Valentine’s Day: for couples, it’s the warm doting day of chocolates, flowers and love; for the rest, it’s the day filled of tender comfort from your couch, a tub of chilled Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and quality Netflix.  I would argue most prefer the latter.

But Valentine’s Day serves another purpose as well, a swift but quiet reminder that your life is far from a Nicholas Sparks film — and there are some upsides to that.  Because while you may not believe no film characters depict real compassionate love as good as “Twilight’s” Edward and Bella, I’m here to convince you otherwise.

Therefore, here are four films to watch and cry, alone in bed, with your cat and dog, on this graceful Valentine’s Day.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Between this and “Knocked Up,” it was hard to choose a recent comedy centered on a love plot that has made me cry from laughing. And as cliché as that saying is, it’s true —these films have made me shed tears.  Studded with the Apatow club — Jason Segal, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader — the film holds up on its own cleverly written, but wacky comedic turn on a character attempting to get over their ex.

500 Days of Summer

Most love story films portray a couple that will last together to the end of the film reel.  This movie offers something different. Starring the charismatic Joseph Gordon Levitt and “New Girl’s” Zooey Deschanel, “500 Days of Summer” captures and critiques everything rom-coms depict about relationships. It showcases an original perspective on living happily ever after, whether you’re receiving flowers from your loved one, or chocolate chip cookie dough Ben & Jerry’s from ETC.

About Time

A romantic love story about time traveling? Starring the actor who’s been in every award film of 2015, Domhnall Gleeson leads this unconventional British love story down a hilariously quirky and heartfelt road. Opposite of Gleeson stars Rachel McAdams, the queen of time traveling rom-coms (see: “The Time Traveler’s Wife”), adding to one of the best chemistry-ed couples in recent years.

Gone Girl

Starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as one of the cutest couples in film of the past decade — kidding — this is probably the last film to watch on Valentine’s Day, though it didn’t stop my mom from seeing it, thinking it was a Nicholas Sparks film.