The Best Romantic Movies You Can Watch on Netflix for Valentine's Day
When it comes to celebrating Valentine’s Day this year, queueing up a romantic movie on Netflix is the way to go.
Romance always seems to play out better onscreen — in movies, music swells, the rain falls at the just the right moment and people are forgiven, even if they screwed up earlier. A romantic movie tracing the pattern of a relationship can immediately bring us back to the giddiness of a first crush or the uncertainty that follows a breakup.
Romantic movies, specifically romantic comedies, have been declared “dead” for years. But just because Hollywood isn’t churning out meet-cute scenes at the rate that it used to does not mean that people aren’t looking for a good romantic movie to watch. Everyone loves love. Now, should you base real life decisions off what occurs in a romantic movie? Absolutely not — you (probably) wouldn’t risk your life to save a stranger after watching the latest Marvel installment, either. Still, there is no need to write off romantic movies entirely, especially when staying in with a significant other on Valentine’s Day beats dealing with the crowds outside.
There’s a world of romance movies out there, and whether you’re in the mood to laugh over a rom-com heroine’s latest missteps or a sad romance that will bring out all the sobs, Netflix has a large collection of romantic movies you can stream right now.
Check out some of the best romantic movies below.
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
Perhaps one of the ultimate romantic movies, Bridget Jones’s Diary — based on the Helen Fielding novel — stars Renée Zellweger as a British woman chronicling her efforts to become a better person in a journal for a year. Love interests played by Colin Firth and Hugh Grant threaten to impede Bridget’s quest for self-improvement.
A classic film, the success of the movie led to two sequels; the final installment in the trilogy, Bridget Jones’s Baby, is also available to stream on Netflix.
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
Andie (Kate Hudson) is a magazine journalist eager for political assignments outside the scope of her “How To” column for Composure. Before she can do that, her boss asks her to write one last “How To” article on losing a guy in 10 days to shine a light on some common dating faux pas. Only Andie ends up falling for her subject Ben (Matthew McConaughey), an advertising executive who has his own agenda. The pair reunited in 2008 to play a married couple seeking a lost treasure in Fool’s Gold.
When We First Met (2018)
Noah (Adam Devine) meets the woman of his dreams in 2014 but waits a little too long to voice his feelings. Three years later, Avery (Alexandra Daddario) is marrying someone else, much to her now good friend Noah’s heartbreak. All hope seems lost, but a magical photo booth that allows Noah to travel through time to exactly 2014 may come to the rescue.
Barefoot in the Park (1967)
Newlywed New Yorkers Paul (Robert Redford) and Corie (Jane Fonda) move into a tiny, fifth floor Manhattan apartment, which is how many romantic movies start. But it’s not long before their different personalities start to clash as Corie, a free spirit, begins to feel that her more stuffy husband will stifle her personality.
The Incredible Jessica James (2017)
Former Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams stars in this Netflix original movie about a playwright trying to get over a recent breakup. Jessica meets Boone (Chris O’Dowd), a newly divorced man, and while the two hit it off, neither is exactly in the position to move on from their latest losses with each other — at least, right away.
Carol (2015)
In 1950s New York, the glamorous Carol (Cate Blanchett) meets Therese (Rooney Mara), an aspiring photographer who works in the department store where she is looking for a gift for her daughter. The women form an intimate connection that takes them to the nicest Manhattan restaurants, a road trip and through multiple hotel rooms, while Carol’s impending divorce looms, along with a threat from her controlling husband to reveal her homosexuality and take away custody of their daughter. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt, Carol was a critical smash, receiving multiple Academy Awards and Golden Globes nominations.
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
The apocalypse is three weeks away when Dodge Petersen (Steve Carell) is abandoned on the side of the road by his wife, upon finding out that an asteroid is on its way to hitting Earth. As his coworkers and friends party their way to death, Dodge barely breaks his routine, pausing only to think fondly about his high school sweetheart, Olivia. It may not sound like a romantic movie, but after finding a letter confessing Olivia’s love to him and meeting his neighbor, Penny (Keira Knightley), who is desperate to get to England to see her family, the two embark on the last road trip of their lives to go back home, only to find their way to each other.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Audrey Hepburn’s turn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, adapted from Truman Capote’s novel of the same name, later turned the actor into the literal poster-girl in college dorm rooms across the country. Hepburn’s Holly Golightly, a Manhattan party girl who finances her life with “money for the powder room,” transcends time, forever a symbol to those who dare to want more than life offers them at the moment. Things change for Holly when a new neighbor, Paul Varjak (George Peppard), moves into the building and shakes up her way of approaching life.
Hitch (2005)
Hitch (Will Smith) is a “date doctor,” a job that involves coaching men at the art of succeeding in relationships with women. When Hitch meets Sara (Eva Mendes), a gossip columnist, he realizes his tried and true moves might not work on the new object of his affection.
13 Going on 30 (2004)
Being a teenager is the pits, especially when you are nerdy and bullied by the main clique in school. For Jenna (Jennifer Garner), turning 13 ends in disaster when the “Six Chicks” clique tricks her into playing seven minutes in heaven and runs away, leaving her alone with her only friend Matt (Mark Ruffalo), who has gifted her with wishing dust. Devastated, Jenna locks herself in a closet and wishes to be 30 just as the wishing dust falls around her. When she wakes up, it’s a dream come true: Jenna is 30 and an editor at her favorite fashion magazine Poise. But being 30 is just as difficult as 13, and Jenna does not like the kind of adult she has turned into. To fix things, she reconnects with Matt and figures out a way to go home again. Tune into this romantic movie for an excellent sleepover montage and a banging 1980s soundtrack.
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
Sandra Bullock plays Lucy, a lonely token collector in Chicago with an anonymous crush on a commuter named Peter (Peter Gallagher) who passes by her each day. When he falls into a coma after a group of muggers push him onto train tracks, Lucy rushes him to the hospital and is mistaken for his fiancée. It’s a lie that only explodes once Peter’s entire family lands up at the hospital, including a suspicious brother Jack (Bill Pullman) who ends up falling for Lucy.
Our Souls At Night (2017)
While they appeared as newlyweds in the aforementioned Barefoot in the Park, Robert Redford and Jane Fonda are back together for another romantic movie in Our Souls At Night. The movie explores the kinds of relationships that develop later in life, long after marriages end and the children are out of the house. The Netflix original film finds Addie (Fonda) asking her neighbor Louis (Redford) if he would come and sleep over — platonically, to help numb the loneliness she feels after losing her husband. Louis, a widower himself, agrees, and the two forge a connection.
Wedding Crashers (2005)
Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn are skilled at sneaking into weddings, dancing the night away and sleeping with random members of wedding parties by pretending they belong at the event. They diverge, however, when John (Wilson) falls in love with a woman from one of the weddings they crash, leaving Jeremy (Vaughn) flying solo for the first time. Come for a lesson on the importance of male friendship and stay for Will Ferrell demanding ma’s meatloaf.
Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013)
In this French coming of age film, teenager Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos) learns about love, sexuality and desire when she meets Emma (Léa Seydoux), a blue-haired art student. Through Emma, Adèle discovers intimacy and loss as she grows into a young woman.
