Best Romantic Movies to Stream Right Now
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The post Best Romantic Movies to Stream Right Now appeared first on Consequence.
Whether you have a partner, a polycule, a perfect little pet, or just a comfy spot on the couch, it’s always a good time to bask in the glow of the most romantic movies that streaming has to offer.
With that in mind, Consequence has assembled a collection of our personal go-tos, with tried-and-true classics and new favorites spanning a wide variety of loving moods. From the first blush of young love through the rekindling of old flames, from steamy to slapstick, and from the people who become your whole world to the partners who are but one column in a life built around friends and family, these movies are celebrations of love in all its infinite variety.
So water your roses, order a heart-shaped pizza, and curl up in your comfiest blanket to enjoy the best romantic movies that are streaming right now.
— Wren Graves
His Girl Friday (1940)
Directed by: Howard Hawks
Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell
Streaming on: Prime Video, The Roku Channel
Life comes at you fast but the jokes come faster in His Girl Friday, one of the first and most enduring remarriage comedies. Hildy (Russell) likes the idea of being a housewife, but as she discovers over the course of 92 breakneck minutes, she loves the newspaper business — perhaps even more than she loves her ex-husband and former editor, Walter (Grant). As she works to break a big case, Hildy keeps delaying an easy life with her respectable new fiancé, until the truth is as obvious as a front-page headline. His Girl Friday is a celebration of passion over prudence. — W.G.
Charade (1963)
Directed by: Stanley Donen
Cast: Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn
Streaming on: Prime Video, Pluto TV, Tubi
For those who like their romance dressed up in globe-hopping mystery, Charade begins with Reggie Lampert (Hepburn) in the French Alps on the verge of divorcing her husband. The plot takes a sharp turn when she returns to find him murdered, and with the help of a dashing stranger named Peter Joshua (Grant), she works to avoid a similar fate while disentangling her husband’s lies. Hepburn and Grant could independently romance a doorknob, and sparks fly whenever they share the screen. Best of all, the ending is as satisfying as it is surprising. — W.G.
The Princess Bride (1987)
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Cast: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Wallace Shawn, Chris Sarandon, André the Giant, Christopher Guest
Streaming on: Disney+
The Princess Bride has it all: romance, fantasy, adventure, Rodents of Unusual Size, quotable quips, and career-defining performances from some of the biggest movie stars of their generation. But the beating heart at the center of it all is love — not just “Mawwiage” — with real chemistry between Elwes and Wright, and even more smoldering looks than there are swings of a sword. Westley and Buttercup are meant to be together and no amount of slapstick hijinks will stop them. Skip The Princess Bride? Inconceivable! — W.G.
Steel Magnolias (1989)
Directed by: Herbert Ross
Cast: Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, Julia Roberts
Streaming on: Showtime
OK, this one isn’t exactly romantic, aside from the fact that some of its plot revolves around the wedding of a central character. But Steel Magnolias emphasizes the importance of cementing loving relationships with your family, your neighbors, and — most importantly — your girlfriends, making it the perfect Galentine’s watch, as long as you’re prepared to shed a tear (or 100). Come for Dolly Parton, stay for Sally Field’s whopper of a monologue. — Abby Jones
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Directed by: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
Cast: Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, Angela Lansbury
Streaming on: Disney+
A tale as old as time — or at least, as old as Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve’s 1756 fairy tale — Beauty and the Beast updated the original by taking a character who’s whole personality was summed up in her name, “Beauty,” and turning her into an outcast bookworm. That change, led by screenwriter Linda Woolverton, also transformed the story from a tale about our capacity for love into an exploration of the limits of tolerance, adding a resonance felt by all manner of outcasts. To top it all off, Beauty and the Beast has some of composer Alan Mencken’s most indelible songwriting and perhaps the most sumptuous animation of the Disney Renaissance period. — W.G.
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Written by: Andrew Davies, based on the novel by Jane Austen
Cast: Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth
Streaming on: Hulu, Britbox
Take a seat, Matthew Macfadyen — the one true Darcy has entered the chat, and his name is Colin Firth. Because this iconic Jane Austen adaptation is a six-hour miniseries, it gets to luxuriate in all the nuances of the complicated romance between the aloof Mr. Darcy and spirited Elizabeth Bennet (Jennifer Ehle), making it a perfect binge for Valentine’s Day. — Liz Shannon Miller
Before Sunrise (1995)
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
Streaming on: Prime Video, The Roku Channel
No plot, just vibes, plus Ethan Hawke’s fabulous leather jacket. Before Sunrise makes the unlikeliest of circumstances – a meet-cute between possible soulmates on an international train ride – feel incredibly realistic. As Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) wander Vienna together, it’s a pleasant reminder that love can find you when you’re least expecting it, and it can make a foreign city feel like home. — A.J.
