Valentine’s Day has been around for centuries, dedicated to the love and romance of a relationship. Even in the 18th century, friends and lovers would exchange tokens or gifts on this holiday as a way to express their feelings when true expression wasn’t permitted. Now, verbal expression is permitted, but still, so many value the holiday that honors love and feelings.
Even if you aren’t in a relationship, Valentine’s Day can be for the girls, a celebration of platonic love. A night in with a good movie is perfect, where stories of everlasting love or emotional breakups line streaming services.
Honestly, any movie can be watched on Valentine’s Day if you’re hoping to find love in it. From classic Disney films to high-stakes action movies, all of these often have a relationship sub-plot (or main plot) ideal to watch when you’re craving a love story.
Below are movies ideal for Valentine’s Day, with each plot’s romance being the main theme. There are underlying ideals of friendships, careers, and dreams, but each of these movies provides the overarching plot of love that’s fostered, created, and broken.
- 10 Things I Hate About You
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10 Things I Hate About You is one of my all-time favorite rom-coms. It follows high school students Kat and Bianca Stratford as they navigate high school relationships with an overbearing father.
There are multiple tropes within the movie: enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, and a fair number of platonic relationships.
This movie is perfect if you’re hoping to sit down and watch an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew with love interests played by Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
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How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days stars Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey as they each set out on a separate track to lose or gain a relationship in 10 days.
Their plans backfire, obviously, and both of them are stuck with a person they’re pretending to dislike. This movie is about deception and deceit, and is playing at FSU’s Askew Student Life Center on Feb. 13 and 14. Grab your gals and head over to catch this classic romance!
- Set It Up
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Set It Up was the first rom-com Glen Powell starred in, opposite Zoey Deutch. This move follows two assistants as they work together to set their bosses up, hoping to lighten their own workload.
It has the humor of any comedy, with misconceptions and miscommunications driving the main relationships forward. This movie is perfect if you enjoy Powell’s Anyone But You but don’t want to watch him star across from Sydney Sweeney.
- 500 Days of Summer
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Valentine’s Day may bring hopes of seeing your past relationships. Don’t worry, though; Hollywood has put out their fair share of movies to stop you from texting your exes. 500 Days of Summer is one of them, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zoey Deschanel.
This movie follows the main characters, Summer and Tom, as their relationship unfolds, tracking their love and happiness as the film progresses. Although it isn’t all fun and games, the overarching idea of this movie is the dangers that come with romanticizing individuals rather than accepting them.
- La La Land
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La La Land is a movie well recognized, if not for the plot, then for the mishap at the 2017 Oscars. This is a movie to turn to if you’re scrolling on social media, debating whether you should reach back out to that relationship that was once so good.
This movie shows that not every good relationship is the best, and not every “perfect relationship” will end up together. It follows Emma Stone’s Mia and Ryan Gosling’s Sebastian as they fall in and out of love and navigate all the difficulties that come with contrasting dreams.
- When Harry Met Sally
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When Harry Met Sally is a classic friends-to-lovers rom-com, following college students Harry Burns and Sally Albright. This movie tracks their “strictly platonic” relationship, and all the discussions the two of them have about whether men and women can truly be just friends.
Harry and Sally have their ups and downs, moments that make you shake your head and hope for the end, but it truly is a wonderful film to bring you some joy this Valentine’s Day.
- 13 Going on 30
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13 Going on 30 stars Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner, and follows their characters as they trace backwards from 30 to 13 years old. Garner’s character, Jenna Rink, manages to travel 17 years into the future, where she’s left to navigate adult life with the mindset of a tween.
This leads her to search for her old best friend, Matt Flamhaff (played by Ruffalo), rebuilding their childhood friendship. This movie is a wonderful tale about love, trust, and originality, and highlights just how tedious a friends-to-lovers relationship can be.
- People We Meet on Vacation
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People We Meet on Vacation was released at the beginning of January, so it’s one of the newer films to check out this Valentine’s Day. It starts off very similar to When Harry Met Sally, following two college students as they’re forced to drive home from college together.
This connection leads to them bonding over travel, and for the next 10 years, they take trips together. Their vacations start small with camping in Canada, but extend across the globe as they each get a real, full-time job.
This movie, based on Emily Henry’s bestselling novel, is a story about the longevity of friends-to-lovers and, as long as you haven’t been a Sarah in this situation before, you’re bound to smile.
Valentine’s Day is a holiday dedicated to love, although for some people it’s just the opposite. Immersing yourself in the world of fiction, following relationships as they travel the highs and lows, may just be the cure for a dreadful day. I know I enjoy each of these films, and watch them even if it isn’t a holiday dedicated to love and romance.
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