35 of the Most Irresistible Romantic Movies to Watch Now
Here’s looking at, um, these movies.
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We love a love story—which explains the endless stacks of romance novels piling up on our nightstands. Thanks to romantic movies and rom-coms, we can fall in love over and over again, without the risk of heartbreak. All it takes is one viewing of Titanic for us to feel "on top of the world." (Well, in the first hour, at least.)
While Titanic may be one of the most epic films on this list, there are many more where that came from—including hidden gems you may not have seen yet. We've assembled a broad range of romantic movies from Hollywood to Bollywood. And since there's no one kind of love, these movies are about everything: instant connections (Before Sunrise) and short-lived affairs (Brief Encounter); celebrations (Monsoon Wedding) and the travails of dating (Love Jones). Some, like The Big Sick, are even based on true stories. Period pieces like Sylvie's Love transport us back to bygone eras with universal themes.
Since romantic movies beg to be revisited, almost all of our selections, from popular to hidden gems, are available to stream either on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, or other services. Movie marathon, anyone? Happy endings are not guaranteed, but unforgettable stories are.
Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire is a modern epic—with a love story woven in. The movie, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2009 (among other awards), is the story of one young man's journey from the slums of Mumbai to the stage of India's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Jamal's (Dev Patel) goal, along the way, is reuniting with his childhood love, Latika (Freida Pinto). You'll be rooting for them at every juncture.
Crazy Stupid Love
The title gives away the focus of this charming movie: Yep, Crazy Stupid Love is all about love in its many forms. Written by This Is Us's Dan Fogelman, the movie intertwines multiple character's love stories (with twists that come in their unexpected connections). The all-star cast consists of Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling Emma Stone, Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon—and even Josh Groban.
It Happened One Night
If you consider yourself a rom-com aficionado, then you'll especially appreciate one of the earliest and most defining installments of the genre. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert play a wise-cracking reporter and a spoiled heiress who meet on a bus headed for New York, and begin a journey of non-stop banter. The dialogue in It Happened One Night crackles, proving with each sentence that Ellie and Peter are a match. In addition to being a delight, It Happened One Night is also the first movie to win the "big five" awards at the Academy Awards.
God's Own Country
Living in the quiet reaches of pastoral northern England, Johnny (The Crown's Josh O'Connor) is expected to work on his family's farm for the rest of his life. Johnny hides the fact that he's gay from his parents. Then he falls for Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu), a young man from Romania working on the farm, and he's inspired to imagine other possibilities for his future. God's Own Country is known for its slow-moving realism—which makes its moments of intimacy feel all the more earned (and aching).
Mississippi Masala
When she was a girl, Mina (Sarita Choudhury) and her family were forced out of Uganda, along with the country's other Indian inhabitants, at the behest of the dictator Idi Amin. Ever since, she's lived in Mississippi, feeling like her life's on pause. Then she meets Demetrius (Denzel Washington), and the future looks brighter—but it's not one her parents are enthusiastic about. Mississippi Masala isn't streaming—but the Mira Nair-directed movie is worth watching, however necessary, for Washington and Choudhury's performances as characters who believe in each other, and are willing to risk it all as a result. Luckily, the movie is being re-released in 2021 for its 30th anniversary, so you'll be able to stream it soon.
Sylvie's Love
Released in 2020, Sylvie's Love is a refreshingly old-fashioned love story. Sylvie (Tessa Thompson) and Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha) meet in 1950s New York. Despite the attraction, Sylvie and Robert follow their own ambitions and obligations instead of their hearts. Years later, they get a chance to make it work.
Emma
Autumn de Wilde's stylish 2020 adaptation of Jane Austen's novel brings out the modern notes in the Regency era-set story. It follows a know-it-all teenager's (Anya Taylor-Joy) disastrous matchmaking attempts, with her friend George Knightley (Johnny Flynn), watching on skeptically. Flynn and Taylor-Joy have the ineffable chemistry that makes on-screen love seem real.
Casablanca
On the eve of WWII, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) encounters a former lover, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), while she's trying to flee Morocco with her husband. That old flame of theirs has not faded—but is there a chance for them to be together? No matter what happens next, Rick and Ilsa will always have Paris, and we'll always have them.
Love and Basketball
As kids, Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps) bond over their shared love for basketball. As they grow older, their romantic connection and their careers grow in tandem. Love and Basketball is coming-of-age-story, sports movie, love story, and classic, all in one.
Before Sunrise
A French student (Julie Delpy) and an American wanderer (Ethan Hawke) meet on a train, and spend an enchanted day roaming around Vienna until their other obligations pierce the bubble they've created. This simple plot summary hardly touches the magic of this film, which builds connection the way it's built in real life: Through conversation and an ineffable spark. BRB, booking one of these scenic train routes because... you never know. For the full effect, watch the entire trilogy, which tracks Jesse and Celine over the years.
Up
Up is about everything that happens after a heartbreak. The iconic opening segment tells the story of Ellie and Karl without dialogue, using elements of animation alone. After Ellie passes away, Karl sets off on a journey to travel to their bucket list destination.
Brokeback Mountain
In 1963, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) spend time herding sheep in a remote mountain in Wyoming. They return completely changed. Brokeback Mountain is a gorgeous tear-jerker.
Like Water for Chocolate
Mexico, 1910. Tita (Lumi Cavazos) and Pedro (Marco Leonardi) are madly in love, and destined to be kept apart by society and meddling mothers. Laura Esquivel's bestselling novel about a woman who infuses her food with passion and emotion made for a lush film.
Atlantics
Smashing genre and convention, Atlantics is unlike any love story you've ever seen. Ada (Mame Bineta Sane) and Souleiman (Ibrahima Traoré) are lovers, before Souleiman leaves Senegal to find a job in Spain. But he never really leaves her, as you'll see. A story of ghosts, migration, and the Atlantic ocean, this Grand Prix–winning movie will stay with you.
When Harry Met Sally
When Harry Met Sally is a genre-defining movie, raising the bar for all rom-coms to come. Nora Ephron's masterpiece is about Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally's (Meg Ryan) decade-long journey to get together after they meet during one fateful cross-country road trip.
Bridges of Madison County
She's a housewife enjoying an empty home for the first time in years. He's a National Geographic photographer passing through Iowa, taking pictures of local covered bridges. Over the course of three days, Francesca (Meryl Streep) and Robert (Clint Eastwood) experience a kind of cosmically fated, epic love—but is it enough to drastically change their lives?
Moonstruck
From Nicholas Cage and Cher's palpable chemistry to witty yet heartfelt dialogue, there are endless reasons to watch Moonstruck. You'll never look at the moon (or the opera, or even bakeries) the same way again.
Cinema Paradiso
In this soaring Italian movie, a famous film director returns to his Sicilian hometown upon the death of his mentor. While there, he takes a nostalgic tour through the films and relationships that made him, including one heart-warming summer romance.
In the Mood for Love
In the Mood for Love is the kind of movie that will have you longing as deeply as the characters on screen. Mr. Chow (Tony Leung) and Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) are next-door neighbors in 1962 Hong Kong, but that's not all they have in common. Their partners are having affairs, too. The neighbors are drawn to each other, but refuse to mimic their spouses' actions.
Amelie
Paris is the City of Love, and Amelie is an ode to all the love stories that take place within it. Amelie (Audrey Tatou) is a shy waitress who likes inserting herself into other people's lives with notes, and coy schemes. Eventually, she meets someone who helps bring her out of her imagination, and into the real world.
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