The cinema can also be a source of inspiration when reflecting on personal relationships . Art is a way of expressing feelings and ideas that cannot be put into words, and its interpretation can be very stimulating.

Moreover, films have long since ceased to be mere entertainment; today they are much more, and can even be the subject of philosophical essays, as the work of the thinker Slavoj ‘i’ek shows.

The best films to reflect on love and life

Below you can see a selection of recommended movies to think about life , relationships and the way we experience them.

1. The tree of life

One of the recent films with a more obvious Judaeo-Christian background. It is not simply the story of a family ; it aspires to be a representation of the birth of love and piety in general as elements that allow giving a meaning to life.

2. Forget about me

A man who is embroiled in the conflict of whether he should forget his relationship with a woman or whether he prefers to keep those memories, however painful they may be. After all, memory is part of one’s identity, as well as being the place where love dwells.

3. Memento

Recognized by many as Christopher Nolan’s best film to date, Memento talks about the role we have in building a sense for our own existence. He uses the case of Leonard, a man suffering from anterograde amnesia .

4. American Beauty

One of the classics of philosophical cinema. A middle-aged man in the midst of an existential crisis sees his life change when he meets his daughter’s young friend. A very biting and critical tragicomedy with the Western model of life .

5. The bright side of things

A man trying to get out of the worst time of his life meets a socially marginalized young woman. A film that emphasizes not letting appearances take over. Meeting people you’re compatible with requires a good deal of critical thinking.

6. Now or Never

Two terminally ill men decide to go together in search of all those experiences they would like to see realized before they die. Despite coming from totally different worlds , the tandem formed by both is addictive and very endearing.

7. Waking Life

A philosophical film composed basically of conversations that take place throughout what seems to be a dream. It shows a risky aesthetic, based on the use of rotoscoping (the frames of the film are painted to look like drawings).

8. Towards wild routes

What would happen if we tried to reduce our life to the minimum? This film approaches this issue from the narrative of a real case, that of a young man nicknamed Alexander Supertramp who decided to leave everything behind and start living in the middle of nature in a self-sufficient way.

9. Untouchable

As in Now or Never, the adventures of two very different people are also narrated here. What distinguishes these two films for reflecting on life is that in this second one the context changes: not only is there a class difference between the two, but there is also a generational difference. Moreover, this is not a film about what makes life unique, but one that invites you to think about racism and discrimination.

10. Blade Runner

What is it that makes us human? What is the nature of forgiveness? This film of androids and humans deals with the most ancient philosophical questions and, in the process, tells a story that goes beyond the book on which it is based.

11. The Dead Poets’ Club

One of the most remembered films of those starring Robin Williams. The story of a teacher who encourages his students to live life intensely through his unconventional educational methods and a motto: carpe diem.

12. The arrival

One of the science fiction films that do what this genre does best: not talk about a universe different from ours in which technology is superior, but address the great human issues through the tools available in that fictional world. In this case, the love and pain produced by the loss play a fundamental role.

13. Annie Hall

A classic by Woody Allen, in which drama is mixed with large doses of humor to give rise to astute reflections on life and love. Or, rather, about lack of love.

14. The Fighting Club

What gives meaning to our lives? Where do we get the strength to love? If Fight Club has become a cult film it is because of the crudeness with which it perfectly portrays the modern way of life based on consumption and productivity understood as the source of the meaning of life and even of love.

15. Grizzly Man

One of director Werner Herzog’s most famous documentaries. It focuses on the life of Timothy Treadwell , a man of humble class who decided to spend several summers in virgin lands surrounded by wild bears, to make friends with them and film them.

16. Way

A very interesting film that addresses the issue of how the experience of death can be hijacked by religious fundamentalism.

17. Fires

One of Denis Villeneuve’s most famous films, about the way in which the imaginary borders established by societies can come to form physical borders , totally palpable, maintained by hate and fear.

18. This is England

A story about how a counterculture like that of the skinheads can be transformed into one that affirms the values consistent with the maintenance of state power through racism and xenophobia.

19. Everything is illuminated

Elijah Wood stars in a film based on stories from the past, and how these shape the way we experience the present both individually and collectively, focusing on the case of the Jewish collective.

20. Sea Inside

One of Alejandro Amenábar’s classics, it tells the true story of Ramón Sampedro, who for years fought for the right to a dignified death, with all the moral implications that this entails.

21. Melancholy

This film by Danish director Lars von Trier is divided into two parts, and tells the story of an apocalypse that is more personal than real.