2020 Movies About Relationships - From Cuties to Onward

2020 was a weird year at the movies, especially considering that the theaters were empty for most of it. In a year that saw the studios act quickly and creatively to adapt to the uncharted territory of releasing movies during a pandemic, the films that made the most money were the ones released at the beginning of the year while it seems, according to rotten tomatoes at least, that many of the best waited until the very end. Today, we'll take a look back at some of the highs and lows of relationships portrayed on screen last year. We’ll be looking specifically at a few movies that highlighted strong relational stories, not necessarily our picks for best movies of 2020. Also, we’ll try our best to keep it spoiler free for those who haven’t seen the movies yet!

The holiday season of 2020 was different for many people as family gatherings and get togethers with friends had to be limited or cancelled altogether.

Hollywood seemed to anticipate the void this would create and decided to fill it with a whole host of movies with strong family themes right at the end of the year. One film that hit this note stronger than many of the rest was Greenland, the Gerard Butler led catastrophe genre film about a family pulling together to survive the a world devastating event.

Butler has shown that he has the ability to play a strong protagonist in the past, but this role seemed to be written for him to show both his action hero chops and a believable sincerity as a man who will do whatever it takes to protect his family. Greenland received a mostly positive 73% score on Rotten Tomatoes and also stars Morena Baccarin, Roger Dale Floyd and Scott Glenn.

Next on our list is a film that mixes a few common a recently trending themes to create something all its own. Military wives is a film about, military wives… As their spouses are sent out for deployment in Afghanistan, those left back at home struggle to deal with the separation and fear of that life shattering knock on the door by banding together and deciding to occupy their time by forming a choir. Adding an emotional weight to the recent surge of performance musical comedies with the reality of what brought this group together, we get to see these women with apparently only one major thing in common unite and carry one another throughout the challenges and heartaches that come with the life of a military family. Military Wives also received a certified fresh score of 77% on Rotten Tomatoes and stars and ensemble cast featuring Kristin Scott Thomas, Sharon Horgan, Jason Flemyng, and Greg Wise.

Fans of Will Smith were ecstatic in 2018 when it was officially announced that he was teaming up with Martin Lawrence again for one last ride as Detectives Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett for the third installment in their action packed, buddy cop franchise Bad Boys For Life. With 17 years between the second and third films, some movie fans and critics were skeptical that a solid follow up could be made that would meet the bar set by its predecessors but on many accounts, Bad Boys For Life found a way to exceed it.

While maintaining the high octane action and comedic prowess of the first two films, Smith and Lawrence were able to tap into a deeper emotional through line by highlighting the 20+ years of partnership and true friendship between their characters. Bad Boys For life carried a strong 77% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes but played even stronger with viewers who gave it an incredible 96% audience score!

The last one we’ll mention before we unveil our picks for best and worst relationships in movies for 2020 is one that stands out personally for me. Another trilogy film with a long gap, 19 years this time, between the second and third is Keanue Reeves and Alex Winter’s Bill and Ted Face The Music. The original was great and Bogus Journey is one of the earliest influences from my childhood that made me want to be a rock musician and I was not sure that this series would benefit from a third so late in the game.

With a high comedic bar set, Face the Music played squarely to its strengths. Focusing on the arrested development of its two protagonists, we see Bill and Ted 20 years down the line and still having not fulfilled the destinies that they were told would come in the first two films. For as lighthearted as the movie is, it does touch on the strain this brings to their relationships with their wives, the internal struggles they wrestle with themselves and the influence it has on their two daughters - not to mention Death, who has his own issues with the Wyld Stallyns.

Bill and Ted Face The Music hit all the right notes, receiving a surprising 82% certified fresh rating on Rotten tomatoes!

Let’s get our worst picks for movies out of the way first. Cuties. With a myriad of issues including a current court case to determine if this movie crossed the bounds into child pornography and endangerment, the primary story is about a pre-teen girl who rebels against her conservative upbringing by starting a sexually charged dance troupe with her friends. At one point, she even tries to seduce her own family member in order to get out of trouble.

While film critics tried to defend the supposed message of the film giving it a high 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, viewers were having none of it, blasting it with an extremely low 15%!

Now, for the best relationship depicted in movies this last year, we are going back to one that came out early but had a strong showing none the less. It’s the relationship between teenage led brothers Ian and Barley in the Disney Pixar release, Onward.

Voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt, you can see a genuine care love between these two brothers from the very beginning.

Even when the bumbling Barley shows up at Ian’s school in his Pegasus painted van named Guinevere and embarrasses him in front of his new friends, it’s handled with a tenderness and understanding that many movies in the same vein lack. When the opportunity to have one more day with their deceased father is brought into their lives by means of a magical staff, the brothers embark on a Quest that plays out in hilarious and heartfelt ways.

Onward received high scores from critics and viewers alike, with an 88% and 95% respectively!

That wraps up our review of relationships in movies for 2020. With so many releases, this list could have been much much longer with many more highs and lows! Let us know what your picks were and what you thought of ours in the comments below!