Love stories can be great emotional escapes. Watching couples surmount the odds renews our faith in genuine connection. But let’s be honest, some of the most unforgettable couples are unforgettable for all the wrong reasons. These pairs may have chemistry in spades, but they’re also waving some bright red flags.
After all, passion makes for epic romance, but it also fuels obsession, manipulation, and mutual destruction. This can all be very entertaining. Whether it’s a guilty pleasure or a train wreck you can’t look away from, these movies and shows with toxic couples remind us that love and hate are two sides of the same coin. Delight in their destruction or take comfort in the reminder that singleness is a blessing — either way, these lovers put the “fun” in dysfunction.
Where to begin? The title of this show might as well be Toxic Love 101. Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) is a romantic, falling in love with a new woman each season. It’s innocent enough until Joe’s grand romantic gestures become kidnapping, caging, and often murdering for these ladies. Then he meets Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti) in Season 2 and thinks he’s found someone who sees who he is and accepts him. They settle down together, but it turns out two crazies don’t equal a sane couple, and it isn’t long until their affection turns sour, pitting them against each other.
The bad boy and the straitlaced girl are a mainstay of teen drama. Who doesn’t love an unlikely couple? In this millennial series about rich prep schoolers and their many intrigues, there are plenty of questionable romantic pairings, but the one that keeps fans talking is Blair (Leighton Meester) and Chuck (Ed Westwick). He’s a playboy with an attitude; she’s ruthless and spoiled. Their dark sides attract one another, and in their softer moments, it’s easy to get swept up. But consider the possessiveness, the infidelity, and even the violent outbursts in their relationship. Is this really what love looks like?
“Hurt people hurt people,” as they say, and it’s easiest to hurt those we love. In this murder mystery thriller, Jack (Jon Bernthal) and Anna (Tessa Thompson) are an estranged married couple who’ve experienced unspeakable tragedy in their relationship. She’s trying to rebuild her career as a reporter. He’s the lead detective on a murder case in their small town. Both have secrets, and both know all the right buttons to press to get on each other’s nerves. There is love there, buried beneath the sadness and anger, but they won’t be teaching any classes on conflict resolution anytime soon.
The couple in this dark comedy series isn’t romantic. In fact, they’re more like mortal enemies, but they form a sort of codependency that qualifies them for this list. Contractor Danny (Steven Yeun) and artist Amy (Ali Wong) almost have a fender bender in a hardware store parking lot. This nonevent is the catalyst for a feud that turns both of them into their worst selves. While they differ in socioeconomic status, they’re incredibly similar in how they weigh their self-worth against their material value. Watching these two strangers push against each other is a master class in toxic behavior — especially since, under different circumstances, they’d make great friends.
This movie, based on the gothic romance novel by Daphne du Maurier, starts out like a fairy tale. A young woman (Lily James) is swept up in a romance with a dashing and wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer). They marry quickly, and he whisks her off to his country estate, Manderley, where the presence of his dead wife, Rebecca, is felt in every dark corner of the massive home. Not only does Maxim leave the poor new Mrs. de Winter with the domineering housekeeper, but he does little to protect her from everyone’s judgment, comparing her to his first wife. If that’s not bad enough, as the details of Rebecca’s mysterious death surface, Mr. and Mrs. de Winter’s marriage has plenty of reasons to fall apart.
Running into an ex at the grocery store is awkward; running into your ex in prison after they landed you there is a cruel twist of fate. Piper (Taylor Schilling) begins a 15-month prison sentence 10 years after smuggling money with her former girlfriend, Alex (Laura Prepon), who named Piper as an accomplice. Piper is set to keep her head down and serve her time when Alex is transferred to her prison. Somehow, they’re able to put the past behind them and have an on-again, off-again prison romance, but it isn’t exactly healthy. With betrayal and an attraction to living on the edge in their shared past, their shaky foundation leads to a volatile relationship. Plus, prison isn’t the best setting for sturdy love to grow.
Look up unhealthy couples in the dictionary, and there might be a picture of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. In this award-winning series dramatizing the British monarchy and its many newsworthy moments over the years, Season 4 presents Charles (Josh O’Connor) and Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) as they start their highly publicized relationship. He’s heir to the throne and beholden to the rules of the monarchy; she’s a young girl looking for her fairy-tale ending. Through infidelity, public scrutiny, and mistreatment, their marriage is put through the wringer. Watching it all unfold and knowing where it leads just makes it all the more cautionary.
Modern dating provides so many new ways to behave badly in relationships. Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman) seem like a perfect couple as they escape to the countryside in upstate New York for a romantic weekend, where they cook together, sip wine, and explore new things in the bedroom. After handcuffing Isaac to the bed on their first evening, Iris tells him just how happy she is with their relationship. The R word alarms Isaac, who reveals he’s been under the impression they’re keeping things casual, so he’s been seeing other women. Blindsided but unwilling to give up on what she perceives as a great match, Iris keeps Isaac handcuffed for the weekend while she tries to convince him of their compatibility. Not a method any therapist would likely recommend.
Exaggerating slightly when presenting one’s virtues seems harmless. Fabricating the majority of one’s identity is not. Andrea (Iliza Shlesinger) is focused on her career as a comedian and actor when she meets hedge fund manager Dennis (Ryan Hansen) on a flight. They form an unlikely friendship, but Dennis convinces Andrea that they’d be good together romantically. He’s financially secure, owns a home, and takes care of his dying mother — what’s not to love? Except his house is always mysteriously under construction, his mother is too sick to meet his girlfriend, and his credit cards are often declined, leading Andrea to wonder whether she truly knows the man she’s dating.
Oh, the irony of including a series with this title on a list of seriously imperfect couples. In this wedding drama set in Nantucket, it’s hard to find any nontoxic couples. The wealthy Winbury family is preparing to host their son Benji’s (Billy Howle) wedding to Amelia (Eve Hewson) at their seaside summer home. The morning after the rehearsal dinner, Amelia finds her best friend, Merritt (Meghann Fahy), dead on the beach. The lengthy suspect list includes Benji’s controlling mother, Greer (Nicole Kidman), and her husband, Tag (Liev Schreiber); his elder brother, Thomas (Jack Reynor), and his meddling pregnant wife, Abby (Dakota Fanning); and his younger brother, Will (Sam Nivola), as well as a slew of other questionable wedding guests. One thing not on the list: a healthy relationship.
