Entertainment

This Underrated Movie Is Perf For Galentine's Day

You've watched Thelma & Louise, you can recite Mean Girls by heart, and you and your BFF basically are Cher and Dionne from Clueless. If you're a movie-obsessed pair, then there's no film about female friendship you and your best friend haven't seen. And every year on Galentine's Day, you are faced with a decision: do you watch a classic girlfriend movie, or do you go with something new? If you're tired of watching the same old movies and are willing to take a chance, then Life Partners is the underrated Galentine's Day movie you need to watch this year.

Life Partners was released in 2014, but didn't really make it to a lot of theaters, hence its underrated status. The film stars Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) and Gillian Jacobs (Community) as Sasha and Paige, respectively, a pair of ride or die BFFs who grow apart after Paige starts dating Tim (Adam Brody). As things get serious between Paige and Tim, Sasha feels left behind, especially as she's left navigating the world of Tinder and funemployment. It also features a hilarious supporting cast including Gabourey Sidibe and Beth Dover as Jen and Jenn, two of Sasha and Paige's friends who, like Sasha, are gay, and Saturday Night Live vets Abby Elliott and Kate McKinnon. So, don't be fooled by the slightly sad subject matter, Life Partners is a dramedy full of funny moments, and it has the cast to prove it.

Based on the cast alone, Life Partners is the perfect Galentine's Day movie for anyone who loves Gossip Girl, Community, and The O.C., but that's not the only reason you and your BFF should watch it this holiday. Life Partners is a brutally honest movie about what happens when two friends go from being on the same page to reading two different books entirely. As Paige's life starts to come together, with a good job and a serious significant other, Sasha's is still as messy as ever. When you and someone you're close to start to diverge in life, it can be tough to maintain the close relationship you count on. It's a bittersweet inevitability not often depicted in films that focus on female friendships, and one that everyone can relate to, whether you and your friends are going through it right now or not.

Life Partners is a Galentine's Day movie everyone can relate to, no matter your relationship status. If you're single, then Sasha's Tinder misadventures will feel way too real. If you're in a relationship, then maybe Paige's love life trials will feel more relatable. Whatever your relationship status (or job status, for that matter), part of the great thing about Life Partners is that it won't really make you feel bad either way. A lot of movies about female friendships are romance heavy, and while that's not inherently a bad thing, it can also make single people feel left out. Life Partners contains romance, but it doesn't shove it in your face. And with Valentine's Day on the horizon, single people feel bad enough as it is. We don't need a movie to remind us of how single we are, and we certainly don't need it on Galentine's Day of all days.

Galentine's Day is all about celebrating your lady friends, not your lovers. Life Partners will definitely make you feel grateful for all the lovely women in your life, and in Hollywood. Jacobs and Meester are both great in the film, which features a predominantly female cast and was written and directed by women (director Susanna Fogel co-wrote the script with Joni Lefkowitz). So, watching Life Partners on Galentine's Day won't just be a way for you and your friends to support the women you know and love, it will also be a great way to support women filmmakers and their work.

Bonus: Life Partners is currently streaming on Netflix. So, it's an awesome, underrated movie about female friendship with an amazing cast, and it's free to stream? Epic Galentine's Day movie all around.