These 25 Really Romantic Movies on Max Will Make You Swoon

The staggering movie library at Max (previously HBO Max) includes some of the finest romantic films of all time. To help you pick out the perfect movie for your date night, we've rounded up must-see love stories available to stream now with your Max subscription. There are romantic comedies and dramas from Hollywood and around the world, timeless classics and newer audience favorites.

Here are the 25 most romantic movies on HBO's Max right now. 

Best romantic movies on Max right now

1. Casablanca (1942)

As time goes by, Casablanca remains one of the most unanimously adored and celebrated movies ever. Not least among the reasons why is the adapted screenplay by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch, frequently touted as the smartest, most quotable script ever written. And there’s the romantic chemistry between Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart. A big reason we all love this movie so much is how proud we are of the characters in the end. Rick and Ilsa prioritize the greater good, and put a human face on the sacrifices made during wartime, even those made off the battlefield. The Greatest Generation, indeed. Casablanca‘s messages about seeing things bigger than yourself and doing what’s right will always resonate with audiences. Never pass up an opportunity to re-watch one of the highest highs of Hollywood history.

Related: How to Make Casablanca's Signature Champagne Cocktail

2. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) 

Nia Vardalos' family-friendly, relatable romance was the sleeper hit of the early aughts, dethroning The Blair Witch Project as the most successful indie of all time. Oscar-nominated for Best Original Screenplay, My Big Fat Greek Wedding is the most profitable rom-com in history.

3. Date Night (2009) 

Date Night isn't a movie about falling in love for the first time. It's a movie about getting out of a rut. Tina Fey and Steve Carell play a dorky married couple who have lost the romantic spark while falling into everyday routines. However, when a date night goes wrong and they end up involved with mobsters, their life goes from mundane to "dear god this is terrifying" real fast. Turns out being chased at gunpoint can be just as effective as marriage counseling. (Although we wouldn't advise it.) 

4. In the Mood For Love (2000) 

Heart-stoppingly sumptuous and sensitively performed, Wong Kar-wai‘s Hong Kong drama about adultery and unexpected feelings is already regarded by many as one of the greatest films of all time. In the Mood For Love was restored by the Criterion Collection in 2016.

5. Legally Blonde (2001) 

If Freeway made her a star, Legally Blonde cemented Reese Witherspoon in the A-List. It's quite a thing for a performer who's only been in the game for a matter of years to headline a $144-million smash that came seemingly came out of nowhere, and delights millions as a fan favorite to this day. In Robert Luketic's uproariously funny and entertaining comedy—which isn't as fluffy as it might have been, thanks to Witherspoon's deathly serious conviction just beneath the chipper exterior—Elle Woods goes after a boy who underestimates her, and discovers herself along the way. If you can't fall under the spell of this heartwarmer, check for a pulse.

Related: 35 Best Quotes From Legally Blonde

6. A Room With a View (1985)

Along with Howards End, this is perhaps the high point of the extraordinary, decades-long romantic and professional partnership of filmmakers Ismail Merchant and James Ivory. Helena Bonham Carter stars in the period piece as an Englishwoman torn between two beaus. Like the E.M. Forster book, the film succeeds as both a touching romance and a biting critique of English society at the dawn of the 20th century.

7. Brief Encounter (1945) 

David Lean's romantic drama stars Celia Johnson as a bored housewife who fatefully crosses paths with a married stranger in pre-war England. Based on Noël Coward's play Still Life—adapted by the author himself—Brief Encounter is regarded as one of the finest British films ever made. Nominated for three Oscars.

8. Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012)

Some love stories aren't forever, and that doesn't make them any less beautiful. Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg star in the bittersweet Celeste and Jesse Forever, which follows a couple struggling to navigate their marriage, divorce and the aftermath of both.

9. City Lights (1931) 

This is the magnum opus of Charlie Chaplin, cinema’s greatest clown. The story of a Little Tramp (Chaplin) who falls for a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) and endures a turbulent relationship with a drunken millionaire (Harry Meyers) and countless other obstacles so that the apple of his eye may see.

A  silent made four years after the talkie revolution, City Lights was a special film for Chaplin, too. Ultimately his personal favorite of his many masterworks, it was his baby and he took an unusually long time to piece it together. This is also the first time he composed a movie’s score, adding that to his other credits: actor, writer, director, producer, editor and to quote W.C. Fields “the greatest ballet dancer who ever lived.”

Related: The Best Classic Romantic Comedies

10. Just Wright (2010)

Queen Latifah and Common co-star as a die-hard Nets fan and physical therapist falling in love with her NBA star patient, who she's helping to rehab after a career-ending injury. The charm from the two leads is off the charts, and you can't help but root for their happy ending.

Related: Queen Latifah's Best Movies, Ranked

11. Gone With the Wind (1939)

Gone With the Wind swept the Oscars of what is considered the finest year of Hollywood film, and remains the highest-grossing movie ever if adjusting for inflation. Based on Margaret Mitchell‘s massive novel, Victor Fleming‘s historical romantic epic stars an iconic Vivien Leigh as the strong-willed daughter of a plantation owner struggling to survive in the Civil War and Reconstruction-era South. Clark Gable embodies Old Hollywood sex appeal as cynical philanderer Rhett Butler. Their love story is the stuff of film legend, and the sheer scope of Fleming and producer David O. Selznick‘s vision is still breathtaking. Unfortunately, the whitewashed, sanitized depiction of slavery can make the whole enterprise hard to stomach these days.

Related: The Best Dance Movies Ever

12. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

Stanley Donen‘s MGM musical spectacular is often cited as the best musical ever made. Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Jean Hagen star in a showbiz rom-com set at the industry-shaking dawn of the talkies. The final moments (“Stop that girl!”) are so swoon-worthy it’ll still make your heart leap.

Related: Singin' In the Rain Quotes

13. Serendipity (2001) 

Falling in love really is all about chance, stumbling upon the right person at the right time and the rest is history. In Serendipity, John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale play two people in relationships who feel sparks for one another when they meet at Bloomingdales. They agree to let fate decide if they should be together. He writes his phone number on a $5 bill and she writes hers in a book she sells. If either finds the other's item, it's meant to be. And it's a romantic comedy, so what do you think is going to happen? 

14. Shakespeare in Love (1998) 

One of the great upsets in Oscars history saw John Madden's period tragicomedy win Best Picture over Steven Spielberg's war landmark Saving Private Ryan. Don't get us wrong; we fell in love with this film. But there were other deserving movies that year. Gwyneth Paltrow won Best Actress for a sexy, luminous and intelligent turn as a merchant's daughter who poses as a man to perform in theatre, ultimately bewitching none other than William Shakespeare.

15. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) 

The rare rom-com that appeals just as much to men and women, Nicholas Stoller's raunchy hit stars Jason Segel as a struggling musician left licking his wounds after his TV star girlfriend (Kristen Bell) unceremoniously dumps him. Breezy fun though it is, the whole enterprise is ultimately upstaged by Russell Brand as a self-obsessed musician.

Related: The 20 Steamiest Movies on Max Right Now

16. Wonder Woman (2017)

We were all hoping this would be fun and entertaining, and then director Patty Jenkins gave us one of the most stirring and dramatically satisfying adventure films of the past decade, a film that puts story and character first at every turn. Gal Gadot‘s Diana Prince is a winsome, unapologetically idealistic screen presence for the ages. Chris Pine is also invaluable here, the chemistry perfect. By remaining one gracious half-step behind Gadot in delivering a touching and full-bodied performance, it’s one of the most appealing onscreen depictions of masculinity in recent memory.