Sometimes the mood strikes and only lingering glances, slow burns, longing stares, and top tier movie smooches will do.
That mood is best served when the romantic movies you crave are easily accessible on a streaming service like Netflix. Some of these picks for the 10 best romantic movies on Netflix are comedies while other are dramas, but all of them will scratch the itch for a lovey dovey night in. Starting at the oldest movie on the list…
1. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Karan Johar’s directorial debut became an instant Bollywood classic when it hit theaters in 1998. Rahul (Shahrukh Khan) and Anjali (Kajol) are college besties until Rahul falls in love with Tina (Rani Mukherji) and Anjali realizes her true feelings for him. The friends become estranged before Tina dies, leaving behind a daughter, also named Anjali in honor of their old friend. Little Anjali grows up reading letters from her late mother, and she learns about her father’s old friend — his first love. Tina tasks her daughter with tracking down Anjali and reuniting the friends as lovers, once and for all.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai remains Johar’s best work to date, a film that made his name synonymous with pure power in the Hindi film industry. Khan and Kajol’s chemistry captivates throughout, from their GAP-clad days of college teasing to the unfathomable sexual tension of the gazebo scene. Despite being famous for its love triangle, the movie never pits Anjali and Tina against each other, instead depicting a beautiful friendship between the two women as well as their respective relationships to Rahul. “Pyar dosti hai,” Rahul declares early on; Love is friendship. And Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is nothing if not a timeless story about friends. – Proma Khosla, Entertainment Reporter
Where to watch: Netflix
2. Runaway Bride
Julia Roberts and Richard Gere are a ’90s rom-com dyad for a reason. Nine years after they paired up for Garry Marshall’s instant classic Pretty Woman, they returned as the central couple to root for in Marshall’s Runaway Bride. Roberts is off the charts charming as Maggie, a woman known in tabloids for leaving three different men at the alter and Gere is swoonworthy as Ike, a reporter assigned to cover the story of Maggie’s fourth and hopefully final wedding. Their attraction and mutual understanding is romance movie gold, and you can’t help but feel bad for poor Bob (Christopher Meloni), Maggie’s fourth fiancee whose sports metaphors don’t stand a chance against that magical Gere/Roberts chemistry.
Where to watch: Netflix
3. The Notebook
The Notebook has historically been my favorite movie to complain about. I mean seriously — Noah (Ryan Gosling) thinks it’s okay to threaten that he’ll jump from the ferris wheel if Allie (Rachel McAdams) doesn’t go on a date with him? The movie’s supposed dream couple is actually an absolute disaster? And Allie’s biggest life problem is whether she’ll marry her toxic teenage crush or a handsome, rich lawyer played by James Marsden who freely forgives her even after she cheats on him? Yet as it turns out, The Notebook’s romantic insanity is actually part of what makes it such a stupid, pretty, guilty pleasure. While there are a million reasons Noah and Allie should not be together in real life, watching their messy, dramatic relationship play out on screen is like eating candy, especially when set against the lush backgrounds of 1940s South Carolina. Plus Gosling and McAdams have some insane chemistry, which makes that famous rain-drenched kiss insanely satisfying on every rewatch. -Brooke Bajgrowicz, Entertainment Fellow
Where to watch: Netflix
4. Pride and Prejudice
A tale as old as time: boy meets girl, girl hates boy, feeling’s kinda mutual because of complex Regency-era class politics and fear of a terrible mother-in-law, girl’s sister runs off with boy’s childhood rival, that whole thing with Mr. Bingley too…ok, maybe it’s a little more complicated than that.
Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice keeps all the sly humor and tension of Jane Austen’s novel and infuses it with period-appropriate steaminess. Keira Knightley is great, Tom from Succession is great (yep, that’s him! Matthew Macfayden!), and who can forget that ? – Alexis Nedd, Senior Entertainment Reporter
Where to watch: Netflix
5. Carol
Are you a fan of longing stares, swooning embraces, exquisite fur coats, and Cate Blanchett savoring her lover’s name on her lips as she would an ice-cold martini? Carol has all that and more. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Price of Salt, Todd Haynes’ gorgeous period drama dives into the breathless romance between a glamorous housewife (Carol, played by Blanchett) and an unassuming shop girl (Therese, played by Rooney Mara) amid the beauty and oppression of 1950s Manhattan. Bittersweet and lush, Carol is a gift to be treasured. – Angie Han, Deputy Entertainment Editor
Where to watch: Netflix
6. Moonlight
Barry Jenkins’ Academy Award–winning film Moonlight is categorized as a drama, but the decadeslong story of Chiron is held together by his enduring love for Kevin. The movie folds themes of Blackness and masculinity in the two boys’ obvious attraction to each other as their lives bring them together, then apart, and finally together again in the most romantic scene of 2016 — Kevin making Chiron dinner at his diner. Barbara Lewis “Hello Stranger” plays on the jukebox while Chiron’s hard exterior dissipates into a soft, nervous desire to show his feelings and if that doesn’t sound like a romance, what does? -A.N
Where to watch: Netflix
7. When We First Met
Groundhog Day meets Some Kind of Wonderful in this delightful romantic comedy from director Ari Sandel. Adam DeVine and Alexandra Daddario star as Noah and Avery, friends who could’ve worked as a couple but didn’t get the timing right. So when the pining Noah discovers a magical photo booth that will transport him back to the night he and Avery first met, he’s willing to do anything to get it right this time(s). Funny and surprisingly sweet, When We First Met is a hidden gem time travel romp with spectacular supporting performances and a predictable ending you’ll still like. – Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter
Where to watch: Netflix
8. Set It Up
What’s better than one set of hot people getting together in a fun, modern romantic comedy? Those hot people setting up another set of hot people in a modern, fun romantic comedy!
Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell play assistants to two single power players (Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs) and team up to get their high strung bosses dating so they’ll give their staff a break. Of course, making two people fall in love isn’t as easy as it seems, and neither is resisting the charms of your partner in love crime. Set It Up is a perfectly light, cuddly date movie. Also, Pete Davidson is there for a little bit. -A.N.
Where to watch: Netflix
9. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
Netflix’s rom-com revival kicked off in 2018, a year whose slate included this criminally charming movie based on the novel by Jenny Han. Lara Jean (Lana Condor) is a hopeless romantic in the habit of writing letters to her most epic crushes — writing, not sending. When the letters leak, she starts pretending to date Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) to divert attention from her real crush on her sister’s boyfriend.
With a bouncy pop soundtrack and visual style that is the envy of your entire Instagram feed, To All the Boys is the kind of movie you can return to again and again, a comfort watch as cozy as Lara Jean’s baked goods. Will we ever tire of watching fictional characters fake love until it becomes real? If they’re even half as adorable as these two, the answer is no. -P.K.
Where to watch: Netflix
10. Always Be My Maybe
The thrill of a new romance often lies in just that — the fact that it’s new. But what if your truest love lies in one of your oldest relationships? Always Be My Maybe stars Ali Wong and Randall Park as a pair of childhood besties who lost touch in their teens, but who find their way back to each other as grownups. With an delightful supporting cast that also includes Daniel Dae Kim, James Saito, and Keanu Reeves, Always Be My Maybe is as deliciously cozy as a bowl of Mom’s kimchi jjigae — and just as satisfying. -A.H.
Where to watch: Netflix
