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Romcoms have been a staple of girlhood for as long as they’ve been created. I’ve watched a fair share myself, and I wanted to recommend my top 5. These are movies that I think every girl should watch at least once in their life and be able to have a fun movie night with their friends! My listing is going to be in order of my personal favorites, with the last one being my top romance movie!
- 13 Going on 30
This movie has such a fun concept, and I think time-traveling from your 13-year-old self to your 30-year-old self sounds both scary and really entertaining. I love the fashion in this movie, which is important since Jenna Rink (Jennifer Garner) is part of a fashion magazine as an adult. Jenna’s character is super bubbly, and I’m a sucker for a friends-to-lovers trope. I think the relationship with Matt (Mark Ruffalo) and Jenna is easy to stay hooked on because I think there’s so much power in nostalgia, and having a relationship based on friendship makes the couple all the more compelling to watch. The movie also isn’t too long, so it’s a quick watch as well! Reminder to stay thirty, flirty, and thriving.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pmFp2W65Fs&pp=ygUWMTMgZ29pbmcgb24gMzAgdHJhaWxlcg%3D%3D
- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
The plot for this movie is probably one of the more interesting ones for me since Andie (Kate Hudson) and Benjamin (Matthew McConaughey) have such similar careers, just with different motives. It plays with the idea of what’s most desirable in a partner and both characters exaggerate that to an extreme which makes for funny dialogue and interesting conversations between the characters. While the idea of falling in love with someone within 10 days seems totally insane, the movie does a good job of making it feel natural because the genuine scenes between the two characters when they’re not acting like a caricature of themselves shows real emotion and care. I also just think the scene where Andie crashes Benjamin’s guys night solely to bother him and embarrass him is really funny.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZMGk_Ml1fc&pp=ygUkaG93IHRvIGxvc2UgYSBndXkgaW4gMTAgZGF5cyB0cmFpbGVy
- Crazy Rich Asians
Imagine dating a guy for about a year, never meeting his family, and then all of a sudden you find out that he’s old money rich and has a very protective family! That’s what happens to Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) when her boyfriend Nicholas Young (Henry Golding) invites her to a friend’s wedding in Singapore where she meets his entire family. What I love about this movie is that it’s not only a rom-com but it’s a social commentary as well. The film does a great job of blending topics such as: intersectionality, racism, tradition, classicism, loyalty, and the meaning of family. While having witty and dynamic characters and dialogue you can also see the depth of each character. Every person mentioned on screen or given screen time has a clear direction for their character and you can really differentiate what love means for each person. The movie also shows different types of love like: maternal, romantic, and platonic. This is a great movie when you want to not only let yourself go through a fun love story but witness a human story as well with history attached to it. The movie is also based on a book by the same name and I’ve heard it has much more details than the movie has (which is common), so if you like the movie I say go on and read the book as well!
- Ella Enchanted
This one is maybe more of a random movie since I don’t know a great number of people who LOVE this movie like I do. Ella Enchanted has a lot of its base story taken from Cinderella, like the evil stepmother and stepsisters. But, Ella (Anne Hathaway) is given the ability to be completely obedient. This is, of course, a curse since the ability is taken so literally that it makes Ella seem much wackier and sillier than she would realistically be. I also like that she doesn’t immediately fall head over heels for Prince Charmont (Hugh Dancy) and their romance becomes something that builds up over time. I like that the movie can be seen as a metaphor for autonomy, and Ella finally frees herself from her obedience curse by really putting her foot down and making a decision that SHE wanted (I’m being vague since maybe you’ve never watched it even though it’s been out since 2004, but you never know). The movie also has musical elements and as a kid I was obsessed with the scene where she sings a cover of “Somebody to Love” by Queen and ends up dancing with Prince Char. If you’re into romance with a little fantasy and even an interpretation of a classic, this is the way to go.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoSUHgs7hCs&pp=ygUWZWxsYSBlbmNoYW50ZWQgdHJhaWxlcg%3D%3D
- To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
I say this with complete honesty, a large portion of my bias towards this movie is because I see myself in Lara Jean (Lana Condor). I’m also gonna eat up a fake dating trope every single time because the effort that comes with maintaining the fake dating can really make the relationship between the main characters all the more complicated and build more tension between them. There’s already so much tension right off the bat of this movie since Lara Jean has a huge secret crush on her older sister Margo’s (Janel Parrish) boyfriend Josh Sanderson (Israel Broussard). She has so many emotions bottled up that she has 5 fully handwritten letters to the strongest crushes she’s had in her entire life! But the letters get out when her younger sister Kitty (Anna Cathcart) sends out the letters in hopes of finding Lara Jean a boyfriend. This leads to her fake dating with one of the recipients, Peter Kavisnky (Noah Centineo). This movie holds a special place in my heart because I first watched it when I was 12 years old and little me related a lot to how nervous and closed off Lara Jean is. I think this movie is such a sweet and youthful form of romance, it really develops and dives into valid fears any girl would have when they enter their first relationship (fake or not). The movie(s) also originate from a book series of the same name written by Jenny Han, the author of The Summer I Turned Pretty!
These are just my personal favorites and there’s even a few more that were a close call to being put on here but these just really take the cake. I think love is so fun to experience through film since it can transport you into situations that could either seem realistic or you’d rather just not experience yourself. But rom-coms are about having fun and being able to have self expression in a way that’s relatable and not too serious.