The holidays, New Years and winter season are stressful times for everyone. As January ends and everyone begins to settle into the new year, we’ve finally approached February — the month of celebrating all kinds of love and joy! Even if you’re not spending this year’s Valentine’s Day with a romantic partner, getting into the festive spirit is still fun. There’s no better way to celebrate than spending the day watching romantic comedies.
While everybody knows and absolutely adores the rom-com classics like “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” “10 Things I Hate About You,” “Love, Actually” and many more — this Valentine’s Day is the time to celebrate new feel-good rom-coms.
Here are five modern rom-coms to watch this Valentine’s Day season to add a bit of love and whimsy to your year.
People We Meet on Vacation (2026)
A Netflix adaptation of Emily Henry’s beloved novel of the same title, “People We Meet on Vacation,” explores the decade-long friendship of Poppy and Alex as they share summer vacations every year. Played by Emily Bader and Tom Blyth, Poppy and Alex are polar opposites but have been best friends since college. Their annual vacations bring them closer every year, until one summer trip goes awry and Poppy and Alex’s friendship comes to a disastrous end. Two years later, Poppy attempts to save their strained friendship with one last vacation.
Despite having various changes from the novel, the movie adaptation of “People We Meet on Vacation” is a promising indicator that rom-coms are so back. Bader and Blyth perfectly capture the essence of Poppy and Alex’s friendship. Along with having an incredible soundtrack featuring Taylor Swift, Paula Abdul, boygenius, Robyn and many more, this rom-com delivers the classic friends-to-lovers trope into a witty and heartwarming adaptation.
Lisa Frankenstein (2024)
Writer of iconic movies such as “Jennifer’s Body” and “Juno,” Diablo Cody hit the mark once again with “Lisa Frankenstein,” which was released two years ago on Valentine’s Day. “Lisa Frankenstein” is a horror rom-com set in the ’80s and follows teenager Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) as she falls in love with a Victorian-era corpse (Cole Sprouse) that resurrects from the dead. Lisa takes The Creature into her home and hides him in her closet from her father, stepmother and stepsister. Cody herself has also stated that “Jennifer’s Body” and “Lisa Frankenstein” live in the same cinematic universe—they even share similar themes of the supernatural, teenage angst and campy horror.
A hilarious and clever twist on the classic Frankenstein tale, “Lisa Frankenstein” is the perfect movie for Valentine’s Day. Letterboxed user @laur3nj writes, “I mostly like that Cole Sprouse had like 3 lines. As a man should.” Although most of the leading man’s lines are grunts, “Lisa Frankenstein” is an incredibly romantic love story that will be sure to resurrect your belief in true love.
Bottoms (2023)
“Bottoms” stars comedic icons Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri and follows unpopular high school best friends PJ and Josie as they start a fight club to try to hook up with two cheerleaders they have crushes on. PJ and Josie soon find themselves navigating hypermasculine, misogynistic high school football players set on destroying their fight club, along with teenage crushes and angst, all while being at the bottom of the high school food chain.
With a soundtrack featuring iconic songs from Charli xcx like “party 4 u,” “Bottoms” is a refreshingly unique queer comedy. The ridiculously absurd plot points and scenes are what make “Bottoms” the perfect comedy, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a timeless movie reminiscent of classics like “Heathers” and modern movies like “Booksmart.” The dialogue is hilarious with lines like, “Could the ugly, untalented gays please report to the principal’s office?” “Bottoms” is the perfect movie to watch with your group of friends this Valentine’s Day.
Set It Up (2018)
Netflix’s “Set It Up” was released in 2018 and stars Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell, who play two overworked assistants in New York City trying to set up their overbearing bosses together to finally get a break from them. Harper Moore is the assistant to the editor-in-chief of an online sports publication, Kirsten Stevens (Lucy Liu), and Charlie Young is the assistant to venture capitalist Rick Otis (Taye Diggs). After a run-in at the building where they both work one night, Harper and Charlie hatch a plan to orchestrate a “meet-cute” between their bosses so they finally have time for their own personal lives. In their matchmaking efforts, Harper and Charlie grow close and soon wonder if their relationship is just purely business.
“Set It Up” is nostalgic of classic rom-coms but also isn’t afraid to play with the rules of rom-coms. It’s a fun and cheesy movie that’s easy to watch and will have you laughing out loud — Deutch and Powell also share incredible chemistry and romantic tension. “Set It Up” delivers exactly what it promises with strong writing, brilliant direction and the perfect leads.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
Based on author Jenny Han’s 2014 book series, “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” is a teen rom-com that was released in 2018 on Netflix. Lara Jean Covey (Lana Condor) is a shy high school girl who has never had a boyfriend — she keeps her feelings safely guarded in a box of letters in her closet that she’s written to the boys she’s loved. She’s has only loved five boys before: Josh Sanderson, John Ambrose McClaren, Lucas James, Kenny Donati and Peter Kavinsky. She never had any intention of sending her letters to any of them; however, one night, Lara Jean’s sister Kitty, sneaks into her room and mails out all the letters. At school, Lara Jean is confronted by Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) about the letters and proposes a fake-dating plan to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. Lara Jean is quickly thrown into the complicated world of high school dating, all while navigating her real feelings.
If you want to watch a cheesy rom-com that would fulfill the heart of your 13-year-old self, “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” is the perfect movie. It’s an incredibly sweet cliché teen romance that will instantly be your new favorite comfort watch. “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” is true to the growing pains of navigating relationships for the first time. Lara Jean is a shy and awkward sixteen-year-old girl, and unlike previous rom-coms, there’s no complete make-over scene in this movie — Lara Jean never changes herself for a boy, and she’s loved for exactly who she is. This movie is perfectly summed up by Letterboxd user @tr1nketcharm, “oh LJ, how I relate to you. best romcom especially for february aka valentines, wish we could all have a peter but whatever.”