Wes Anderson has only written and directed a couple of full-blown romances. Most of his movies are tragicomic epics covering a wide spectrum of human emotions. But love is usually one of the most prominent emotions featured (whether that love is requited is a different story). Almost all of Anderson’s movies have a romantic subplot, going back to the first one, Bottle Rocket, which deviates from a crime caper into a love story when the gang hides out at a remote rural motel and one of them falls for a maid.
From Richie and Margot’s semi-incestuous entanglement in Moonrise Kingdom, Anderson is responsible for some unforgettable tales of romance.
Etheline & Henry (The Royal Tenenbaums)
The titular patriarch in The Royal Tenenbaums stages a fake terminal illness to re-infiltrate his old house in a desperate bid to reconnect with his family and win back his ex-wife. Alongside that storyline, Royal’s ex-wife Etheline falls for her long-time ant, Henry Sherman.
Ethel and Henry’s romantic arc tells a heartwarming tale about two people finding love at a certain age. They’re perfect for each other from the get-go; the only thing standing in the way of their happiness is Ethel’s bitter ex-husband.
Rosenthaler & Simone (The French Dispatch)
Anderson’s most recent feature, The French Dispatch, is an anthology movie made up of a few short films. Framed by the titular magazine, each segment visualizes the subject of an article. The first one stars Benicio del Toro as a convicted murderer creating beautiful art behind bars and Léa Seydoux as the prison guard who becomes his muse.
Moses Rosenthaler, the murderous artist, is desperate to be embraced by Simone, the prison guard, but she’s only interested in inspiring his work – she doesn’t really love him.
Anthony & Inez (Bottle Rocket)
The romance between Anthony and Inez in Bottle Rocket is the original Wes Anderson love story. Initially, the movie tells the story of Anthony’s friend Dignan putting together a gang, pulling off a heist, and laying low at a motel for a few days.
But Anderson subverts the audience’s expectations and abandons the crime caper thread (at least for a while) to explore a burgeoning romance between Anthony and a motel maid who doesn’t speak English, who he believes is his soulmate.
Jane & Ned (The Life Aquatic)
When a pregnant reporter boards the Belafonte to interview Steve Zissou, he instantly becomes interested in pursuing a romance. She’s a lifelong fan of Steve’s, but has no romantic interest in him. Instead, she has her sights set on his estranged son, Ned.
Anderson wrings plenty of laughs out of Steve’s jealousy, but this love story is wholesome and heartwarming in its own right (although it ultimately ends in tragedy with Ned’s untimely death).
Mr. & Mrs. Fox (Fantastic Mr. Fox)
The internal struggle for the titular thief-turned-writer-turned-thief-again in Fantastic Mr. Fox is the tug-o’-war between his nefarious pride and his commitment to his wife. When Mrs. Fox becomes pregnant with Ash, she makes Mr. Fox promise to give up a life of crime and pursue a legitimate career.
When that legitimate career gets too boring, Mr. Fox naturally returns to his life of crime and ends up jeopardizing the whole family, infuriating Mrs. Fox. Fantastic Mr. Fox is a cartoon about talking animals, but at its core, it’s about a married couple working through their problems.
Richie & Margot (The Royal Tenenbaums)
Easily the most unconventional love story in a Wes Anderson movie is Richie Tenenbaum’s love for his adopted sister Margot. They’re not related by blood, but they were raised as siblings by the same parents, so this romance exists in a semi-incestuous gray area.
Not only is Richie and Margot’s romance controversial for its incestuous nature; it’s also incredibly dark. Margot is married and she’s already having an affair with Richie’s best friend (and a bunch of other affairs on top of that), which drives Richie to attempt suicide. Eventually, the two confront their feelings and agree to be “secretly in love.”
Zero & Agatha (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
In the framing narrative of The Grand Budapest Hotel, an older Zero struggles to even talk about his wife Agatha, because the memory is so painful. After foreshadowing a tragic fate, Zero charges ahead and details the early days of his relationship with Agatha.
Neither of them had any friends or family or a penny to their name, but all they needed was each other. M. Gustave is the lead character in Grand Budapest, but Zero and Agatha’s romance is the emotional throughline that pulls the story together.
Sam & Suzy (Moonrise Kingdom)
Anderson’s only straightforward romance movie to date, Moonrise Kingdom, is a bittersweet coming-of-age fairy tale about two isolated, insecure, emotionally disturbed children who find love and companionship in each other and plan to run away and start a life together.
Instead of depicting young love with a painful sense of realism, Anderson paints with a nostalgic brush. Moonrise Kingdom doesn’t play like a real tween romance; it plays like a tween daydreaming about the perfect romance.
