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Romantic Movies: 85 Films That Could Save Your Marriage

85 Movies That Could Save Your Marriage
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Making it past the three-year itch could be as simple as popping in a DVD and watching other couples fight.

That’s the overarching conclusion of a new study out of the University of Rochester, which found that watching a film that examined the complexities of marriage and discussing the issues together as a couple can be just as effective at curbing divorce rates as traditional marriage counseling methods.

The findings, published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, show that the movie method helped cut the divorce rate of newlywed couples from 24 per cent to 11 per cent at the three-year mark -- the same success rate as supervised sessions conducted by trained therapists.

"Taking time to sit down and take an objective look at your relationship with your partner is going to be helpful for any couple at any stage,” said study lead author Ronald Rogge in a statement.

“They can make it a yearly thing they do around their anniversary -- watch a movie together and talk about it. That would be a fantastic thing to do and a great present to give themselves each year."

For the study, 174 couples were divided into three groups and underwent various marriage counseling methods. Couples in the movie group were sent home with a list of film titles and instructed to watch one film a week. Using a questionnaire, participants were then asked to talk about the marital issues presented in the film and relate them back to their coupledom.

Want to try out the movie method yourself? Rogge has put together the list of movies used in the study, a list of recommended titles, and the movie discussion questions online.

A Star Is Born

Movies That Will Save Your Marriage

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