Critically acclaimed film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the romance movie to watch if you’re ready to see a depiction of romance so far from dreamy and picture-perfect you’ll rethink if you ever even want to be in a relationship again. If you’re wondering why the hell would anyone want to watch that?, I get it – but hear me out.
There’s a reason why it’s my favorite movie and has 92% on Rotten Tomatoes – it’s good (I promise). Eternal Sunshine features Clementine (Kate Winslet) and Joel (Jim Carrey) as lovers who suffer a painful breakup and erase each other from their memories. The movie follows what happens in Joel’s mind during the memory erasure procedure, as he realizes far too late that he doesn’t want to forget Clementine.
Joel fights to save their memories, but viewers watch the good and the bad parts of their relationship play out, and ultimately watch as the final memory of Clementine is erased. The movie ends in the same way that it begins, and you learn that Clementine and Joel have been in a relationship before, and that they’ll be in one again – without ever knowing.
The movie’s main message is that we may think we’ll find happiness by forgetting relationships that have harmed us, but each experience shapes who we are in a different way. If we don’t have these experiences, we’ll continue to repeat our mistakes. Good comes with bad and having “eternal sunshine of the spotless mind” isn’t all it’s made out to be if you can’t experience the deeper moments in life.
Overall, the film is incredibly well made. The scenes of Joel and Clementine’s relationship show how vulnerable it is to commit yourself to someone else. It also shows how relationships can sour. Innocence and pure love turning into small resentments and uncertainty, the peacefulness of commitment turning into feeling trapped in monotony.
I’d recommend that everyone watch this movie, as it’s a topic that is good to have new perspectives on. It definitely made me raise my standards in terms of what I want in a relationship. It also shows that even if two people are pretty awful for each other, they can still have genuine love – even if it isn’t meant to last.