Due to health and safety concerns around COVID-19, Hot Docs Cinema is currently closed. Details >>
How have romantic comedies impacted our problematic notions of love and romance—and how is the genre shifting as we head into a new decade?
What’s up with rom-coms? They are formulaic, sentimental, gender-normative, white-washed, clichéd fantasies…and yet, we love them. Embark on a fascinating exploration of the genre, its origins and tropes, in this highly watchable visual essay featuring clips from My Best Friend's Wedding, When Harry Met Sally and more. Assisted by a chorus of critics, actors and filmmakers, director Elizabeth Sankey guides the film using a woke rhetoric that operates in delightful tension with her unabashed appreciation for pop nostalgia. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the message shared by these films is one we humans long to hear: in the end, love prevails.