If you’re anything like me, you’ve possibly already seen Heated Rivalry multiple times (or “Reheated Rivalry” as it’s called by those who agree the show benefits from at least three viewings). But, you know, there comes a time in everyone’s life when they need to move on from these sculptural hockey players embroiled in the longest situationship of all time. There’s a whole world out there—away from little chains banging against chests and intense, smoldering glances—even though it hasn’t felt like it recently.
There are also plenty of on-screen depictions of slow-burn romance that actually manage to do “yearning” even better than Heated Rivalry. Indeed, writer Rachel Reid didn’t invent the will-they-won’t-they genre—though she does a very good job of it. To that end, and if you want something different but basically the same, here are the slow-burn romances that walked so Heated Rivalry could cruise across the ice. And if you’re feeling particularly masochistic, why not just watch them all, one after the other, in no particular order?
Past Lives
Forgive me for sounding cynical, but I feel like cinematic and genuinely affecting romantic movies are harder to come by in the 2020s, for some reason—maybe because love stories feel culturally out of reach? Bar 2023’s Celine Song-directed Past Lives, of course, which is the favorite film of a large majority of the Vogue office. Following two childhood sweethearts, Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), who find themselves torn apart by circumstance, chance, and choice, Past Lives is a love story in the purest sense of the word. I watched it twice at the cinema when it came out and remember audience members sobbing.
One Day
The first time I watched One Day, I didn’t actually know anything about the ending and was so shocked—nay, devastated—that I don’t think I got over it for a good few days afterwards. There is, of course, a One Day movie from 2011 starring Anne Hathaway, but the 2024 Netflix series is probably the better adaptation of the famous David Nicholls book. Following Emma Morley (Ambika Mod) and Dexter Mayhew (Leo Woodall) from the late 1980s through to the mid-2000s, One Day is slow-burn at its slowest and hottest. What starts out as quite a fun, light watch very rapidly sucks you in until you’re deeply emotionally invested.
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Normal People
I actually think it was Normal People—based on the Sally Rooney novel of the same name, in which two characters engage in an on-again/off-again romance from secondary school to college and beyond—that really kickstarted the yearning renaissance, when everyone watched it during lockdown and became weirdly obsessed with Connell’s (Paul Mescal) little chain. The main thing I remember about this exceptional drama is that the sex scenes were both horny and believable, and it somehow managed to bottle up all of the intricacies of the book. It’s no wonder that Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones have since become bonafide stars.
Carol
Okay, so Todd Haynes’s Carol doesn’t unfurl over a number of years like some others on this list, but I would be remiss not to include it, particularly as lesbians practically invented the art of yearning. Stolen glances, forbidden desire, and a lost glove that means so much more than a glove… Carol has it all. There is also, in my opinion, such a degree of tension between the two protagonists, Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett) and Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), that it practically crackles through the screen. How many times have I watched this film? Yes.
In the Mood for Love
There are plenty of Wong Kar-wai films that everyone I know is obsessed with. While one of my favorite films of all time will always be 1995’s Fallen Angels, In the Mood for Love is perhaps the Hong Kong director’s most famous, oft-cited, and visually influential. Released in 2000 and set in 1962, this sumptuous, red-hued fever-dream follows Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung) and Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) who discover that their spouses are having an affair. To the surprise of no one, they gradually develop feelings for one another. Come for the slow-burn romance, stay for the unmatched atmosphere.
Moonlight
It’s been 10 years since Moonlight, Barry Jenkins’s critically-acclaimed, three-part coming-of-age film following the life of its main character, Chiron—variously played by Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes—over several decades. The film deftly explores race, masculinity, and sexuality in modern America, but it’s also absolutely shimmering with longing. The subject of the protagonist’s desire is Kevin (played by Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome, and André Holland), an old friend and enduring flame. Widely considered one of the best movies of the 2010s, Moonlight is obviously a must-watch.