the hugely popular novel of the same name.

The story centres around a woman who goes to extreme lengths to punish her useless boyfriend, by framing him for her murder, only for things to not turn out exactly as she planned.

Rosamund Pike’s impeccable performance as the aloof and icy Amy Dunne was critically acclaimed, and earned the British star her first – and, so far, only – Oscar nomination.

Alternatively, if you prefer your break-up movies a little less on the sinister side, there’s the hit comedy The Break-Up.

Released in the wake of Jennifer Aniston’s own extremely public divorce, the film tells the story of a long-term couple whose relationship runs its course, with both sides doing their best to try and drive the other out of their shared apartment.

Then again, why play into negative feelings, right? Instead, why not opt for a film that celebrates female friendship rather than lambasting romance altogether?

Laugh-out-loud comedy Booksmart features two knock-out performances from leads Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, who play a pair of high school students who release in the run-up to their graduation that they’ve focussed so much on their grades, they’ve failed to actually have any fun all year.

To make amends, they plan a blow-out to end all blow-outs with chaotic – though, somehow, still quite wholesome – results.

Yes, the Fifty Shades series might technically be billed as a “romance”, but those in the know will know that they work much better as unintended comedies.

Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan’s work in the first movie (often considered the best of the BDSM-centric trilogy) earned them both two “Razzies” each, and despite the films’ alarmingly high box office pull-ins, their Rotten Tomatoes scores dropped film-on-film, ending with just 11% for the third and final instalment.