About

Natalie Portman and Christian Bale Beach Scene refers to a video meme that began making the rounds on Twitter / X in April 2025, featuring a scene from the 2015 Terrence Malick film Knight of Cups. The scene shows Rick (played by Christian Bale) and Elizabeth (played by Natalie Portman) on an overcast beach, playing in the waves and running on the sand and the dock, fully clothed. The scene is often used to joke about what a situationship or a doomed love affair feels like.

Origin

The film Knight of Cups, directed by Terrence Malick, was released on March 4th, 2016, and follows a screenwriter named Rick (Christian Bale) as he retraces his past relationships, each represented by a tarot card from the Major Arcana. One of the people Rick reminisces about is Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), with the latter part of the film showing a beach scene featuring the two actors.^[1]

On April 18th, 2025, X^[2] user @plieel posted a clip of the scene without comment, gathering over 41,000 likes and 21 million views in two weeks.

pic.twitter.com/zBJVrXX3pB

— i (@plieel) April 18, 2025

On April 19th, X^[3] user @usermrt222 reposted the video with a caption that translates to, "My dreams with the worst person I ever met," gathering over 86,000 likes in five days.

Mis sueños con la peor persona q conocí https://t.co/vmx8oSmDOl

— cinnamon girl🧘‍♀️ (@usermrt222) April 19, 2025

Spread

Other X users posted tweets using the clip from Knight of Cups, often using it to represent tumultuous or dramatic relationships.

On April 20th, X^[4] user @randpie reposted the video with a caption that translates to, "The day before the block." The post gathered over 15,000 likes in four days.

قبل البلوك بيوم: https://t.co/p1IP8Um3Yh

— Rand (@randpie) April 20, 2025

On April 22nd, X^[5] user @iichxnce tweeted, "da night before yo situationship over," gathering over 200,000 likes in two days.

da night before yo situationship over https://t.co/tctrWaqgkH

— え (@iichxnce) April 22, 2025

On April 23rd, X^[6] user @buypolodisord3r tweeted, "how the situationship feels when your friends don’t know about it," gathering over 160,000 likes in a day.

how the situationship feels when your friends don’t know about it https://t.co/O705gc06YW

— eatingzushi (@buypolodisord3r) April 23, 2025

Various Examples

how dates are with a man you will never marry https://t.co/QmX3tmGSPm

— jenny sais quoi (@jennytheleo) April 23, 2025

Me with that one pair of pants that fit me perfectly https://t.co/6hvNHdCam3

— Lukas Battle (@lukasbattle) April 23, 2025

What my family thinks arranged marriages look like https://t.co/3Zf7bHJZbI

— ✯ (@111ris_) April 21, 2025

Lo que mi cerebro me hace soñar con cualquier persona que sea mínimamente amable conmigo durante más de dos minutos y con la que tenga -172782 posibilidades de ser algo https://t.co/qonkenKzIZ

— Eva ⏳ (@Tucarnicera_fav) April 20, 2025

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References