New Netflix movie Lonely Planet has become the third most-watched movie on the platform in the week ending October 13, with 11 million views worldwide.
The best streaming service is constantly dropping new titles and Lonely Planet is another romantic drama (no, it's not a David Attenborough nature documentary even though that was my first thought) to add to their content library. We know that Netflix isn't the best for romantic movies – just look at Find Me Falling and A Family Affair - and Lonely Planet has unfortunately joined this list of romantic washouts with its 39% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Lonely Planet stars Laura Dern as newly single novelist Katherine Loewe who starts a full-blown love affair with a younger man (played by future Witcher star Liam Hemsworth) after meeting at an idyllic writers' retreat in Morocco. It certainly hasn't been popular with critics as The Hollywood Reporter wrote: “Neither dull enough to be painful nor fun enough to be engaging, it's simply too bland to make much of an impression at all" (ouch!). So while Lonely Planet definitely isn't one of the best Netflix movies, here are three romantic dramas that definitely are.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- RT score: 92%
- Age rating: R
- Length: 108 minutes
- Director: Michel Gondry
A lot of us know what it's like to go through a painful breakup. But would you go to the extreme lengths of deleting them from your mind forever? Well, that's the plot of one of the best sci-fi movies Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In one of his more serious and artistic roles, comedian Jim Carrey plays Joel, who discovers that his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has undergone a medical procedure to erase him from her memories. Joel decides to do the same, but during the operation he realizes that he's still deeply in love with her. This is an emotionally resonant and impactful masterpiece that deserves to be seen for its beautiful commentary on love, loss and human nature.
Our Souls at Night
- RT score: 89%
- Age rating: TV-14
- Length: 101 minutes
- Director: Ritesh Batra
Based on the novel of the same name by Kent Haruf, Our Souls at Night stars Jane Fonda and Robert Redford as two widows and neighbors that decide to tackle their loneliness by platonically spending their nights together. As they deal with their grief, a real romance begins to develop between the pair. Our Souls at Night is a refreshing take on the romance genre and serves as a compelling reminder that finding new love has no age limit. Fonda and Redford's chemistry is off the charts and proves that teenagers don't always have to be the romantic leads. The movie also stars Laura Dern's dad, Bruce Dern.
Lady Chatterley's Lover
- RT score: 86%
- Age rating: R
- Length: 126 minutes
- Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
Lady Chatterley's Lover is the fourth adaptation of the once controversial classic novel by D.H. Lawrence, which was published nearly a century ago. The period drama tells the story of Lady Chatterley (Emma Corrin), an unhappily married aristocrat who begins a passionate affair with the gamekeeper Oliver Mellors (Jack O’Connell) on their estate. Corrin and O'Connell perfectly capture this sensitive, tender romance that makes an impossible love seem possible despite societal expectations.
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