7 Movies to Watch if you Like Somebody I Used to Know (2023)

7 Movies To Watch If You Like Somebody I Used to Know (2023): ‘Valentine’s Day is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap,’ says Joel Barish in a Charlie Kaufman script. While he takes a dig at the consumerist nature of this day, Mad Men’s Don Draper calls love to be something invented by guys like him to sell nylon! Despite all these cynical perspectives and capitalistic relations, love is a feeling that we simply cannot resist. Dave Franco’s new film presents a character that grapples with this feeling while not being able to get over her breakup.

Featuring a heartfelt Allison Brie performance, ‘Somebody I Used to Know’ manages to strike a chord despite the inclusion of conventional romance tropes. The reason is mainly its compassionate approach toward her character’s emotional struggle besides the sensitive handling of its themes.

If you also resonated with her character and want a film that maturely handles emotional struggles, here are a few more films that you may want to watch.

1.) Blue Jay (2016)

After more than 20 years of distance, Amanda (played by Sarah Paulson) and Jim (played by Mark Duplass) meet in their native town of Crestline, Calif, by accident. He had returned to put his mother’s house on the market while still processing her loss. She had returned to meet her pregnant sister. Over the course of a day, they reminisce the memories of their high school relationship and have a heartfelt conversation about their shared past.

‘Blue Jay’ follows them during these few hours and presents a soul-stirring affair filled with deeply introspective conversations. The long-lost lovers bear their hearts out and try to make peace with how things ended. The emotional sincerity found in the Allison Brie film is also present here, where profound realizations take center stage. They hurt deeply and create a visceral impact in its monochromatic townscapes due to Alexandre Lehmann’s excellent direction.

Related to Movies Like Somebody I Used to Know (2023) – Blue Jay [2016]: Duplass’ B/W Tribute to Simplicity, Nostalgia and Lost Love

2.) Goodbye First Love (2011)

Mia Hansen-Løve’s third feature film is an intimate portrait of a young woman and her relationship with her first love. In her adolescence, Camille (played by Lola Créton) and Sullivan (played by Sebastian Urzendowsky) were deeply infatuated with each other. Owing to their age, they harbored ideas that did not have a realistic basis. Eventually, he departs for his career prospects leaving her heartbroken. He promises to return after a few months of his course. Meanwhile, she keeps holding on to the hope of being with him. They meet again only after eight years and rekindle their romance.

Like the Allison Brie starrer film, ‘Goodbye First Love’ presents a resonating portrait of a person who cannot get over love and all its possibilities that could not materialize. Camille keeps reinventing herself in an attempt to depart from who she was. She overthrows nostalgic notions, feigns maturity, and yet falls back into a pool of sadness over the love that she could not get over even after years of passage. The film deals with her journey with a compassionate approach, which makes it an apt suggestion in this list.

3.) Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Peter (played by Jason Segel) works as a music composer for a CSI-like TV show. After his breakup with his successful girlfriend – Sarah Marshall (played by Kristen Bell), he decides to go on a Hawaii trip to get over their relationship. But she happens to be vacationing at the same hotel, which makes Peter deal with his difficult emotions instead of running away from them. While Sarah starts dating an eccentric singer – Aldous Snow (played by Russel Brand), Peter seeks solace in the hotel receptionist – Rachel (played by Mila Kunis).

With comic talent oozing out of its cast (with the addition of Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, and Paul Rudd as well), ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ refuses to have a dull moment. Jason Segel’s script manages to balance the humor with its dramatic moments to showcase the importance of ‘letting go’ just like Dave Franco’s directorial does. It shows a lover trying to make peace with the loss of a relationship with the required emotional potency. And just like Allison Brie, Jason Segel manages to present a resonating portrait of his bittersweet character.

4.) I Want You Back (2022)

Peter (Charlie Day) and Emma (Jenny Slate) are two thirty-somethings whose respective partners have dumped them. While Anne gets bored by her six-year-old relationship with Peter, Noah does not appreciate Emma’s lack of responsibility. Both these heartbroken souls happen to meet each other and help mend the other’s relationship. During the time they spend together to revive their individual relationships, they find each other more competent and are unsure how to deal with this emotional confusion.

Like Somebody I Used to Know, ‘I Want You Back’ deals with heartbroken characters who find it difficult to move on with their lives. The solutions they find and the lessons they get along the way depict them becoming emotionally mature while understanding the importance of a partner who would accept them despite their incompetence or flaws. Despite the cliches, the acting performances contribute to their psychological journeys having a greater impact.

Related to Movies Like Somebody I Used to Know (2023) – I Want You Back [2022] ‘Prime Video’ Review – A Formulaic Rom-Com Elevated By Charlie Day And Jenny Slate’s Performances

5.) 96 (2018)

Like Blue Jay, 96 shows two high-school sweethearts meeting after decades. After ending their relationship on an unflattering note, these two found it difficult to stay in touch with each other due to the emotional burden. He now works as a travel photographer while she resides in Singapore. Yet, the school reunion brings them back together and makes them revisit the fond memories. Due to the maturity of their present age, they can now empathize with the financial pains and the familial restraints that made them turn bitter toward each other.

With natural performances by Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha, ‘96’ becomes a poignant ride through their characters’ highly relatable ruminations. As Allison Brie’s film does, the script switches between past and present to present its rooted understanding of their psyche while dealing with post-breakup healing. Just like that film, the two characters from 96 manage to find a semblance of closure to move on from the unfortunate end of their relationship.

6.) Before Sunset (2004)

Nine years after meeting in Vienna, Celine (played by Julie Delpy) and Jesse (played by Ethan Hawke) meet again by accident. Over the course of time, they followed their ambitions, became more mature, and yet, could not get over their romantic fling that never materialized into anything substantial. Upon meeting, they decide to make the most of their time. However, as older adults, they do not look at the world through rose-tinted glasses as they once did. There is more pragmatism and ideological influence. And yet, their mutual desire continues to lurk beneath them.

Richard Linklater’s eternal classic navigates the complicated relationship between love, maturity, and ambition, just like Dave Franco’s directorial, while also dealing with people navigating the potential of a relationship. While their conclusions differ from those of ‘Somebody…,’ the 2004 film also considers how adults who have matured over time deal with a romantic relationship’s past, present, and future.

Related to Movies Like Somebody I Used to Know (2023) – Before Sunrise [1995]: A beautiful love poem

7.) My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)

As mentioned in the film itself, My Best Friend’s Wedding would be the most obvious suggestion from the basis of the central premise. In this Julia Roberts starrer film, we meet 28-year-old Julianne, who finds out that her best friend – Michael (played by Dermot Mulroney), is getting married. It brings out a surge of mixed emotions in her, including jealousy, that leads her to sabotage his wedding. She befriends Michael’s fiancé and invents conflicts so that she can have him.

Unlike Kiersey Clemons’ upfront Cassidy, Cameron Diaz’s Kimberley is gullible. Still, their emotional growth along the way makes Julianne’s and Ally’s journeys similar. Even when their realizations fall into conventional genre trappings, the evocative acting performances present the rich emotional landscapes of these characters. The tussle between love and ambition also impacts character dynamics at play, which makes it a fitting suggestion in line with the Allison Brie starrer film.

Also, Read: 5 Films like “Your Place or Mine” on Netflix

Somebody I Used to Know (2023) Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes

Where to watch Somebody I Used To Know