Joe

Hariharan Ram S's 2023 Tamil film is about Joe, who cannot get past a break-up from his university years. At his family's urging he marries Shruthi, but she has not settled with her own past and does not accept the marriage. The two begin living in the same house, closed off from each other. The film inverts the usual progression of romantic drama: the love story becomes possible at the end rather than at the start. The stretch in between is spent not on two people getting to know each other but on each trying to accept their own loss. Rio Raj came from television and his performance carries the film. The pacing is slow and some sections repeat themselves. Its best quality is showing the aftermath of a break-up without romanticising it, as a long and tedious process. Who it's for: those who like quiet romantic drama and small-scale Tamil films. Who it's not for: viewers wanting dense incident and classic romantic development; the film stays in place for long stretches.