Author’s note with spoiler for Last Christmas: In honor of the Duran Duran song, this movie is about a woman who finds out that her boyfriend is a ghost who literally gave her his goddamn heart. Here are a few others that follow the same, literal logic.
Let’s Go Crazy
Upon leaving her psychiatrist’s office, Nikki meets a handsome yet androgynous stranger who invites her to “look for the purple banana.” To her surprise, this is not an invitation to sex but to a quest for rare fruit. After a series of hijacks in the Twin Cities, they are thrown into a truck and taken to the lair of Dr. Everything Will B. Alright, where they are given a fatal combination of pills, thrills, and daffodils. In a surprise twist, Nikki wakes up in a locked mental ward where she had been the whole time. Even more shockingly, she realizes that the body of water she had skinny-dipped in was not Lake Minnetonka.
Like a Virgin
An ingenue emerges from the wilderness with amnesia. Every time she has sex she feels like a virgin because she is incapable of remembering any previous experiences. She fails to emotionally connect with anyone until she meets a man who was born without a ribcage. Far from being repulsed, she has her own ribs removed until she can feel his heartbeat right next to hers. She gives him all her love until the end of time.
Don’t You Forget About Me
Another amnesia story: Claire is unable to form new memories, but Andrew is determined to get through to her. After many fruitless attempts, they roleplay The Rebel and The Princess trapped in high school detention and dance on the furniture. She gives him her earring, then the rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling, down, down, down, down.
With or Without You
Paul is led by a mysterious, beautiful physics professor to her dungeon, where she ties him up and makes him lie on a bed of nails. Using her transmogrifier ray, she puts into a permanent state of quantum indeterminacy where he can live neither with nor without her. Move by his suffering and their passionate lovemaking, she drives to the nearest Goodwill and desperately shoves herself into a donation box. By giving herself away she frees him from bondage.
Your Love (a.k.a., I Just Wanna Use Your Love Tonight)
Josie’s on a vacation far away, and Tony invites his little sister’s best friend to talk it over. Her dad calls the police, and he soon learns that “I like my girls a little bit older” is not just a personal preference but the law. Larry Clark directs.
Karma Chameleon
A gay man falls in love with a faithless reptile who comes and goes, comes and goes. Finally, he convinces the chameleon to settle down. They fulfill the Religious Right’s worst nightmare by getting married. The bride wears red, gold, and green.
Rio
Simon spies a woman dancing across the Rio Grande, boldly defying both social norms and immigration law. Though she looks like she’s the best, the ICE agents are not moved by her beauty.
Dancing with Myself
Billy goes to the club and desperately tries to get attention from the ladies. Alas, the title of the movie is accurate. He goes home to play Fortnight and denounce all women as teases on incel message boards.