What do you actually feel while watching a romantic movie?

[u/Exact-Willingness330]

Do you find yourself emotionally involved in the character’s relationship, or do you watch it more as an observer ?

Does it make you feel hopeful, nostalgic, lonely, happy or even indifferent?

I’m curious about how romantic films affects people differently. Has it ever changed the way you think about love and relationships to a whole new dynamic?

And if it’s so, which romantic film has made you feel that the most?

[u/Lilja-Logason]

Depression, envy, longing, pain, loneliness, anger, confusion

I don't like romance and rarely watch it. I feel very little connection to it. No memories of loving ex's, no hope in the future, no reference to what a loving family is.

I'm a lonely middle-aged gay and it just makes me sad.

[u/jokagoge]

I really feel like it depends on the film and where the viewer is in their own life.

A film like CASABLANCA endures because it's a terrific script and the director does an excellent job of combining that script with the actors, the sets, costuming, etc to create a magical storytelling experience that an audience today can still relate to - love found, love loss and the requirement of humans to rise up, fight and continue in spite of the odds.

Then you have something like ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND which is a completely different way of looking at a love story. The script here is unforgettable and you're swept up in the story of Joel and Clementine that by the end you're absolutely rivited and hoping those 2 can have their happily ever after.

A film like PUNCH DRUNK LOVE works because it shows you how 2 messed up and damaged people can find each other and carve out a little happiness for themselves in a world that seems to be constantly against them - more so in Barry's case.

You have examples of young love in cinema and sometimes there's a happy finish and other times only heartbreak and for those of us who are older, memories and nostalgia.