Chasing Amy (1997)
Directed by: Kevin Smith
Cast: Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Dwight Ewell, Jason Mewes
Streaming on: Showtime
Kevin Smith’s third film was the one which revealed that the pop culture-obsessed filmmaker had a lot more to say than jokes about Star Wars and blowjobs. Ben Affleck stars as Holden, a comic book creator who finds himself unexpectedly smitten by Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams), another creator who also happens to be an out lesbian. Chasing Amy‘s handling of LGBTQ+ issues is pretty rooted in its time period (which is to say, some of it has not aged well). But Smith puts his whole heart on the screen here, and there are a lot of sweet nuances to its character-focused storytelling. — L.S.M.
But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
Directed by: Jamie Babbit
Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, RuPaul, Melanie Lynskey
Streaming on: Showtime
If you don’t really jive with the boy-meets-girl rom-com trope, look no further than But I’m a Cheerleader, in which a young Natasha Lyonne plays a typical, popular teen whose parents send her off to conversion therapy camp on the suspicion that she’s a lesbian (spoiler alert: she is). A little bit twee, a little bit campy, it’s a rare example of pure sapphic joy in entertainment today – along with the Muna hit “Silk Chiffon,” which references But I’m a Cheerleader in its music video. — A.J.
Love & Basketball (2000)
Directed by: Spike Lee
Cast: Omar Epps, Sanaa Lathan, Tyra Banks, Alfre Woodard, Dennis Haysbert
Streaming on: HBO Max
Since childhood, next-door neighbors Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) and Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) have shared a dream of playing professional basketball, but like any good romantic drama, their true feelings for each other don’t surface until senior year of high school. Broken up into four quarters, Love & Basketball continues by following their eventual college breakup and separate paths to the pros. A disastrous injury brings them back into each other’s lives, giving viewers hope for a last-minute comeback. — Eddie Fu
13 Going on 30 (2004)
Directed by: Gary Winick
Cast: Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer, Andy Serkis
Streaming on: HBO Max
Haven’t felt those goosebumps-on-your-arms, butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling since high school? Time to revisit 13 Going on 30, in which teen-ish protagonist Jenna Rink (a delightfully ditzy Jennifer Garner) might just dethaw your cold, cynical heart. Sure, you might be heartbroken or lonely this Valentine’s Day, but look on the bright side: At least you didn’t peak in high school! — A.J.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Directed by: Ang Lee
Cast: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid
Streaming on: Netflix
It may not have a very happy ending, but the tragic love that blossoms between two sheep herders in the mid-20th century remains one of cinema’s most haunting romances. When Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) first connect while working out in the Wyoming mountains, they’re all too aware that being openly gay at that time, in that place, could mean a death sentence handed out by bigots. But that doesn’t stop their bond from defining both of their lives for decades to come. — L.S.M.
Always Be My Maybe (2019)
Directed by: Nahnatchka Khan
Cast: Ali Wong, Randall Park, Daniel Dae Kim, Keanu Reeves
Streaming on: Netflix
When celebrity chef Sasha Tran (Ali Wong) reconnects with her childhood friend and struggling musician Marcus Kim (Randall Park) in Always Be My Maybe, it’s pretty obvious where the story is going — after all, everyone else thought they would end up together until their relationship went south 15 years ago. Nevertheless, a hilarious cameo from Keanu Reeves and believable chemistry between Wong and Park make for a sweet love story that goes down easy. — E.F.
Palm Springs (2020)
Directed by: Max Barbakow
Cast: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons
Streaming on: Hulu
Andy Samberg as a rom-com leading man? Say it ain’t so! In Palm Springs, we find him as an unruly wedding guest named Nyles who, as it turns out, is stuck in a time loop and has been reliving the same day over and over too many times to count. He accidentally ropes fellow guest Sarah (Cristin Milioti) into his temporal antics, but thankfully, their chemistry is even hotter than the California desert. — A.J.
Best Romantic Movies to Stream Right Now
Consequence Staff
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