Movies Like Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind Romantic Drama Fans Should Watch

Michel Gondry's 2004 romance classic, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," follows a man desperate to forget the love of his life. After Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) have a fight, Clementine impulsively decides to have her memories of Joel and their relationship erased. When Joel discovers this, he does the same. As he has his relationship with Clementine scrubbed from his mind, he re-experiences the memories of their time together, going back to the moment they first met.

Director Michel Gondry was previously known for his artistic music videos (for Björk, Radiohead, and The White Stripes, to name a few) and brought his unique visual touch to the world of Joel and Clementine while screenwriter Charlie Kaufman turned a seemingly basic idea — that it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all — into something strange, meandering, and complex.

The often flamboyant and extroverted Jim Carrey playing against type was another surprise, while Kate Winslet's seemingly manic pixie dream girl went deeper than the trope and actually offered a critique of it (three years before the term was coined). So whether you wish you could erase your memories of someone or are holding onto them for life, here are the sometimes dreamy, sometimes surreal romantic films that deal with similar themes of memory, revisiting/rewriting a relationship, seeing others as ideas instead of humans, longing and of course, love.

Céline Sciamma's "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" is set at the end of the 18th century and follows Marianne (Noémie Merlant), a painter who is commissioned to paint the portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), which will be sent to her betrothed. Héloïse does not want to get married and definitely does not want to be painted, so Marianne pretends to be Héloïse's hired companion and does her work in secret. On the wild and rugged island of Héloïse's home, the two women fall in love in a place and time where a woman's freedom is defined in limited terms.

Told primarily as a flashback, "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" focuses on the question of how a story, desire and art itself all change based on the perspective of the one who is looking or being looked at. In this way, it shares some common ground with "Eternal Sunshine," in which Clementine challenges the vision that Joel has of her. Like that film, "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" is visually stunning, bringing audiences completely into the world of this island of women. Its exploration of love, desire, and longing resonated with audiences and critics alike as the film currently holds a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has quickly become one of the most beloved romantic films of recent years.

The 2001 Spanish film, "Sex and Lucía," takes viewers on a dreamy, wandering journey into the tumultous relationship of Lucía (Paz Vega), a proactive, independent woman, and Lorenzo (Tristán Ulloa), her secretive, in-his-head writer boyfriend. When Lorenzo calls Lucía in despair one day, she goes to check on him and finds a suicide note in his empty apartment. Assuming the worst, Lucía goes to an island that Lorenzo had often told her about, where she tries to find traces of her lover and discovers parts of herself that she never knew.

In a similar way to "Eternal Sunshine," "Sex and Lucía" plays with time, moving between past and present, fantasy and reality. The film follows several storylines as it reveals Lorenzo's past and delves into the world of his fictional characters, where we see Lucía inhabit a variety of roles. Not surprisingly considering the title, the film explores sex in an explicit (read: European) way, but perhaps its real concern are the themes of love and loss, which helps it fit right in with the pantheon of romantic films like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."

Miranda July's 2005 romantic comedy-drama, "Me and You and Everyone We Know," is the tale of an intertwined cast of characters all looking for love. July wrote, directed and stars as Christine, a video artist who begins a relationship with Richard (John Hawkes), a recently divorced shoe salesman. Six-year-old Robby (Brandon Ratcliff) discovers the power of internet chatrooms, where he takes on the identity of ))((, a symbol that is best explained by the film itself. Meanwhile, Richard's teenage neighbors, Heather (Natasha Slayton) and Rebecca (Najarra Townsend), develop a flirtatious relationship with his coworker, Andrew (Brad William Henke). In the end, the storylines come together as July explores the question of what love and connection look like in the modern world.

Miranda July had previously made a name for herself as a performance artist and maker of short films. "Me and You and Everyone We Know" was her first feature film, winning the Camera D'Or prize at Cannes. Much like "Eternal Sunshine," "Me and You and Everyone We Know" is playful as it exposes the different lives of its lonely characters. July is known for her quirky work and "Me and You and Everyone We Know" is no exception, as you'll never look at a double parentheses in the same way again.

