Was Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette perfect? No—but as a newly single bisexual equally into slightly mean, perfectly attired blonde women and golden retriever men in Kangol hats with an affinity for goofy modes of transportation, it sure worked for me. So, what to do now that the show is over?
Below, read up on everything the Vogue staff is watching now—from more Kennedy dramas to straight-up homonyms—while we wait for Netflix’s Kennedy.
JFK Jr: The Final Year (2019)
This documentary was released a full seven years before Love Story hit FX, but it’s definitely worth watching if you’re craving more information about Kennedy’s work at George magazine, his relationship with the press, and, yes, his marriage. It zeroes in on the last year of Kennedy’s life, 1999…and features a whole lot of Carole Radziwill.—Emma Specter, culture writer
Chappaquiddick (2017)
Sorry to be morbid re: further Kennedy family tragedies, but this genuinely is a really good movie. Kate Mara nails her role as the gone-too-soon Mary Jo Kopechne, one of the “Boiler Room Girls” who worked on Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign.—ES
That Summer (2017)
As a corrective to the rare (and mostly snarky) references to Lee Radziwill—Jackie Kennedy’s sister and John Jr.’s cousin Anthony’s mother—in Love Story, consider this little-seen prequel, of a kind, to the classic 1975 documentary Grey Gardens. In 1972, Radziwill and her friend, photographer Peter Beard, set out to make a documentary about her East Hampton childhood with Albert and David Maysles, featuring her “eccentric” aunt Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Edith Bouvier Beale. The project was eventually scrapped—though it gave the Maysles brothers the idea to make Grey Gardens—only to be revisited some 45 years later, when Swedish director Göran Hugo Olsson pieced the footage together into a fascinating portrait of the Bouviers.—Marley Marius, senior editor, features and news
Jackie (2016)
I immediately had to re-watch Jackie after watching Naomi Watts’s portrayal of Jackie O in Love Story. To this day, I think that Natalie Portman was robbed for an Oscar. A performance so esoteric and visceral!—Christian Allaire, senior fashion & style writer
Ethel (2012)
Ethel Kennedy is depicted, uh, somewhat intensely on Love Story, but this documentary about the human rights advocate, mother of 11 children, and widow of US Senator Robert F. Kennedy (which happens to have been directed by her daughter Rory!) combines personal stories with archival footage to paint a much wider-ranging portrait of a legendary woman.—ES
Thirteen Days (2000)
This historical political-thriller dramatizes the involvement of President John F. Kennedy (a.k.a. John-John’s father, for any Gen Z readers who may need this information) in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, highlighting the 13-day conflict from the viewpoint of top White House aide Kenneth O'Donnell. Not exactly a biopic, but worth adding to your Kennedy-lore viewing roster nonetheless!—ES
Love Story (1970)
Every older person I mention the show to (mostly my mother) think I’m talking about Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw, so I figure I should go watch that again since it’s been about 20 years. Never forget: love means never having to say you’re sorry.—Chloe Malle, head of editorial content
