When a movie introduces a story involving a love triangle of any kind, you know that the plot is guaranteed to be tense. This sort of complicated relationships usually lead to confusing and dramatic events, in which one (or sometimes more than one) of the main characters is bound to end up broken-hearted. It is also known that these relationships are quite fictitious, and often the by-product of cheesy romances, because in real life no one would take that long to decide between two potential partners. But in fiction, the longer the wait, the more you enjoy the decision scene. Yet, at the same time, as an audience, nothing is more disappointing than watching the main character pick the person we didn't want them to end up with. More than once, you end up suffering over these relationships as if they were your own.
While love can conquer all, it is also something that happens unexpectedly, and often at the least convenient of times. In movie history, there are more than one memorable love triangles: they are found in classics like Titanic or Gone With The Wind, and even in teen-oriented films such as Mean Girls and the To All the Boys I've Loved trilogy. Each year many more love triangle stories emerge in movies and TV series, as seen in the recent The Kissing Booth 3, but there are some memorable ones that are definitely worth remembering. Therefore, in this article we review seven of the most memorable movie love triangles that we can't live without
Noah, Allie & Lon — The Notebook
When love is meant to be, it can cross every boundary. This is what happened with Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams), two young people from different backgrounds who met one night at the Seabrook carnival and embarked on a passionate relationship. They spent their days dreaming of having a future together in the dream house that Noah would later restore for her. However, Allie's parents objected to the relationship, so they left Seabrook with the young woman. Noah, however, refused to give up so easily: he sent Allie 365 letters, but Allie's mother kept intercepting all of them. Noah wrote her one last letter and then decided to just forget about it, not knowing that fate would bring them together again.
Meanwhile, Allie started attending college, where she met Lon (James Marsden), a charming man from a wealthy family, whom she later decided to marry. The marriage ultimately did not happen because Allie found an article of Noah in the newspaper, in which he was photographed next to the dream house he had promised her during the summer they shared. This made her decide to visit him and, after a few setbacks, the two of them sparked one of the most romantic relationships in the cinematic industry.
Mark, Bridget & Daniel — Bridget Jones's Diary
Reaching her 32nd birthday, Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger), a young employee of an advertising agency in London, decided to turn her life around and go looking for changes. To do so, she made a list consisting of four resolutions: keeping a personal diary to write down her daily personal experiences, finding a partner, losing weight, and quitting cigarettes and alcohol. All these goals were entirely up to her, except for the second one, since finding a partner proved to be harder than it seemed.
Interestingly, in Bridget Jones's Diary she had two men fighting for her love, and they seemed to be polar opposites in every way. There was Daniel (Hugh Grant), her boss, a charming pretender who seemed too good to be true. Then, there was Mark (Colin Firth), a divorced lawyer whom Bridget despised, but he might just be the perfect man for her. Bridget quickly fell in love with Daniel, and they had an affair, but eventually, after finding out that he was cheating on her, sher ended up uncovering her feelings for Mark, and the two of them learned to love each other despite their imperfections.
Bella, Edward & Jacob — The Twilight Saga
This teenage romance split the Twilight fandom up into two distinct sides: Team Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and Team Edward (Robert Pattinson). The relationship between human Bella (Kristen Stewart), the werewolf, and the vampire was complex and spanned the entire saga. Edward and Jacob had several things in common besides their hatred for each other. Neither was a good fit for Bella — indeed more than once, they left her all alone when she needed them the most — however, eventually both of them were willing to put their love for her over everything else, and did whatever they had to do in order to protect her.
While Bella had an affair with both of them, she finally chose to follow her true feelings and stay with Edward, with whom she married and later had a daughter. Moreover, Edward ended up turning her into a vampire to keep her alive. Jacob also had his happy ending, since he imprinted on Renesmee, Bella's daughter. Imprinting is an involuntary mechanism by which werewolves find their soul mates, although this process can take many years, especially if it happens as with Renesmee, who was only a baby when Jacob imprinted.
Cristina, Juan Antonio & Maria Elena — Vicky Cristina Barcelona
In Vicky Cristina Barcelona, two young American women, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), arrived in Barcelona for their summer vacation. Cristina was an incipient short film director, liberal, and open to love. Vicky (Rebecca Hall), on the other hand, was a conservative and well-to-do young woman. During an art exhibition both friends met Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), a seductive Catalan painter who invited them for a weekend in Oviedo. Cristina immediately agreed and Vicky followed her unwillingly in order to look after her. Juan Antonio stated from the beginning his desire to maintain a three-way relationship, but after a brief affair with Vicky, Juan Antonio, and Cristina began a relationship. Nevertheless, with the appearance of his ex-wife, María Elena (Penélope Cruz), a neurotic and conflictive painter, these three characters got into a polygamous relationship that, from time to time, led to more than a few problems. Moreover, Vicky, already married, was still in love with the painter.
Ellie, Paul & Aster — The Half of It
The teenage love triangle in The Half of It started out in the most unexpected of ways: Paul (Daniel Diemer) asked Ellis (Leah Lewis) to help him write a love letter to Aster (Alexxis Lemire), his crush. Over the course of their letters back and forth, they both connected, and Ellis fell in love with Aster, who thought to be writing to Paul. At the same time, the friendship between Paul and Ellis also started to grow, but at a certain point was compromised when the young man discovered Ellis' feelings for Aster. Eventually, and after going through several painful situations, Ellis decided to leave and study at Grinnell, but not without first discovering Aster's feelings for her. In the end, things turned out well even for Paul, who maintained his friendship with the main character.
Julianne, Michael & Kimberly — My Best Friend’s Wedding
Julianne (Julia Roberts) had never thought of having a relationship with her best friend Michael (Dermot Mulroney), just a great friendship that kept them company in both sad and happy moments. Time went by and they each moved to different cities, but they still kept in touch. A few years later, he called her to deliver some big news: he was getting married in a couple of days to an attractive young woman named Kimberly (Cameron Diaz), and he wanted Julianne to be a bridesmaid. She immediately flew to Chicago to help with the preparations, but as the event approached, Julianne came to the realization that she was totally in love with her friend, so she had to stop the wedding at any cost.
The Narrator, Marla & Tyler — Fight Club
This is a rather peculiar love triangle, but definitely deserves a place on this list. The Narrator (Edward Norton) was living a dull and monotonous life, which got even drearier when he became addicted to therapy groups to try to overcome his insomnia. It was there that he met Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), a phony with whom he would later initiate a relationship. However, on a plane ride, The Narrator encountered Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), a soap salesman who was all The Narrator aspired to be. However, this character was merely The Narrator's alter ego, something that will be revealed by the end of the movie. Both characters engaged in a weird romance with Marla, which more than once led to The Narrator's anger with Tyler. However, in an open ending that to this day continues to provoke doubts among Fight Club fans, it was revealed that Marla finally ended up with The Narrator, as they shared a fantastic scene watching the city buildings explode outside the view from their window.
Hermione, Ron & Lavender — Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Harry Potter saga features many love triangles, but this is one of the most memorable. Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione's (Emma Watson) relationship kept growing and morphing throughout the movies, but it definitely had its ups and downs. One of them came when Ron had a brief fling with Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave), a possessive and romantic young lady. Naturally, this relationship did not prosper, as Ron was already in love with Hermione. As a matter of fact, after being poisoned in Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, Ron's first inquiry in the hospital wing is Hermione, putting an end to his romance with Lavender and laying the groundwork for his relationship with Hermione.
While many fans were eagerly awaiting Ron and Hermione to finally reveal their feelings in the last movie of the saga, there were many others who did not agree with this relationship: a few even wanted Hermione to end up with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe).