Film

5 to 7

A romantic comedy about a young New York writer who falls into an affair with a married Parisian woman, constrained by the peculiar rules of her open marriage. It's a witty, wistful film that treats adult desire and unconventional arrangements with genuine warmth rather than judgment. For anyone who believes love stories don't need to fit traditional shapes.

TMDb rating3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you are happy to be charmed by a romance built on wit, sharp dialogue and the bittersweet pleasure of stolen hours that feel bigger than they are.

Skip it if you want a plot that moves briskly, since this is a talky romance that lingers on conversation and mood more than on incident.

What it asks of you: Just under a hundred minutes of mostly talk, with comedy that rides on wit and a melancholy that builds slowly; it rewards patience more than close attention.

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If you liked this

Midnight in Paris2011

Same dreamy romance with European sophistication and literary longing. Woody Allen captures that intoxicating feeling of being seduced by a more glamorous, cultured world and the people who inhabit it.

But Allen's nostalgic fantasy can feel self-indulgent, and the gender dynamics haven't aged well. Also, if you want plot momentum rather than mood, you'll be frustrated.

Midnight in Paris poster

Before Sunrise1995

A masterclass in romantic constraint: two strangers with one night together in Vienna. Like 5 to 7, it trusts dialogue and chemistry over plot, and finds profound intimacy in artificial time limits.

But Nothing really happens in the conventional sense. If you need external conflict or dramatic turns, this will feel like very expensive walking and talking.

Before Sunrise poster

About a Boy2002

A romantic comedy that's genuinely funny and genuinely moving, with a similar lightness of touch about unconventional relationships and people learning to open up. Hugh Grant is perfectly cast against type.

But It's primarily a film about a man and a boy's friendship, with romance as a subplot. The early-2000s look dates it harder than you'd expect.

About a Boy poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from 5 to 7

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Punch-Drunk Love2002

Both films treat unconventional desire seriously and find humor in the gap between how people actually want to love and how society says they should. Both let their protagonists have what they want without punishment.

Paul Thomas Anderson's strangest romance: a lonely man finding connection with a woman who's equally damaged and difficult. It's about desire as compulsion, intimacy as rescue, shot through with magic and dread.

But It's aggressively weird, sometimes uncomfortable to watch, and the tone swings wildly between absurdist comedy and genuine threat. If you want warmth, this isn't it.

Punch-Drunk Love poster
More like this (8)

Sabrina1995

Another film about a young person dazzled by an older, worldly romantic interest, with Paris as a transformative backdrop. It's pure escapism with real emotional stakes underneath the glamour.

But Sydney Pollack's film relies heavily on the sheen of wealth and European sophistication to seduce you. If that particular fantasy leaves you cold, nothing else will catch you.

Sabrina poster

Amélie2001

Paris as a character, whimsy as a lens, romance as something delicate and strange. Shares 5 to 7's affection for the city and its ability to make everyday moments feel like small miracles.

But The twee factor is substantial. Its relentless quirkiness and magical thinking can curdle into something precious and alienating if you're not in the mood for it.

Amélie poster

Shopgirl2005

A quieter film about an affair between a younger woman and an older, married man, treated with surprising dignity and complexity. It asks real questions about what people want and what they deserve.

But It's melancholic rather than romantic, and the ending offers no comfort. Steve Martin's character remains morally compromised throughout, which some find bracing and others find depressing.

Shopgirl poster

Flirting with Disaster1996

Ben Stiller's early comedic gem about a young man navigating adulthood, family, and desire. It's funny in a naturalistic way and surprisingly tender about romantic confusion.

But The comedy is very much of the '90s, and it hasn't all aged evenly. The pacing drags in the middle, and if you're looking for romantic resolution, you won't quite find it.

Flirting with Disaster poster

Someone Great2019

A modern film about female desire and romance that doesn't apologize for wanting both fun and meaning. It's breezy but sincere, with genuine chemistry and a real sense that these characters matter.

But It's very much a Netflix film: pretty but slight, and the emotional beats land softly when they should land harder. The protagonist's crisis resolves almost too neatly.

Someone Great poster

Flirting1991

An Australian coming-of-age romance about a young man's intoxicating connection with a girl at another school. It captures the intensity and awkwardness of first real attraction with humor and care.

But It's intimate and small-scale, which means it can feel mannered or slow if you're not attuned to its wavelength. The setting (1960s Australia) feels quite distant.

Flirting poster

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie1972

Both films use the constraint of time and social rules to explore what people actually want. Buñuel does it as formal game and critique; Vélez does it as romantic comedy. Same question, radically different registers.

Buñuel's surrealist masterpiece about desire, appetite, and the rituals that structure our lives—especially the sexual ones. It's funny, strange, and endlessly rewatchable, with a formal elegance that rewards attention.

But It's a 1970s Surrealist film, so it doesn't move in conventional narrative time. If you need plot or emotional catharsis, you'll find it frustratingly oblique.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie poster

Tokyo Story1953

Both films find their emotional weight in small moments and constraints: Ozu's limited camera movement and the rules of a visit; Vélez's five-to-seven window. Both believe intimacy lives in what's left unsaid.

Ozu's gentle masterpiece about an aging couple visiting their son in postwar Tokyo. It's about longing, connection across distance, and the small rituals that hold life together. Patient, profound, quietly devastating.

But It's nearly 75 years old and moves at its own meditative pace. No plot machinery, no dramatic confrontations, just people talking and existing. Modern viewers often find it soporific.

Tokyo Story poster

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