Stories of forbidden love can be in almost any genre, style, or tone. It’s a theme humans seem compelled to return to. If you’d like to be inspired by some of the greatest “really really want to, but really really can’t”s ever committed to film, the BPG team has some to recommend!

In The Mood for Love is a languorous, slow-burning romance about two neighbors (Maggie Chung and Tony Leung) who find out that their respective spouses are having an affair. Lonely and neglected, they start spending more and more time together. Something I love about this film is the way it’s shot - we often see our characters from another room, or through a window. It gives us the sense of something intimate and private, that we almost shouldn’t be looking at. It’s as though the director is inviting us into the feeling of temptation and transgression. Also, the scene where they try to imagine and re-enact their spouses’ affair is truly a testament to the power of roleplaying.

Voices of a Distant Star is a classic story: boy meets girl. Girl is drafted into an intergalactic war and is shipped off to space to fight an unknown enemy. As she goes farther and farther away from Earth, her text messages take longer and longer to reach the boy. As time passes - weeks for her, years for him - they try to reach, or to forget, the other, and find that both are impossible. This one is a tearjerker in the best way possible.

(This film is the inspiration for the “describe a detail in your characters’ environment” move. Director Makoto Shinkai has a way of making the environment a part of the story - the way light comes in through a window, or water drips from a tap, will convey as much about a scene as the words the characters exchange. If you’ve ever been unsure how to use that move, watch any of Shinkai’s films.)

Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let The Right One In), Tomas Alfredson’s beautiful 2008 film about a 12-year-old boy and his new best friend, is a coming of age story that is as unforgiving as the end of childhood. At a certain point Oskar knows he shouldn’t, and Eli knows from the start that she definitely, 100%, shouldn’t. But love takes many forms, not all of them romantic, and sometimes it is unkind. Let the Right One In is agonizing (and not just for the people that Eli occasionally butchers) - the success of the central relationship is painted in shades of gray in the best/worst Star Crossed tradition.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1947 sharp-as-a-tack romantic comedy, is so Star Crossed it hurts. Can a headstrong but down-on-her-luck single mom and the dashing ghost of a sea captain find love? Will he love her enough to let her go? Will she love him enough to forgive him for letting her go? The answer to everything is yes, yes, yes, but before things get straightened out even more get tangled up. Sophisticated and heartwarming, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is a lovely story - and Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison make a lovely couple.

Ernst Lubitsch’s 1933 film Design For Living just squeaked by the introduction of the Hays Code, and was pretty scandalous for its time. It’s perfect for Star Crossed and, even better, perfect for a three-player game! What seems like a conventional romantic comedy problem - will Gilda Farrell choose the dashing George Curtis or the successful Thomas Chambers? - gets thrown out early. George and Thomas are obviously in love with one another, and Gilda’s answer is an eminently practical “why not both?”. Design For Living is racy, charming, and genuinely funny.

Letyat Zhuravli (The Cranes Are Flying) is a 1957 Soviet film that caused a sensation not only with its artistry but also with its subject matter - a film about love and loss during the Great Patriotic War that landed a powerful emotional blow with a nation still mourning 27 million dead. You haven't seen intense devotion and terrible sacrifice until you’ve seen The Cranes Are Flying, one of the saddest films ever made. As a Star Crossed pairing, Veronika and Boris are iconic - but the Boris in play is just a hopeful memory.

Romeo Must Die hit the cinema in 2000 as a showcase for Jet Li in his first leading Hollywood role, and Aaliyah in her first acting role. Shakespeare’s tragedy provided inspiration for this plot, and the two leads really know how to lay on the banter and suggestive glances. What happened to the blushing pilgrims prepared to smooth that rough touch? Here’s why I am recommending this Y2K classic to inspire your Star Crossed story: There are dance scenes, tension, and emotion between the two main characters - all potent ingredients for your pairing. 

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is perfect source material to inspire your Star Crossed pairing. Throughout the film, the recurring theme of what you want versus what you are expected to do is achingly on display via our leads, Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-fat) and Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh). Their backstory is simple: Yu was engaged to Li Mu Bai’s friend who died. Both of them want to respect his memory so they do not act on their feelings, even at the end when tears flow freely and a heart ceases to beat.

Ladyhawke is classic 80's fantasy movie with Michelle Pfeiffer, Rutger Hauer, and Matthew Broderick and it hits all the notes you might expect- chases, escapes, a cheesy soundtrack, swordfights, a goofy sidekick, and of course a star-crossed love story. The lovers have been cursed by a jealous rival so that by day Isabeau (Pfeiffer) is transformed into a hawk and by night Navarre (Hauer) is transformed into a wolf. They are together and protect one another but they can never touch and only sometimes glimpse each other at dawn and dusk. Can Phillipe (Broderick) help them break the curse?

Sweet November has been made a few times- the original in 1968 is probably the better version, but you might prefer the 2001 remake with Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron. Either way the story is about a young, eccentric woman who takes men into her life for a month at a time to "fix them" and then they have to leave. She's very much the model of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but she has her reasons. As a Star Crossed story it's a little unusual, because they connect physically right off the bat, but will there be a real, emotional connection? Will it last, or will she send him packing when December arrives?

Baby Driver is a bit of an unusual pick, but bear with me. The A plot of the movie is all about bank heists, criminals, and fast getaways, but the B plot is the love story between the driver, Baby, and Deborah, the waitress at his favorite diner. They fall for each other over a shared love of music and a desire to escape their lives and drive away, but his life always interrupts before they can act on their feelings. As a game, the A plot would become the backstory to your Star Crossed scenes in which they flirt over song lyrics and dance around each other. Later scenes might involve more action as they try to escape the criminals and cops to finally run away with each other. But will it work out when the tower falls?