Movies You Should Never Watch With Your Partner

When it comes to romance, watching a great movie can be the perfect way for couples to pass the time and get a little closer. They're entertaining, easily shared experiences, and they tend to teach us a thing or two about each other's tastes. Not only that, but movies can also be a great excuse to get cozy next to that special someone on the couch or love seat. You can't say the same for reading a magazine, right? No one ever got married after sharing a copy of Newsweek.

But some films, while they're great, are movies you should never watch with your partner. Why? Because you'll probably want to avoid arguments, general awkwardness, or even an air of sudden distrust. Nothing makes your sofa go from snuggle-central to the creepy zone quicker than these movies. The films on this list are totally worth your time...as long as you're by yourself.

For a movie that was billed as a romantic drama, Sweet November sure has its twistier moments. The film centers around Charlize Theron's character Sara Deever who, at first, seems like your prototypically precocious manic pixie dream girl stereotype. But as Keanu Reeves' Mr. November, Nelson Moss, soon discovers, she has a lot more going on.

To help herself cope with her impending death from a terminal illness, Sara has spent her recent months making men's lives better with her very presence—an effort to "cure" them of whatever personality ailments they're suffering (yes, Freud would have a field day with this woman). She seems to fall hard and fast for Nelson, notwithstanding her hidden agenda, but her illness is already too far along for treatment, so he's left alone wandering around heartbroken.

For some, this might seem like a heart-wrenching story of star-crossed love, but for others, it might just be maddening that this poor schmuck could be duped into giving his heart to someone who completely concealed her illness. In the interest of avoiding unnecessary arguments on the homefront, avoid it with your significant other—but if you like a good old-fashioned weepie, this one totally deserves a solo screening.

Any attempt at even remotely discussing this movie is going to start an argument, guaranteed. Diane Lane's character Connie Summer is a married mother in a lustless marriage, but that all changes when she comes across Olivier Martinez's Paul Martel. The resulting affair is sensuous and intoxicating, especially to her, but has grave consequences for her marriage to Richard Gere's Charlie and her paramour. Without spoiling all of the details, let's just say that crimes of the heart aren't the only ones that result from her duplicity.

It's what happens next that's bound to be a point of severe derision from those who regard adultery to be the ultimate dealbreaker, so to avoid the inevitable conversational catastrophe that'll ensue from a shared screening of this movie, save it for a rainy day all by your lonesome (emphasis on the rainy—weather patterns are pretty important in this flick).

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio made blockbuster magic together in Titanic—and their reunion a decade later for Revolutionary Road was nothing to shake a stick at either. The two play the Wheelers, a couple who share two kids and a run-of-the-mill '50s suburbanite existence but grow increasingly discontented with each other and their place in the world. They eventually decide to move to France, where she can be the breadwinner—but then she becomes pregnant with their third child, and everything falls apart.

What commences in this adaptation of the Richard Yates novel is a spectacular series of screen arguments that showcase the actors' gifts. At the same time, the movie's unblinking look at the irrevocable demise of a seemingly perfect couple can easily plant the seeds of doubt into even the most promising pair, so don't go queueing this one up on date night.

There are so many layers of betrayal woven into the fabric of this film that it's hard to narrow down which is the worst. Is it Gwyneth Paltrow's character's saucy affair with the artist played by Viggo Mortensen, or is it Michael Douglas' character's deadly retaliation scheme? Is it the artist's willingness to play along, at the potential cost of his lover's life, or the husband's underlying greed that's fueling this whole thing?

No matter how you look at it, these people were all whacked in their own unique little ways and there were no true good guys or gals. That said, it's a totally fun '90s thriller-drama redux of Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder and is more than worth the rental fee—provided you go it alone so as to avoid the inevitable shifty discomfort that would come with watching this with someone you (think you) love and trust.

Featuring career-best work from Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was an instant classic. Combining a novel concept, some unexpected moments of visual dynamism, and a lot of heart, it's a treat for cinephiles and shouldn't be missed.

That said, it goes completely nuclear on the concept of a happy ending and probably isn't great viewing for ostensibly happy couples. The film centers on a pair of exes who decide to have their memories erased instead of trying to live through their heartbreak. About halfway through the procedure, though, one begins to realize how precious those moments are to him, even the hardest ones, and he tries to fight back the sweeping elimination in progress. It's a somber story that, while hopeful in parts, is sure to darken anyone's understanding of love — and give modern life to those old poetic sentiments about the value of a love lost.

The bitter truth about breakups is that it's not always mutual. Sometimes, someone decides it's over and the other is completely blindsided by the decision, having spent the period of apparent deterioration in a haze of happiness the other party didn't share. In (500) Days of Summer, the central couple, portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, could not be cuter together, which makes his misunderstanding that this is the real deal quite relatable.

Even worse, as he attempts to reconcile his own feelings with the facts of their time spent together, he has to confront the stunning reality of how quickly and quietly she's able to move on from what they had together. Thanks to some visionary direction choices by Marc Webb and solid thespian showcases, the film certainly lives up to all the hype that followed its Sundance Film Festival debut. For any couple who's convinced they've got forever ahead, however, it might serve as an unwelcome wake-up call.

