Whenever I need a good pick-me-up, there is nothing that does the trick better than a rom-com. My love for romance movies is something that started in my twenties, but ever since I started I haven’t been able to stop watching them. However, in my rom-com search, I’ve found some really great ones and some not so great. The thing I learned about rom-coms is that they aren’t one size fits all. It all depends on what you’re looking for at the time you watch it. I spent a long time looking for rom-coms that I loved because I wasn’t really into the classics, but I felt like I had to be because they were “the classics.” To me, any good romance movie has to be about more than just the relationship. I have to love the characters as individuals before I can truly love them as a couple. It has to be the perfect balance of telling us the story of the relationship and telling us a story that has nothing to do with it. I’ve compiled a list of five movies that contain everything that makes a great romance movie to me and, hopefully, you’ll find your next great watch within this list.
- set it up
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Set It Up follows Charlie and Harper, two workaholic assistants who hatch a plan to set up their bosses to gain more free time. During their scheming, they start to spend more time together and their budding friendship soon turns into something more. Zoey Dutch and Glen Powell’s banter in this movie is off the charts! Dutch and Powell have proven that they have great comedic timing separately, but when you put them together a truly special duo is created to form one unforgettable and hilarious love story. The opening montage of this film with all of the assistants running around and doing errands for their bosses has got to be one of the funniest openings I’ve ever seen. Like any good rom-com, this can’t all be about their relationship. Harper is looking to become an established writer and Charlie wants to move up in the corporate world, which is the reason why they need their bosses to like them. They also have to deal with the changes happening in their personal lives. The most memorable scenes have got to be the rooftop dance and pizza on the fire escape scenes. If you want to find out more about Harper and Charlie’s story, this film is available to watch on Netflix.
- love at first sight
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Out of all of the films on this list, Love at First Sight is my personal favorite; which is ironic considering I don’t really believe in love at first sight. This story follows Hadley and Oliver, two strangers who meet at the airport on December 20th after Hadley misses her first flight to London. Hadley is on her way to her father’s wedding and Oliver…well, I won’t spoil it for you. This story is about fate and the complete unpredictability of love, which is why I enjoy it so much. The movie is filled with statistics and probabilities about how unlikely it was for every scenario that brought our two leads together to happen. I mean, how many love stories have you seen that start with a phone charger? It was so unlikely for all of these little things that kept bringing them together to happen, but that’s the beauty of it. It was completely improbable, and yet, everything aligned just right; if that doesn’t describe love then I don’t know what does. Apart from their relationship, the movie shows us some very emotional scenes between the two leads and their families, which I won’t comment too much on so as not to spoil anything. Love at First Sight is also available to watch on Netflix.
- rye lane
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Rye Lane is dear to me for so many reasons. For starters, the cinematography is the best out of all of the films on this list. It makes some really interesting choices with its camera angles and the style it is shot in, focusing a lot on close ups and shooting a few scenes with a sort of fish-eye lens that adds so much dimension to the shot. This story follows Dom and Yas, two people who’ve just gotten out of serious relationships and who suddenly find themselves spending an entire day in London together. This movie makes so many compelling and unique choices that create some of the most dynamic scenes I’ve ever seen in a rom-com. David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah click so well that they make you feel like Dom and Yas have known each other for years instead of just a day. There are so many memorable moments in this film, from the art gallery to the flashbacks, but the ones that stand out the most have got to be the karaoke and the boat scene. These scenes really highlight Dom and Yas’s chemistry and how important they’ve become to each other in just a short amount of time. Rye Lane is available to watch on Hulu or Disney+ with a Hulu subscription.
- penelope
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I don’t know if Penelope can be considered one of the classic rom-coms, but it’s a classic to me. This story follows Penelope, a young woman who is looking to get married to break a curse placed on her family that caused her to be born with the nose of a pig. Penelope has all but given up hope on finding love and breaking the curse, then along comes Max and suddenly she feels like a happy ending is within her grasp. However, some unknown circumstances, which are revealed later in the film, lead Max to deny her proposal even though the connection between them is obvious to everyone around them. More than just a romance, this is a story about self acceptance and personal growth, something that both Penelope and Max needed to do before they could be together. Christina Ricci and James McAvoy are absolutely incredible in this film and they are accompanied by an equally fantastic cast. In my humble opinion, this is James McAvoy’s best role and Max is one of the best male leads in any rom-com. Their kiss in this movie has got to be one of the top five best kiss scenes in all of cinematic history and, yes, you can quote me on that. Penelope is available to watch on Amazon Prime, although it has bounced around a few different streaming services.
- sweethearts
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Sweethearts might be a little different from the other romance movies on this list, but I still consider it a rom-com. This film follows two best friends, Jamie and Ben, who are planning to break up with their respective high school sweethearts while they’re home from college during Thanksgiving break. Although this might sound like a simple enough plan, the chaos that ensues makes for a totally different narrative and a hilariously entertaining plot. This story is about Jamie and Ben’s friendship, more than it is about anything else, and how it’s influenced their lives. During the course of a few very chaotic days, Jamie will have to learn to cope with change and how to open herself up to others. Meanwhile, Ben will learn how to stand up for himself and that it’s impossible for him to please everyone all the time. Out of all of the movies on this list, this is the most recent one since it came out just last year, but I feel like it’s popularity is only going to grow as time passes. Sweethearts is available to watch on Max, HBO’s streaming service.
There you have it! Believe it or not, choosing my top five romance movies was harder than I thought it was going to be. I really hope that one of these films comes to mean as much to you as it does to me; but, like I said at the beginning, this isn’t a one size fits all. I watched dozens of romance movies before I stumbled upon my favorites, but I urge you not to give up on the genre, even if you’ve watched a couple you haven’t enjoyed. Romance movies have some of the best depictions of everyday situations and they can help us make sense of what is going on in our own lives. All of the movies on this list, at some point, deal with situations that have nothing to do with romance. This genre explores themes such as personal growth, uncertainty, feeling lost, acceptance, grief, among many others. Romance movies have the power to show the beauty of the mundane and that it’s okay if we don’t have everything figured out yet. Love can be found in every aspect of our lives, whether it’s romantic or not, and romance movies are the best at illustrating how messy and wonderful it can be.