If romantic movies are dead, we have yet to get the memo. While studios have been inching away from meet-cutes and will-they-won’t-they narratives over the past decade, streaming giants like Netflix have quietly conquered that market, reliably churning out thoroughly modern love stories with whip-smart scripts and surprises up their sleeves. In the afterglow of Valentine’s Day, here are the 15 best romantic movies and series to queue up all year ’round.
Nobody Wants This (2024)
This Netflix series is a romance-pilled bisexual’s dream, given that it stars The O.C.’s Adam Brody and Veronica Mars’s Kristen Bell, two of the most crushable series leads of all time. A love affair between a rabbi and a podcaster is nothing you’d find in Anatevka, but what can we say? It really works.
One Day (2024)
Ambika Mod and Leo Woodhull have crazy, off-the-charts chemistry in this series about two college seniors who meet on the eve of their graduation and form a relationship that lasts (on and off) for more than 20 years.
Anyone But You (2023)
There’s literally nothing more romantically satisfying than an updated Shakespearean romance—except maybe one that stars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell stepping into the sexily adversarial roles of Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. (The lush shots of the Sydney coastline don’t hurt, either.)
Survival of the Thickest (2023)
There’s plenty of romance in this Michelle Buteau-led show (and plenty of semi-romantic, mostly-awkward antics that will look familiar to anyone who’s ever been dumped), but the best part is the onscreen friendship…and, of course, the sight of Buteau being an absolute fashion icon in Ganni T-shirts.
The Half of It (2020)
A thoughtful and tender twist on Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, Alice Wu’s coming-of-age story sees bookish high-schooler Ellie (Leah Lewis) befriend Paul (Daniel Diemer), a jock who pays her to write letters on his behalf to his crush, Aster (Alexxis Lemire). As they become close, Ellie realizes that she also has feelings for Aster and can’t keep deceiving her. The result is a profoundly moving examination of race, sexuality, religion and the bittersweet nature of unrequited love.
Always Be My Maybe (2019)
When a celebrity chef (Ali Wong) returns to her native San Francisco to open a new restaurant, she runs into a childhood friend (Randall Park) whom she lost touch with after an ill-fated one-night stand. The pair reconnect, but a spanner is thrown into the works in the form of Keanu Reeves, playing a pretentious version of himself, who sweeps the former off her feet. Under Nahnatchka Khan’s direction, it’s a goofy charmer with hysterical one-liners and a keen eye for cultural detail.
Let It Snow (2019)
From A Christmas Prince (2017) to The Princess Switch (2018), Netflix’s festive offerings aren’t often its best, but Luke Snellin’s ensemble drama is a rare exception: an affecting small-town saga about a group of teenagers falling in and out of love on Christmas Eve. Kiernan Shipka, Shameik Moore, Isabela Merced, and Odeya Rush lead the talented young cast as they go sledding, attend awkward family dinners, repair fractured friendships, and party in the middle of a snowstorm.
Someone Great (2019)
Taylor Swift cited Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s gut-wrenching tale of love and loss as the inspiration for “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” the poignant break-up song from 2019’s Lover, which describes two people growing apart. The characters in question are Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) and Nate (Lakeith Stanfield), college sweethearts who separate after nine years. To heal, the former plans an epic night out with friends (DeWanda Wise and Brittany Snow), but secretly pines for a reconciliation.
Set It Up (2018)
Two beleaguered personal assistants (Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell) team up in Claire Scanlon’s zippy take on a classic screwball comedy. Tired of staying late at the office to cater to the whims of their irritable bosses (Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs), they hatch a plan to make them fall in love, hoping it will distract them and make their own lives easier. Romance inevitably ensues for both couples, combined with shocking set pieces, overblown slapstick, witty repartee, and a winning final act.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
Susan Johnson’s irresistible romance—as well as its Michael Fimognari-directed sequels To All The Boys: PS I Still Love You and To All The Boys: Always and Forever—is sugary sweet without being the slightest bit cloying. It follows shy teenager Lara Jean (a note-perfect Lana Condor) who writes secret letters to her crushes which her sister (Anna Cathcart) posts without telling her. Enter: Peter (Noah Centineo), one of their recipients who is intrigued and then smitten.
The Incredible Jessica James (2017)
It’s Jessica Williams’s exuberant performance as the titular heroine of James C. Strouse’s easy-going indie that transforms it from a run-of-the-mill rom-com into an utter delight. She’s a remarkably assured and hilariously frank playwright recovering from a recent split who’s set up on a blind date with a scruffy divorcé (Chris O’Dowd). Sparks fly, misunderstandings arise, and the crowd-pleasing denouement combines big laughs with genuine emotion.
Love (2016-2018)
Paul Rust and Gillian Jacobs are adorkable (sorry, I hate that word too, but they really are) in this series that follows two emotionally messed-up singletons in Los Angeles trying to make a go of it.
Carol (2015)
All right, fine, this Todd Haynes masterpiece (or should I say…mistress-piece? Okay, no, I should never say that) about an illicit May-December affair between two women in 1950s Manhattan is perhaps more of a Christmas movie, but given the dearth of genuinely watchable romances out there featuring lesbians, I like to queue it up on Valentine’s Day while I cook something extremely ’50s—pot roast? Jell-O salad? Straight gin in a tumbler?—to eat while watching.
A Walk to Remember (2002)
I mean, if you don’t cry your eyes out rewatching this coming-of-age aughts rom-com (heavy on the rom, light on the com, TBH), are you even a sentient human? Mandy Moore forever!
Miss Congeniality (2000)
The main plot thread in this classic pageant-set film might be FBI Agent Grace Hart’s love affair with her work (and, of course, beating people up whenever she gets the chance), but her slow-growing romance with a handsome, cocky fellow agent played by Benjamin Bratt is genuinely irresistible. More rom-com protagonists punching their suitors in the groin to demonstrate self-defense skills, please!
