Blue Valentine (2010)

Imagine a wedding album shuffled into a stack of divorce papers, with a dare to flip through both at once. Derek Cianfrance cuts between Dean and Cindy falling for each other and the two of them years later, barely able to share a car ride, and the present-day half is so relentless it can feel like a punishment. The motel trip, in a space-age theme room, is one of the saddest nights away ever filmed. The past half is lovely. Ryan Gosling strums a ukulele and sings in a croaky voice while Michelle Williams tap dances in a shop doorway, and you understand everything. Williams is extraordinary, holding years of disappointment in one tired look. Gosling makes Dean sweet and sad and stuck, a guy who thinks being a good dad should be enough. It made $15.4 million worldwide on a reported $1M. A 7.9 because it’s honest about love fading, even when it’s hard to watch. $68.68 says you text someone you love a dumb inside joke tonight and grin when they answer with the next line.

What works: Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling are devastating, and cutting between the courtship and the collapse makes every sweet moment ache.

What doesn’t: The present-day scenes are so unrelenting that the film can feel punishing, and Cindy’s inner life gets less room to breathe than Dean’s charm.

Who it’s for: Grown-ups who want a painfully honest movie about a marriage and are ready to sit with the quiet afterward.