In the era of swiping right, emojis and ‘U up?’ texts, the appetite for great romantic stories is, understandably, insatiable.
From the astronomical rise of spicy books to the skyrocketing popularity of shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty, more than ever audiences are hungry for grand-standing and nostalgia. We’re talking about handwritten love letters, boom-boxes outside of windows and making one another mix-tapes.
The latter was a gesture Margot Robbie leant into with her co-star, Colin Farrell, while shooting their new film, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.
When we sat down with the stars ahead of the film’s premiere, the conversation turned to the renewed enthusiasm for big romantic films and why audiences can’t get enough right now.
“I think it’s so easy to totally just ghost someone now or swipe right and then that’s the end of that love story,” Margot tells marie claire Australia.
“Whereas in this film, Sarah and David literally have to go on this journey together and they walk through these doors and it’s like he’s gonna see everything from that moment from when she was 14 or vice versa.”
Colin adds, “People don’t make mix tapes for each other anymore” before he’s quickly corrected by his co-star, “I made you a mix tape at the end of this!”
The details of the tracklist are a “secret”, we’re told.
In this film, the journey in question isn’t just the (in this case, magical and world-bending) path to love but also one of introspection. Both Sarah and David are forced to face their pasts and confront the way they’ve shaped them into who they are today, namely for their romantic downfalls.
Afterall, there’s a reason the saying ‘you have to love yourself before you can love someone else’ exists.
“We’ve all been hurt and healed by love and by romance and it’s such an aspirational thing – the idea, and maybe the reality, for some people of finding The One,” Colin says, taking the conversation back to the romance genre’s revival.
He notes that romantic films are just as much about the couple’s love story as it is about them individually. “It’s a really good lens through which to explore the individual in the dynamic of the couple.
“We’re all still trying to figure out what it is basically to be a human being and romance and love and partnership plays such a huge role in that.”
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