Fans of "Eternal Sunshine" may be interested in seeing more of Michel Gondry's work, such as his 2006 feature, "The Science of Sleep." ​​Gael García Bernal plays Stéphane, a man whose father has just died, which has led him to move from Mexico to Paris. Stéphane is a shy, creative man whose vivid dreams often bleed into his waking life. He meets his neighbor, Stéphanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg), an equally curious and creative person, and the two start building a friendship. As their relationship blossoms, Stéphane's dreams start interfering more and more with his waking life as he begins to lose sense of what's real and what isn't.

In some ways "The Science of Sleep" is more like Michel Gondry's music videos than "Eternal Sunshine," as it lives much more in the surreal dream space than that of memory. But our dreams and memories are often connected, so the dive into Stéphane's mind is not so different from that into Joel's. The film is a story of connection and grief, as Stéphane tries to deal with the death of his father, and its unique visual style makes it a memorable watch for any romantic drama fan.

Yorgos Lanthimos emerged on the international film scene in 2009 with "Dogtooth," his startling feature about a dysfunctional family, and the director decided to turn to romance with his 2015 movie, "The Lobster." The film stars Colin Farrell as David, whose wife leaves him for another man. David is brought to a hotel where he has 45 days to find a mate or else he will be turned into an animal of his choice. In this competitive space where guests will do whatever it takes to find compatible partners, David confronts the question of what love really is versus the socially acceptable idea after meeting the Woman (Rachel Weisz) .

Lanthimos has become associated with strange, offbeat films which often leave viewers challenged, if not outright uncomfortable. Not surprisingly, "The Lobster" takes the same approach as he tackles the universal ideas of what makes someone a good match and what love itself is through a dystopian and darkly comedic lens. In this way, "The Lobster" follows the same line as "Eternal Sunshine," with both films straddling the line between light and dark as they attempt to answer these basic human questions.

By the time that "Stranger than Fiction" was released in 2006, Will Ferrell had established himself as a comedy legend. So it was a surprise to see him tone it down for this film about a tightly-wound IRS agent who finds that his life becomes ... well, stranger than fiction. Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) lives his life by the book; he never breaks rules or his routine until one day, he starts hearing the voice of a British woman narrating his life. The things that this mysterious woman says come true and Harold discovers that his life is being written by Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), an author who is known for killing off her protagonists. With his seemingly impending death in the near future, Harold decides to live life more fully and do all that he hadn't done before, including falling in love.

The meta storyline of "Stranger than Fiction" in some ways parallels that in "Eternal Sunshine," as both characters and audiences alike wonder what's real and what isn't. And both films call into question the role of destiny as Joel seems fated to meet Clementine, regardless of their memory erasure, much like Harold seems fated to die. Will Ferrell's Harold is a man bursting at the seams; he's subdued and rigid, but there's a joyfulness looking for permission to come out. "Stranger than Fiction," like "Eternal Sunshine," shows a character who's scared to live but then lets himself do so. For that, it happily joins this list.

The 2006 dark romantic comedy, "Wristcutters: A Love Story," tells audiences exactly what it is in the title: a story about those who have taken their own lives. Zia (Patrick Fugit) dies by suicide and wakes up in an afterlife limbo, where everyone else has also died in the same way. He discovers that after his death, his girlfriend committed suicide as well, so he decides to go on a journey to find her. Along the way, he meets Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon), a woman who believes she's been wrongly put in this place, and Kneller (Tom Waits), a strange commune leader. As Zia continues to search for his girlfriend, he realizes that he may have already found what he needed all along.

"Wristcutters: A Love Story" looks at the question of isolation and pain, which has brought all of these characters to the same place. While the subject matter is serious, the film uses the realm of the afterlife to work through these issues of love and loneliness in a way that balances what could otherwise be a very difficult-to-watch story. Zia's journey to find someone that he's lost mirrors that of Joel and Clementine, which makes this surprising and sometimes absurd film appear on this list.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.