Best Rom-Coms to Watch This Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to curl up with a feel-good movie to deliver comfort, humor, and heart. The following films span decades and generations, but they all share relatable characters, memorable moments, and timeless themes of love and connection. Whether you’re watching with your significant other, friends, or even by yourself, these movies are guaranteed to set whatever mood you’re looking for this Valentine’s Day.

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

• 10 Things I Hate About You is a modern high school adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play, The Taming of the Shrew. The core plot revolves around the Stratford sisters, where the younger sister, Bianca, is not allowed to date until her outspoken, difficult older sister, Kat, does. Because of this, a deal is struck between Cameron James, a boy who wants to date Bianca, and Patrick Verona, a stereotypical 90’s bad boy. The movie explores themes of love, manipulation, disguise, and societal pressure, with a couple of clever nods to Shakespeare added throughout the script, making it the perfect movie to watch this Valentine’s Day. 

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) 

• My Big Fat Greek Wedding follows Toula, who leaves her job at her family’s restaurant to work at her aunt’s travel agency and go back to school. Through this transformation, she gains confidence and independence, and she meets Ian Miller, who is a high school teacher and the total package; the only problem is that he isn’t Greek. Toula’s father, Gus, is very upset that she is dating someone who isn’t Greek, creating a culture-clash conflict where Ian must learn to embrace her loud, large, and tightly-knit family if he wants to marry her. This relatable, heartwarming, and humorous movie is great to watch with your significant other, friends, or even by yourself this Valentine’s Day. 

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003) 

• How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days follows a magazine columnist, Andie Anderson, who is tasked with writing an article on “how to drive a man away in 10 days” by committing common dating mistakes. An advertising executive, Benjamin Barry, bets his boss that he can make any woman fall in love with him in 10 days to win a major diamond campaign. Unbeknownst to each other’s real goals, they start dating, and while Andie actively tries to annoy and scare Ben off with “crazy” antics, he is determined to endure anything to ensure he wins his bet. 

13 Going on 30 (2004) 

• 13 Going on 30 follows Jenna Rink, who, after being humiliated at her 13th birthday party she makes a heartfelt wish to be 30 years old, using magic wishing dust. She wakes up the next day as a 30-year-old woman who is a successful editor at a fashion magazine in New York City, living the glamorous life she always imagined. She quickly realizes her adult life lacks the genuine connection she had with her childhood best friend, Matty Perkins, and that her cool adult persona is actually quite cruel and lonely. The film is a modern fairy tale that explores themes of growing up, pressures of popularity, self-acceptance, and realizing that there is importance in cherishing your roots and your true friends. 

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)

•  To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before follows Lara Jean, who writes letters to her crushes and then stores them in a special box as a way to say goodbye to them. When these letters are accidentally mailed, her private feelings become public, which forces her to confront the recipients. To convince her crush, Josh, that she is no longer interested in him, she enters a fake dating relationship with another recipient of one of the letters, Peter Kavinsky, who also wants to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. Through this fake dating journey, Lara Jean and Peter develop genuine feelings for each other, which leads her to move past her fears of heartbreak and rejection and open up to real love.