No one wants to settle when it comes to long-term romance, but sometimes circumstances can get in the way of a happy ending. Such is the case for Joaquin Phoenix's character in Two Lovers, who has to break off an engagement due to a genetic condition both partners share which could severely harm any children they might bear. That loss cripples him emotionally to the point that when his parents set him up with a potential match, he pretty much phones it in with the poor woman.

His heart does get involved, however, when a third woman comes into the picture and throws his parents' plans off course. As fiery as their connection may be, practical considerations hold him back, and it's hard to watch the inevitable end unfold. Anyone who's wondered whether they may be in a relationship of convenience could be especially curious after sitting shoulder to shoulder with a significant other during this glum drama.

With The Gift, Joel Edgerton proved his talents extend well beyond a strong screen presence. The accomplished actor made his writer-directorial debut with this eerie mystery-thriller and pulled off one of the most satisfying—and unsettlingly ambiguous—endings in the entire genre.

As Gordo, a man who shares a mysterious past with Jason Bateman's character, Edgerton lingers disquietingly at the margins of everything his old acquaintance has built for himself—a great job, a beautiful wife and home, and even the possibility of a growing family. The titular "gift" can be seen in several different ways during the movie, but perhaps the movie's most lasting effect is the gnawing sensation it leaves you with. Questions like "Who was right?," "Does one crime justify another?," and perhaps most dangerously for couples, "What would I have done in this situation?" are bound to pop up after letting this mindtrip of a movie sink in.

There's a reason this movie won a whopping five Oscars, including best acting trophies for Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman; it's a gutting story and still holds up. As the title indicates, the movie centers on a divorcing couple's courtroom battle over custody rights to their son, and the nerves exposed by the picture are about as raw as they can possibly be.

Perhaps it's the fact that there's a child's welfare and happiness at the center, or the all-too-common bitterness being exchanged by his parents, but there's something very disarming about the conflicts contained in the movie. It's a master class of acting, of course, so anyone who loves to watch stars dig into their craft should see it. Yet it probably isn't the kind of film you want to watch with your spouse — it might feel more like a cautionary tale than a mere movie experience.

Couples experiencing commitment issues, or couples for whom the fact that they're not yet married looms like a dark cloud, this is not the movie for you. The Five-Year Engagement, co-written by star Jason Segel, isn't so much a romantic comedy as it is a bleak comedy about how long-term relationships are extremely hard to maintain with each person's identity intact... so, not quite Netflix-and-chill material. 

Things are going along smoothly for Tom (Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt) — until they get engaged and their perfect wedding gets delayed when Violent is accepted into a two-year post-doc program in Michigan, meaning Tom has to uproot his career as a rising star in San Francisco's high-end culinary scene. Violet excels in her program, which gets extended, while Tom becomes withdrawn, resentful, and petulant. The viewers wonder why Violet still wants to marry Tom, but it's fine because their marriage keeps getting delayed by life. It's kind of a relief when they inevitably (but briefly) break up. Ah, young love!

Men, women, and the concept of relationships all fail to get a fair shake in Hall Pass, the 2011 comedy that explores the extremely tired and sexist tropes that men want sex all the time with everybody and women don't (and if they do, they shouldn't). Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) are best friends married to Maggie (Jenna Fischer) and Grace (Christina Applegate), respectively. But as they're a couple of dude-bros facing midlife and long for their carefree, immature bachelor days, their wives give them the titular "hall pass," or rather a week's worth of permission to go bed other women. The most notable things that occur during this swingin' week: Grace beds down with a guy and feels so guilty about it that she crashes her car, and Rick almost hooks up with his children's babysitter (Alexandra Daddario), who has only just turned 21.

Hall Pass could open up a dialogue about all sorts of stuff that couples don't want to talk about, let alone think about: unhappy partners, sexual disappointment, and what dudes are thinking about when they look at the babysitter. Some viewers may wonder if their guy wants a "hall pass," and their partners might think that they need one.

There's a little something for everyone in La La Land. It's got ambitious and athletic musical numbers, cool jazz club scenes, and eye candy in both Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, who share an intense onscreen chemistry. There's comedy, there's drama, there are special effects. But just because it's a movie about love, and a movie musical about love, doesn't mean the couple winds up together. The film finds Sebastian (Gosling) and Mia (Stone) as a pair forging a relationship while they each try to fulfill their lofty creative dreams — he as a jazz pianist, she as an actress — and they wind up choosing their passion for their art over one another. That's a profound and shocking statement about love, especially for a romantic movie, that the need to make art can supersede it. But for a couple watching at home, that may invite some awkward thoughts or post-movie questions: What might each member of this relationship choose over love, for example, and would they, if given half the chance? 

The film's ending opens up to an even larger psychological minefield. Because Sebastian and Mia — clearly soulmates — split and wind up with other partners (Mia, at least; she marries some guy), couples at home may be left wondering if that person on the couch next to them is reminded by La La Land of "the one who got away."