10 Criminally Underrated Films Turning 10 Years Old In 2020

8. Blue Valentine

Jennifer Lawrence Winter's Bone
The Weinstein Company

Director Derek Cianfrance's sometimes brutal deconstruction of a relationship only gets stronger with age. Flitting between the past, present and future(?) of a once idealistic pair, Cianfrance's screenplay is cleverly chopped into pieces, thrown in the air and pasted back down in an irregular order, the perfect re-telling of a doomed relationship.

As Dean and Cindy, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams turn in unstoppable performances, ones that can ache the heart in one beat then have you hoping it'll end up alright in the end the next. Throw in a finale that will have you longing for your own version of a happy ending long after the credits roll, it's hard to believe Blue Valentine isn't talked about more often. Makes Marriage Story look like a lovers tiff.

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Contributor

Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing. He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.