We’ve long been sold the lie that great love should feel seismic — even when that means bordering on toxic. Cinema, in particular, has a habit of placing dysfunction centre stage. But there’s something undeniably addictive about watching a love story riddled with red flags. Whether it’s Heathcliff and Cathy raging across the moors in Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights adaptation, or Stephen DeMarco abandoning Lucy in a coconut bra in Tell Me Lies, we can’t help but lean into a little on-screen dysfunction.

So while we’d never wish to experience these relationships in real life, there’s a perverse pleasure in watching them unfold from the safety of our couches. From gaslighters to enablers, below, a roundup of the most intoxicatingly toxic relationships ever put to screen.

1. Cathy and Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights (2026)

Is there anything more toxic (or dramatic) than ghosting your childhood best friend for five years when she chooses another man? Emily Brontë proved that toxic relationships have been around since the dawn of time with her writing of Cathy and Heathcliff, and Fennell's take shows us just how self-destructive a love like this can be... No thanks.

2. Stephen and Lucy, Tell Me Lies (2022)

University relationships have never had a good reputation, but Stephen and Lucy really take the cake. These two are not lovers so much as reflections of each other’s worst impulses, and their cycle of reconciliation and break up will give you whiplash just from watching it. All I'll say is the series finale better deliver Stephen a heavy dose of karma, or I'll be disappointed.

3. Joe and Love, You (2018)

We'll give it to them, these two certainly matched each other's freak. But beyond that, there is little else to admire about this love story. Whether they're conspiring to murder or covering up some other kind of horrific crime, this is a relationship defined by secrecy, violence, and a healthy dose of delusion.

4. Nicole and David, Fear (1996)

Toxic feels like a light choice of words for dating a guy who shows up at your door with a gun. David and Nicole start off like the ultimate teenage romance, but quickly spiral into obsession and manipulation. It's the ultimate story of toxicity disguised as a handsome, charming guy.

5. Nate, Maddy, and Cassie, Euphoria (2019)

All I can say is thank god my high school experience was nothing like Euphoria. To put it lightly, Nate and Maddy’s on-again, off-again saga is fuelled by jealousy, manipulation, and every bad decision you’ve ever made in love. Throw in a little bit of cheating with your girlfriend's best friend, and toxic doesn't even start to cover it.

6. David and Jade, Endless Love (2014)

Melodramatic might be a better word for this relationship, but nonetheless it's earned a spot on our list. Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde play the teenagers in question, whose love turns obsessive when their parents try to keep them apart. Endless? Yes. Healthy? Definitely not.

7. Nick and Amy, Gone Girl (2014)

I'd prefer my marriage end in divorce than go through even half of the mess that Nick and Amy get themselves into in David Fincher’s adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel. From cheating to framed murder, this a pretty bleak (and toxic) painting of a modern marriage.