They say art is an imitation of life. That’s why it’s hard whenever you’re watching a break-up in movies—because sometimes, they just hit too close to home. Here are 10 heart-wrenching breakup lines in recent movie history:
1.”If staying here means working within 10 yards of you, frankly, I’d rather have a job wiping Sadam Hussein’s arse.” (Bridget Jones Diary, 2001)
Okay, let’s start with something light. Though this may seem as a line that wouldn’t crush our hearts (because this line portrayed Bridget’s sense of empowerment), let’s try and put this into the dumpee’s perspective. Your ex tells you that they’d rather do something horrible rather than be near you? That had to hurt!
2. “I’m letting you go ’cause if we stay together, Will, we’re gonna be miserable. I’m gonna hold you back from all these incredible dreams that you have. And then eventually you’re totally gonna hate me for it.” (Definitely, Maybe, 2008)
Sometimes, it’s easier to simply let go of someone when you know you’re not right for each other. But frankly, it’s doesn’t mean that it hurts less. In Definitely, Maybe, Emily breaks off her relationship with Will because she thinks that she will simply hold him down from reaching his dreams. She confesses that she cheated on him because she feels like it’s easier to let him go. Losing someone is hard enough, but knowing that they had to cheat on you to make things easier? That’s just harsh!
3. I don’t want her to grow up in a home where her parents treat each other like this.(Blue Valentine, 2010)
Breakups are difficult when you and your beau are dating. However, when you’re already married with a kid, parting ways is even more complicated. Aside from breaking your beau’s heart, you’re also breaking up a family. That’s why Blue Valentine was so hard to watch. The slow decline of Dean and Cindy’s marriage not only meant that their relationship had to end. It also meant that their family will be broken. It was simply heartbreaking toward the end of the film, especially, when Dean was begging for Cindy to let him work it out for the sake of their child.
4. Summer: I woke up one morning and I just knew.
Tom: Knew what?
Summer: What I was never sure of with you. (500 Days of Summer, 2009)
Everyone now knows that the movie 500 Days of Summer is not a love story. The movie’s narrator has disclaimed that more than once in the film. So, it shouldn’t come as a shock that one of the lines of this movie would crush our hearts. And even though there were many painful lines spoken in that movie, the scene where Tom and Summer talk about closure really hits your heart the most. It’s the scene where Summer tells Tom that she finally believes in love because she has found it with someone else. Ouch!
5. “Don’t you dare sit there and tell me I didn’t try. I did.” (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, 2008)
Relationships are a lot of work. You and your partner won’t always be in the “honeymoon” stage. Both of you have to put in efforts to keep the relationship going. But sometimes, one person’s effort just seems to fall short. In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Sarah delivers two lines that encapsulate the feeling of exhausting all efforts. Peter needed a wake-up call that he was seeing the relationship from a different perspective. What’s interesting about this movie is that this brutal line was delivered by the supposed “antagonist.”
6. “Mahal kita pero nakakapagod na.” (The Break Up Playlist, 2015)
Speaking of making relationships work, this line is too much. Trixie had to tell Gino how their relationship is taking its toll. She has sacrificed a lot of her personal interests as a girlfriend and as his band’s singer. What this line evokes in us is this question: Is love enough to keep the relationship?
7. “Poy, nakakasakal e. Nakakasawa. I want to stop wondering, what if?” (One More Chance, 2007)
Okay, a break up movie list will never be complete without Popoy and Basha. There are many hurtful lines in this movie’s dialogue. No one can ever deny that. But when it came to break ups, the line that delivers a punch is when Basha called it quits. All the emotions she has bottled up is finally released through words that stab like a thousand knives. It’s been eight years since this movie came out, but we can’t get over Popoy and Basha’s heartaches.
8. “I don’t feel you appreciate me. All I want is to know, is for you to show me that you care.” (The Break-Up, 2006)
Sometimes, break ups happen NOT because there’s no love in the relationship. Through time, partners forget to care about each other. You get so used to your routine that you forget to stop and show how much you love your partner. Gary and Brooke’s relationship ended because they failed to show how much they mean to each other. They’re not leaving one another because there’s no love; there’s just that disappointment of not having to feel that love. Despite the movie classified as a romantic comedy, their break up scene was heavy and painful.
9. “I really thought that we were something.” (Going the Distance, 2010)
Long distance relationships are hard—that’s just a given fact. Some couples do have a good relationships despite the LDR status, but there are too many articles and stories that tell us it doesn’t work. Though it seems that LDRs are easier to break off (since you don’t get to spend too much time together), it is actually more painful. Both parties exert more effort to make up for the lack of intimacy based on their distance. So, giving up on the relationship is such a difficult decision to make. It’s not a shock that Erin’s one-liner (“I really though that we were something”) will have us crying in buckets. It’s simple but it weighs heavy of the possibility of “what could’ve been” if the circumstances were different.
10. “I don’t wanna lie. I can’t tell the truth. So, it’s over.” (Closer, 2004)
The last line for this list is Alice’s brutal line in Closer. It’s simple and straight forward. She didn’t use any pretense and just ended the relationship. No one can deny THAT’s not harsh!
Love is complicated. Let’s hope you will never have to use any of these lines—or worse, hear them from your loved one. May these lines stay in movies that you are sure to watch over and over again.
Featured Image from the One More Chance 2 trailer courtesy of Star Cinema