Throuples on film: 9 times movies and TV shows depicted ‘triad’ relationships

Sometimes three’s company... sometimes it can be so much more. Louis Chilton picks nine of the best films and TV shows centring on three-person polyamorous relationships

Diego Luna, Ana Lopez Mercado and Gael Garcia Bernal in ‘Y tu mamá también’ (Shutterstock)

It may feel like throuples are a distinctly modern romantic arrangement – but this couldn’t be further from the case.

In fact, consensual non-monogamy, such as a ménage à trois, goes back centuries. It can even be found in the bible (in the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar).

Recently, David Haye has been the subject of speculation surrounding his private life, with fans claiming that the ex-boxer is in a three-way relationship with model Sian Osborne and The Saturdays singer Una Healy.

On Valentine’s Day, Haye appeared to confirm the rumours, with Healy also sharing a coy message on Instagram alluding to the relationship.

When it comes to depictions of polyamorous relationships in film and TV, good examples have traditionally been few and far between.

But that’s not to say there haven’t been any – from pre-code classics to modern indie dramas, there are plenty of films and TV series which place the spotlight on those who defy the norms of conventional two-person relationships.

Here are nine of the best films and TV series about throuples…

Bandits (2001)

What could be more enticing than a romantic triad between three scurrilous bank robbers? What if they were played by Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, and Cate Blanchett? That’s the premise of Barry Levinson’s eccentric 2001 crime caper, which revels in its unconventional sexual dynamics and has star power to burn.

Design for Living (1933)

This 1933 comedy, written by Noel Coward and directed by Ernst Lubitsch, follows a free-spirited woman (Miriam Hopkins) who can’t pick between two prospective love interests (Gary Cooper and Fredric March). So what does she do? She picks both of them. Witty, humane and progressive, Design for Living has aged shockingly well, and arguably remains the urtext for exploring throuples on film.

Fredric March, Gary Cooper, and Miriam Hopkins star in ‘Design for Living' (Snap/Shutterstock)

Easy (2016-2019)

Netflix’s smart, well-acted and sex-positive anthology series explored numerous unconventional romances over the course of its three seasons. One of the most memorable occurred back in season one, in which a couple – played by Orlando Bloom and Malin Åkerman – attempt to have a threesome with another woman (Kate Micucci), only to be foiled by the repeated cries of their baby.

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‘Easy’ was released on Netflix between 2016 and 2019 (Netflix)

Jules et Jim (1962)

François Truffaut’s French New Wave classic Jules et Jim endures as one of cinema’s best-loved depictions of a three-pronged romance. The tryst between Catherine (Jeanne Moreau) and best friends Jules (Oskar Werner) and Jim (Henri Serre) may have doom written all across it, but for a while, the three manage to co-exist in amorous bliss.

‘Jules et Jim’ starred Jeanne Moreau as Catherine, Oskar Werner as Jules and Henri Serre as Jim (Artificial Eye/Curzon)

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017)

This superlative biopic is based on the true story of William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans), a psychologist who enters a kink-positive throuple with his wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall) and research assistant Olive Byrne (Bella Heathcote). Their love had far-reaching consequences beyond the field of psychology: Marston is best known for creating the character of Wonder Woman.

‘Professor Marston’ followed Harvard psychologist Dr William Moulton Marston and the three-person relationship at the centre of his life (2017 PMWW LLC. All Rights Reserved)

Splendor (1999)

Gregg Araki’s 1999 romcom follows a three-way relationship between three artists – an actor, a writer and a musician – played by Kathleen Robertson, Johnathon Schaech, and Matt Keeslar. The plot pretty much mirrors Design for Living, but with the setting updated to contemporary LA. It’s a winning formula.

Transparent (2016-2019)

The Pfeffermans, the family at the heart of Prime Video’s Emmy-winning series Transparent, spent much of the show’s four seasons bucking social norms when it comes to sex and gender. The arc in which Sarah (Amy Landecker) and husband Len (Rob Huebel) enter into a romantic triad with the younger Lila (Alia Shawkat) remains one of the more acutely observed depictions of consensual non-monogamy in recent TV.

Y tu mamá también (2002)

Alfonso Cuarón’s sun-baked road movie, about two teenage boys who go on a road trip around Mexico with an enigmatic older woman, remains a high point of its director’s career. Homoerotic desire underpins the dynamic between Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal’s sex-obsessed young men; they seem to stumble into the ménage à trois against their own wits.

‘You Me Her’ tracked a ‘triad’ relationship between a married couple and a sex worker (Darko Sikman)

You Me Her (2015-2020)

Running for five seasons from 2015 to 2020, this Oregon-set TV show was billed as the medium’s “first polyromantic comedy”. Greg Poehler and Rachel Blanchard play a married suburban couple who decide to open their relationship up to a third party. Priscilla Faia plays Izzy, a grad student and sex worker who finds herself getting much closer to her new clients than any of them planned for.