When I first watched Call Me By Your Name, I went into the movie without any expectations. I have no idea what the storyline was, nor the actors who starred in the film. I went into it thinking that it will be another overhyped movie just like most, and thought I would come out of the movie theater unaffected.

And like with most things in life, I was wrong.

From the very first scene of Elio calling Oliver usurper, to the first time Elio saw Oliver came out of the taxi with his billowy shirt and tanned skin, right up to the moment when their eyes meet and hands touched. It captivated me, in a way where no other movie had before. 

I, a girl who went into the movie sans expectations. I, a girl who thought that this will be just like any of those Hollywood romance movies, was wrong.

Call Me By Your Name reeled me in, caught my attention, and gripped it with all its might as it took me through one of the most beautiful and breathtaking 132 minutes of my life. And I don’t know which was worse, because as soon as the black screen appears, indicating that it was the end of the movie, I was already running towards the nearest bookstore to get the novel so that I can experience the magic all over again.

It was then that I knew that this story was different. That Call Me By Your Name is the kind of story that stays with me. It is the kind of story that follows me as I go through the course of life with it’s beauty and tragedy. It is the kind of story that whispers to you like the wind, and call to your body like a lover. Call Me By Your Name is the kind of tale that is oh so simple, yet because of it’s simplicity, manages to touch your heart and soul and make you feel for the characters as if they were the people you have known for a lifetime.

And with that in mind today, I am embarking on a journey to find the hidden gems out there that could bring in the waves of feels just like CMBYN did. 

1. I Am Love

Starring : Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Edoardo Gabbriellini 

Director : Luca Guadagnino

Genre : Drama, Romance 

BLURB : 

Over two decades ago, Emma left Russia to follow Tancredi Recchi, the man who had proposed to her. Now a member of a powerful industrial Milanese family, she is the respected mother of three. But Emma, although not unhappy, feels confusedly unfulfilled. One day Antonio, a talented chef and her son’s friend and partner, makes her senses kindle. It does not take long before she embarks on a passionate affair with the sensuous young man.

2. La Ciénaga

Starring : Graciela Borges, Mercedes Morán, Martín Adjemián 

Director : Lucrecia Martel

Genre : Drama, Comedy

BLURB : 

Chekhov in contemporary Argentina. Mecha and Gregorio are at their rundown country place near La Ciénaga with their teen children. It’s hot. The adults drink constantly; Mecha cuts herself, engendering a trip to the hospital and a visit from her son José. A cousin, Tali, brings her children. The kids are on their own, sunbathing by the filthy pool, dancing in town, running in the hills with shotguns, driving cars without licenses. One of the teen girls loves Isabel, a family servant constantly accused of stealing. Mother and son, son and sisters, teen and Isabel are in each other’s beds and bathrooms with a creepy intimacy. With no adults paying attention, who’s at risk?

3. Stealing Beauty

Starring : Liv Tyler, Jeremy Irons, Sinéad Cusack

Director : Bernardo Bertolucci

Genre : Drama, Romance, Mystery 

BLURB : 

For 20 years many visitors have come to the villa on an Italian hilltop owned by an English artist. Lucy, a 19-year-old American, was last there four years ago and wants to meet up again with the young Italian who kissed her and corresponded for a while. And she has brought the diary of her late mother filled with enigmatic poems that suggest Lucy was conceived on that hilltop. Lucy wants to find out if Daddy is the Italian war correspondent who wrote to her mother for 20 years. Then again Daddy could be the dying English playwright in residence or the artist who uses a chainsaw on tree trunks for his sculptures. The three, of course, have no idea that Lucy is there to solve a mystery. They, the artist’s wife, daughter of that wife and the daughter’s American lover are most intrigued by Lucy’s virginity.

4. Heartbeats 

Starring : Monia Chokri, Niels Schneider, Xavier Dolan

Director : Xavier Dolan

Genre : Drama, Romance

BLURB : 

Francis (Xavier Dolan) is a young gay man, Marie (Monia Chokri) is a young straight woman and the two of them are best friends — until the day the gorgeous Nicolas (Niels Schneider) walks into a Montreal coffee shop. The two friends, instantly and equally infatuated, compete for Nicolas’ indeterminate affections, a conflict that climaxes when the trio visit the vacation home of Nicolas’ mother. The frothy comedy unfolds through narrative, fantasy sequences and confessional monologues.

5. Before Sunrise (The Before Trilogy #1)

Starring : Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Andrea Eckert

Director : Richard Linklater

Genre : Drama, Romance

BLURB : 

American tourist Jesse and French student Celine meet by chance on the train from Budapest to Vienna. Sensing that they are developing a connection, Jesse asks Celine to spend the day with him in Vienna, and she agrees. So they pass the time before his scheduled flight the next morning together. How do two perfect strangers connect so intimately over the course of a single day? What is that special thing that bonds two people so strongly? As their bond turns to love, what will happen to them the next morning when Jesse flies away?

6. Blue Valentine

Starring : Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Faith Wladyka

Director : Derek Cianfrance

Genre : Drama, Romance

BLURB : 

Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) live a quiet life in a modest neighborhood. To the casual observer, everything appears normal, if a bit subdued. But a closer examination reveals a couple caught in a downward spiral. They appear to have the world at their feet at the outset of the relationship. However, his lack of ambition and her retreat into self-absorption cause potentially irreversible cracks in their marriage.

7. From Beginning To End

Starring : Júlia Lemmertz, Fábio Assunção, Jean Pierre Noher

Director : Aluizio Abranches

Genre : Drama, Romance

BLURB : 

Set in Brazil, Francisco and his younger half-brother Thomas are best friends and unusually close to each other, to the consternation of family. Several years later, their childhood intensity has evolved into an intense sexual relationship.

8. Maurice

Starring : James Wilby, Rupert Graves, Hugh Grant

Director : James Ivory

Genre : Drama, Romance

BLURB : 

Cambridge students Clive (Grant) and Maurice (Wilby) fall in love, but Clive soon decides he must take his place in society and marry. Maurice’s life is changed when he meets Alec Scudder (Graves), the gamekeeper at Clive’s estate.