Film

These Foolish Things

A 2006 romantic comedy set on the eve of World War II, where a young actress finds herself at the centre of competing affections from a playwright and director. It's a period piece that trades in nostalgia and theatrical charm, with stellar supporting turns from Anjelica Huston and Terence Stamp. For those who enjoy intimate, character-driven stories with a touch of melancholy beneath the romance.

TMDb rating2.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy backstage vanity and tender romantic tangles told with a wry, faded-glamour touch, and the pleasure of seasoned players sparring over a muddled crush.

Skip it if you want the romance to bite or the wartime dread to press on you, since the backdrop stays distant and the hearts take most of the air.

What it asks of you: A little under two hours of talky, unhurried scenes that linger on glances and rehearsal-room bickering, so settle in rather than expect momentum.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Shakespeare in Love1998

A similar love triangle set in a bygone theatrical world, with witty banter, gorgeous costumes, and the same sense of romance as muse and muse-maker. Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes have genuine chemistry.

But It's unabashedly sentimental and plays fast and loose with historical fact. Some find it saccharine rather than charming.

Shakespeare in Love poster

Atonement2007

A period romance with literary elegance and emotional depth, set against the shadow of approaching war. James McAvoy and Saoirse Ronan deliver performances that linger. Visually stunning throughout.

But It's deliberately slow-paced and the ending will wreck you emotionally. Not a film for wanting to feel good after.

Atonement poster

The Talented Mr. Ripley1999

Pre-war European glamour, moral ambiguity, and a young man at the centre of other people's desires and deceptions. Matt Damon is mesmerising, and the supporting cast (Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow) is perfection.

But It's a psychological thriller, not a romance—darker and far more unsettling. The mood is dread, not nostalgia.

The Talented Mr. Ripley poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from These Foolish Things

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Brief Encounter1945

Both are structured around impossible desire complicated by external circumstances; both value what remains unspoken and unexpressed over grand gestures. Both find romance in the spaces between words.

Noel Coward's masterpiece of restrained passion between two married strangers meeting by chance. Built entirely on glances, stolen moments, and the unbearable weight of what cannot be said. Shot in black and white with a piano score that breaks your heart.

But Nothing happens by modern standards. It's a film about feeling rather than action, about the tragedy of ordinary life. Some find it slow or emotionally opaque.

Brief Encounter poster
More like this (7)

A Room with a View1986

A Merchant Ivory period romance about a young woman choosing between two men and two different futures. Exquisitely shot, with Daniel Day-Lewis and Julian Sands as rivals. Deeply romantic without being mawkish.

But The pacing is deliberate and Edwardian; it moves at its own unhurried tempo. Some find the literary adaptation style mannered or dated.

A Room with a View poster

The English Patient1996

A sweeping romance set against World War II's backdrop, with gorgeous cinematography and a passionate central love story. Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas are electric together. Epic in scope and feeling.

But It's long, indulgent, and the framing narrative feels overwrought to many. It's also become somewhat of a punchline for its earnestness.

The English Patient poster

The Remains of the Day1993

Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in a restrained, heartbreaking story about thwarted emotion and duty in pre-war England. Beautifully acted, achingly romantic precisely because so much goes unsaid.

But It's emotionally austere by design; the restraint means little happens and less is said. Some find it static and cold.

The Remains of the Day poster

Gosford Park2001

Robert Altman's ensemble piece set in a grand English house in the 1930s, brimming with class tensions, secrets, and excellent character work. Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, and a brilliant supporting cast weave through overlapping stories.

But The overlapping dialogue and multiple storylines make it hard to follow. It's more interested in atmosphere and observation than plot clarity.

Gosford Park poster

Four Rooms1995

A playful period piece (set on New Year's Eve 1899) with theatrical flair, ensemble comedy, and romantic entanglements. Quirky and charming, it celebrates the artifice of performance and desire.

But It's deliberately theatrical and mannered, which can feel affected. The comedy is eccentric and won't appeal to everyone's taste.

Four Rooms poster

The Red Shoes1948

Like These Foolish Things, it's about a young woman pursued by two creative men in a theatrical world, and it explores how art and desire become inseparable. Both understand that the theatre is where people play out their real emotions through invention.

A Technicolor ballet film about a young dancer caught between a domineering impresario and a composer who loves her. Visually intoxicating, it uses dance and colour to express emotion that dialogue cannot. Pure cinema, pure passion.

But It's a ballet film; if dance doesn't move you, you'll find it indulgent and slow. The story is almost secondary to the spectacle.

The Red Shoes poster

Under the Skin2014

Both films are fascinated by performance and seduction, by the gap between surface and reality, and by how people present themselves to attract others. Both use theatrical artifice to explore genuine human longing, just in radically different registers.

Jonathan Glazer's austere, hypnotic science-fiction film where Scarlett Johansson plays an alien luring men to their doom in Glasgow. Visually stunning, deeply strange, and obsessed with desire, performance, and what it means to observe human life from the outside.

But It's deliberately obscure, minimal on dialogue, and the narrative is cryptic. It prioritises mood and image over clarity. Some will find it pretentious or unwatchable.

Under the Skin poster

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