So, you’ve bagged yourself a date and you’ve decided to watch a film, either at the cinema or at home. Before you just rock up to the cinema or throw on your favourite movie, read this and reconsider.The best date films have the following 3 key characteristics…

• Light, in tone

First of all, they are lighthearted. Anything too heavy in tone and the film will seep out into the room. You’ll both be left feeling down with a bad taste in your mouth and neither one of you will be wanting another date after that. So, keep it light!

• Keep it funny

Second characteristic, pretty self-explanatory really. Having a few laughs in the film you’re watching is essential. It doesn’t have to be an outright comedy, just a few moments of lighthearted humour are enough. After all, who doesn’t like to laugh on a date or in life in general for that matter.

• Middle of the road, all the way

Final characteristic for a good date film. We’re talking the Goldilocks standard. Not too boring and not too intense. You don’t want to finish with your date leaving halfway through because they’re bored. On the flip side, you don’t want to finish the film with the pair of you feeling out of breath, that is unless you’ve been Netflix’ n’ Chillin’.

Now, let’s get some genres out of the way

Horror, gorefest and slasher films, out the window. Goes without saying really. You don’t want to scare your date off or freak them out with your film choice, at least not right away… There’s only one time of year when watching these as date films is acceptable and you know when that day is.

Disaster movies…forget them! They will leave you with a disaster date. They are boring and you don’t want that vibe infiltrating your date. Enough said.

Documentary films are also off the table. There is a time and place to watch these and that place is not on a film date. A date should be entertaining, not a lecture! These are the kind of films you watch on your own through recommendations from a friend.

Full on romance films are a big no no! You don’t want to come across as too desperate. So, avoid romance films at the cinema and if you’re at home, don’t go for anything like The Notebook or Titanic. Especially not Titanic! I don’t care how amazing it is, no one wants to sit through a 3-hour love story that ends with (SPOILER ALERT) a ship sinking, 2000 people dying and Jack falling into the inky depths of the North Atlantic Ocean. What you want is a film that combines romance with something that has an underlying tone of love, without shoving it in your face.

Bare this advice in mind when choosing a date film to see at the cinema and for those that are wanting to show off their home cinema set up, here are our 10 recommendations from CLiKD:

• Mr and Mrs Smith
• Scot Pilgrim Vs. the World
• Hot Fuzz
• About Time
• Bohemian Rhapsody
• Rocketman
• Catch Me If You Can
• 500 days of summer
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Zombieland