The Best Date Night Movies on Netflix

I can't even imagine how many hours I've spent perfecting the art of the "Well what do you want to watch?" method of dating, but I know it's too many. Staying in, cozying up, and checking out a movie is great in theory until you're face to face with Netflix's endless gallery of bullshit. Even when you do find something, your date might not even want to watch that, so on the search goes.

We've taken it upon ourselves to take some of the guesswork out of a potentially fraught situation, and give you eight surefire recommendations for the streaming platform that will do the trick.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Edgar Wright's mashup of zany comic book action tropes and an unrestrained appreciation for his fictional indie music scene make this much, much more than a "romantic comedy." It's a romantic comedy by way of martial arts, fantasy, sci-fi, and even memes. There's a new joke or cameo every scene because, like I said, this is an Edgar Wright movie.

Set It Up

While it may have led us astray in terms of how fuckable the pizza everyone in this movie wants to fuck is (seriously that's one ugly pizza), Set It Up still overcomes a lot of standard expectations to become a better version of the generic rom-com. Somehow both light on its feet and a bit smarter than most of the movies that obviously inspired it, it's the perfect casual date night movie with someone you don't necessarily know all that well yet.

Mamma Mia!

You've got picturesque Greek islands, you've got singing, you've got horny hot actors in flowing linen clothing, you've got a lot of singing instead of plot or dialogue. If you need me to tell you any more about why this is a perfect date movie, I cannot help you.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Female empowerment through the violent lens of Quentin Tarantino does not itself hold up as a concept, but as a movie, the first half of the Kill Bill story is still a rip-roaring fun time of a movie with a bunch of great actors having the time of their goddamn lives. Tarantino lifts more heavily from better filmmakers here than usual, but the result is an uncomplicated and good revenge movie with a couple of all-timer action set pieces.

The Breakfast Club

John Hughes, master of the coming-of-age movie that actually stars a cast of twentysomethings, will never make a better movie than The Breakfast Club. His best film is on Netflix, and it's worth a watch whether you've seen it fifty times before or not.

Thor: Ragnarok

Somehow this might be the horniest movie on the list: It features a perpetually shirtless Chris Hemsworth, a bewilderingly charming Mark Ruffalo, a "doing the most" Cate Blanchett performance, and Tessa Thompson swigs whiskey and beats the shit out of everyone.

National Treasure

The low-stakes fun of a Disney adventure movie starring Nicolas Cage is astoundingly good date fodder. I mean, the movie's great and all but it also demands very little attention and provides plenty of patented Cage moments.

Burn After Reading

Burn After Reading might not be everyone's idea of a good date movie but the facts are these: The cast is A-List and then some, and its seemingly labyrinthian plot barely matters, and is about as straightforward as a three-panel comic. It's a light, dumb time that has—fight me—the best Brad Pitt performance of all time.

The Witch

It wouldn't be a date night list without a spooky option. The Witch hits the perfect balance of both "bloodless" and "boring" to be acceptable to even the meekest constitutions, while also being weirdly riveting in its own way. Its slow pace will facilitate conversation, and its ending is creepy enough to winger without fucking you up for the rest of the night.