Film

Catching Feelings

Name: Catching Feelings
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Released: 2017
Cast: Kagiso Lediga, Pearl Thusi, Andrew Buckland, Akin Omotoso, Precious Makgaretsa

Social drama

A South African comedy-drama about desire, marriage and middle-class complacency. When a charismatic older writer moves into a Johannesburg couple's home, their carefully ordered life fractures in unexpected ways. Intelligent, funny and genuinely sexy—it's the rare film that treats adult relationships as dramatic territory worth exploring.

If you liked this

After the Wedding2019

A meditation on marriage, duty and passion set across continents. Handles complicated adult emotions with the same sophistication and emotional clarity as Catching Feelings, asking what we owe ourselves versus those we love.

But Quieter and more meditative than you might expect from its premise. Some will find it glacially paced where others find it contemplative.

Sideways2004

Utterly unsentimental about middle-aged male desire and marriage. It's funny and devastating in equal measure, finding comedy in real disappointment rather than pretending life resolves neatly.

But Centres on two men whose self-pity can be infuriating. The wine-snob protagonist isn't likeable, which is exactly the point—and not everyone signs up for that.

Happy as Lazzaro2018

An Italian film that deconstructs desire, class and what we actually want versus what we think we should want. Visually stunning and narratively audacious in a way that lingers.

But Tonal shifts are jarring—it's not quite any single genre. Subtitled, and its structure will perplex before it clicks.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Catching Feelings

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Mulholland Drive2001

Both films understand that adult desire is never simple, and that the gap between who we think we are and who we actually are is where all the drama lives.

David Lynch's Los Angeles fever dream about desire, ambition and the stories we tell ourselves. Like Catching Feelings, it's sexy and funny and refuses to separate the erotic from the philosophical.

But Wilfully fractured narrative that doesn't explain itself. Demands active viewing and tolerates no plot-hole complaints. Lynch doesn't care if you're confused—that's the point.

High Fidelity2000

A charming film about a man forced to reckon with his own arrested development and what commitment actually means. Self-aware without being smug, it understands why we sabotage good things.

But The meta-commentary that felt fresh in 2000 now feels like a tic. Its gender politics are of their era in ways that grate.

Brief Encounter1945

The ancestor of all films about desire disrupting ordinary life. Noël Coward's script is rapier-sharp; watching restrained people almost fall apart is extraordinary drama.

But Black and white, British, from 1945—the surface formality can feel airless until you surrender to its emotional intensity. Not everyone will.

The Dinner2017

A Dutch film that takes the dinner-party-as-pressure-cooker premise to genuinely dark places. What starts as civility becomes confession becomes catastrophe, all without leaving the table.

But Deliberately claustrophobic and relentless. Some find that unbearably tense; others find it boring. There's little middle ground.

A Separation2011

An Iranian masterpiece about marriage breakdown that refuses to pick sides. Every character is right and wrong in ways that feel uncomfortably true. Morally complex filmmaking.

But Subtitled, slow-burn, and emotionally draining. It doesn't resolve things neatly or offer catharsis. Some call that mature; others call it bleak.

Certified Copy2010

Abbas Kiarostami's puzzle-box about a couple (possibly married, possibly not) who perform versions of their relationship. Playful and profound, asking what authenticity even means.

But Wilfully obscure about what's real and what's acted. If you want clarity, this will frustrate you. If you want to think for days afterward, it's perfect.

The Guard2011

An Irish comedy-drama that sneaks real emotion under jokes about incompetence. Brendan Gleeson is magnificent; the film understands that funny people often carry hidden depths.

But Tone-deaf to some ears—the humour sits uneasily next to serious plot points. Also somewhat slight once you've finished watching it.

Gomorra: La Serie2014

Both trust their audience to follow moral ambiguity. Neither is interested in heroes, only in what people want and what they're willing to do to get it.

An Italian series about organized crime that somehow makes incremental life-and-death choices feel as dramatically charged as any chamber piece. It's novelistic, morally complex, and absolutely gripping.

But Subtitled, bleak, and occasionally brutally violent. The subject matter is pulverizing; some scenes won't leave you. Also requires full attention—no doomscrolling.

Tales from the Gimli Hospital1988

Both films find the erotic and tragic within enclosed spaces, and both understand that the most interesting relationships are the ones that break people.

Guy Maddin's black-and-white fever dream about desire, plague and masculine obsession. Totally singular—shot like a 1920s film but made in 1988, it's visually hypnotic and emotionally raw.

But Genuinely weird and deliberately difficult. The aesthetic will alienate people who want conventional narrative. Also brief but exhausting.