10 Best Movies About Unrealised Dreams

The two main characters in A Star Is Born bond over a mutual love of music, and though they eventually become lovers and get married, they never openly admit that they both want different things out of their careers. Eventually, their failure to recognise this propels the couple towards disaster.

When Ally first meets Jackson, she's a small-town drag-bar musician who dreams of becoming a professional singer, but it's the small-town part of her that Jackson is drawn to. Jackson doesn't care for awards, fame, or the "pop-star" life: he's perfectly happy performing his shows and having a drink afterwards, without all the glitz and glamour that would come with being a full-on celebrity musician.

So when Ally heads down this path - signing with a major record producer, singing catchy pop songs without much lyrical substance, completely overhauling her appearance so that she looks more like a product than a person - he begins to lament it, telling her that she has no talent because deep down, he dreams of returning to the couple's early days of performing heartfelt country songs in average-sized towns.

But his failure to recognise that being a pop-star is Ally's dream - and her failure to recognise that she's pulling Jackson away from his - leads to him feeling like he's holding her back, and he commits suicide while she's out performing a show. Sure, Ally is still a famous pop-star when the film ends, but it's hardly the ideal, clean version of the dream life the couple could've had together, or the career she imagined for herself while she was working in a restaurant taking out garbage.