After a breakup, it’s important to take all the time you need to move on and mend your broken heart. In fact, there are 7 common stages women go through after a rough breakup. Since the process sucks so much, we thought we’d try to help out.

Order your pizza and grab a ton of chocolate, because we picked the perfect movies you need to binge-watch to ease you through the emotional turmoil stage by stage.

Stage 1: Denial = One Day or Mona Lisa Smile 

Accepting the end of your relationship can be really painful. Just in case you need a good cry, One Day is the perfect choice for the bittersweet film you feel like watching. We don’t want to spoil it for you, so we won’t say much about it. Although fair warning, this one’s a rollercoaster of emotions.

On the flipside, the women in Mona Lisa Smile learn to strive for more than just marriage or a relationship in their life. Slowly but surely, they begin to uncover the importance of fulfilling their potential by following their own paths and dreams, without the need of a man by their side. Ultimately though, this uplifting movie highlights why your relationship with yourself is the most important one you’ll ever have.

Stage 2: Anger = The Devil Wears Prada

Instead of acting out, focus on cultivating your post-breakup glow up instead (after all, isn’t that the best kind of revenge?). Channel your inner Miranda Priestly. Except when you rewatch this iconic movie, here’s a different perspective to keep in mind: the real antagonist is Andy’s unsupportive, self-centered boyfriend who couldn’t handle his girlfriend putting herself first for once. Honestly, she should have dropped that entitled manchild.

Stage 3: Sadness = Bridesmaids or Girls Trip

When you’re recovering from heartbreak, surrounding yourself with your best friends could actually be the best remedy. Bridesmaids is a great post-breakup movie because it hilariously deals with practically all kinds of losses, while also portraying the value of friendship along the way. Girls Trip doesn’t need much of an introduction, Queen Latifah should be a good enough reason for you to watch it. Besides, there’s nothing like a comedy with an all-female cast to cheer you up when you’re down in the dumps. These guilty pleasures will definitely do the trick.

Stage 4: Bargaining, jealousy & competitiveness = Wild

At this point, all you need to do is focus. on. yourself. This film’s protagonist literally ventures into the wild after her life crumbles into pieces. Along the way, she battles with nature and her own inner demons while trying to figure herself out. Through the hardships she encounters, she ends up embarking on a healing journey that only strengthens her once broken spirit. Think of it as a less polished version of Eat, Pray, Love.

Stage 5: Apathy = Black Panther or The Help

At this stage, you feel like you seriously need to be reinvigorated. You’d probably think Black Panther is an odd choice, but unlike most superhero movies, the women end up being the ones who save the day. The female characters are so freaking badass they’ll definitely give you the motivational boost you need to dust yourself off. We promise they’ll end up becoming your spirit animals.
Seriously though, someone needs to give these queens their own movie.

The Help is the epitome of feel-good movies. The empowering film truly showcases the power of female solidarity. It tells the story of a group of trailblazing women who find their voices by bravely uniting for an amazing purpose. Against all odds, they put what’s right above what society expects from them. This fantastic movie is guaranteed to inspire you one way or another. And remember, you is smart, you is kind, you is important. 

Stage 6: Acceptance = 500 Days of Summer

By now, you’ve started to absorb the fact that maybe your past relationship wasn’t meant to be, and ending it was probably for the best. 500 Days of Summer tells the story of a hopeless romantic who idealized his relationship with a girl only to end up heartbroken when he realizes their feelings for each other were worlds apart. This movie highlights the danger in projecting all our hopes & expectations onto our partner. In the movie, Tom couldn’t deal with the relationship ending, or with what Summer truly wanted. The film’s star, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, commented on his character saying “A lot of boys and girls think their lives will have meaning if they find a partner who wants nothing else in life but them. That’s not healthy. That’s falling in love with the idea of a person, not the actual person“. Eventually, Tom learns and grows out of this heartbreak – just as you will too.

Stage 7: Redirected hope = The Before Trilogy

We end the movie marathon with something that could help you restore your faith in true love. Before Sunrise, Before Sunset & Before Midnight are probably among the most underrated films of all time. Unlike the painfully cliché mainstream romances, this addictive yet refreshing trilogy represents what relationships are actually like. The story takes you on a philosophical journey that beautifully captures all the ups and downs of love as it begins, breaks apart, revives, intensifies, strains, and mends over the span of two decades. The movies are a tribute to the amazing opportunities that await you if you follow your instincts. Nonetheless, they offer a realistic depiction of the struggles in making a longterm relationship work. Who knows, the love of your life might be on the next train ride.

 

 

–By Malak El-Lamie