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Real-life romance is complicated and sometimes exhausting. That can be true for characters in movies, too, but their problems are generally funnier than our own and, anyway, they’re not our problems. A good rom-com is comforting either because we know everything will work out fine, or because we know we won’t have to deal with the hilarious and/or poignant consequences of interacting with other humans.
Sadly, the golden ago of the rom-com has passed us by—and Netflix in particular has pulled back on its selection of older (meaning anything much older than a decade) movies in favor of more recent releases, which means you might have to dust off your DVDs if you’re looking for a ’90s classic to get you in the Valentine’s Day mood. On the other hand, that also means there are probably a lot of newer rom-coms on the service that you haven’t seen before, including a handful of original films you won’t find anywhere else.
People We Meet on Vacation (2026)
Adapted from Emily Henry’s popular 2021 novel, People We Meet on Vacation goes the When Harry Met Sally route, following a couple of college besties who nurse confused, complicated feelings about one another over a period of years—recounted in not-entirely-linear flashbacks. Emily Bader is Poppy, a travel writer who’s bored and unfulfilled with her job (her job…taking exotic vacations? OK.), while Tom Blyth is her pal Alex, with whom she spends one week a year on vacation. As the movie opens, the two haven’t spoken in a couple of years, but are both headed to a Barcelona wedding that will be make-or-break for their relationship.
Someone Great (2019)
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge, I Know What You Did Last Summer) makes her directorial debut with this charming rom-com that’s less about the boys than it is about the power of friendship to help us deal with relationship nonsense. Gina Rodriguez is Jenny, a music journalist who lands her dream job only to have her long-term boyfriend (LaKeith Stanfield) immediately dump her. Her bestie Erin (DeWanda Wise) is struggling to admit her feelings to her girlfriend, while Blair (Brittany Snow) knows that she needs to ditch her man, but can’t bring herself to do it. The solution to all their problems? One last wild night out before Jenny leaves town for her new gig.
You’ve Got Mail (1998)
Nora Ephron’s followup to Sleepless in Seattle doesn’t have quite the classic cachet of that earlier film, but Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are every bit as delightful as they were in the earlier movie. Inspired by 1940’s The Shop Around the Corner, the story finds Hanks’ Joe Fox and Ryan’s Kathleen Kelly maintaining a sweet, anonymous, and increasingly intimate online relationship without realizing that they know each other IRL, and don’t much care for each other (probably because he’s trying to put her charming neighborhood bookstore out of business). It’s very cute, and also a fun trip back to a time when email and chatrooms were novelties.
The American President (1995)
An underrated triumph from the late Rob Reiner, this one is both a sweet romantic comedy and a genuinely smart movie about American politics. Michael Douglas plays Andrew Shepherd, the widowed president in the middle of a re-election campaign who develops feelings for tough environmental lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening). Their romance simmers in the background while real world issues play out, as the script mines genuine comedy out of the complications of a U.S. president trying to conduct a giddy, but clandestine, relationship with a “normal” woman while also running the country. Martin Sheen and Michael J. Fox co-star; Aaron Sorkin wrote the script, something of a dry run for TV’s The West Wing a few years later.
Love and Leashes (2022)
The title of this South Korean import isn’t some kind of euphemism. In fact, it’s a pretty direct description of the film (think Secretary, but sweeter). Jung Ji-woo (Seohyun) is great at her job at a public relations firm, but doesn’t always get the respect she deserves from her male colleagues. Because of their similar names, she accidentally opens a package for new co-worker Jung Ji-hoo (Lee Jun-young) that contains a leather collar and a leash. Horrified, he claims it was intended for his dog, but she ain’t buying it. Instead, she’s intrigued, and as the two gradually build toward a contractual BDSM relationship, and her dominant role helps her find confidence in the workplace, and what starts off as something like a business relationship develops into something a bit more romantic.
Players (2024)
Gina Rodriguez plays sportswriter Mack, who has spent years writing hook-up plays for her friends—elaborate schemes that have led her and the crew to any number of one-night stands. The tables are turned when she falls for a war correspondent (Tom Ellis) who only sees her as a hookup. Her best friend Adam (Damon Wayans Jr.) jumps in to help her land her man, and unexpected complications arise when he realizes that his own feelings for Mack aren’t entirely platonic.
Hit Man (2024)
This “Netflix Original” from director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Boyhood) was actually acquired by the streamer after it made a splash at the Sundance Film Festival, no doubt in anticipation of leading man Glen Powell finally having his moment. And certainly he’s got charisma to spare in this shaggy-dog rom-com/thriller in which he plays Gary Johnson, a college professor who moonlights as a participant in sting operations for the New Orleans police department, pretending to be a hit man to rope in would-be criminals. When he feels a spark with his latest mark, a woman (Adria Arjona) desperate to escape an abusive husband, things get complicated. It’s a great premise, the leads have chemistry to spare, and it’s altogether a great hang.
Anyone But You (2023)
Speaking of Glen Powell, he co-headlines this 2023 throwback (an extremely loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing) with Euphoria‘s Sydney Sweeney that became a box office hit despite a savaging by critics. The pair play an investment banker and a college student, respectively, who meet cute but suffer a classic rom-com misunderstanding that leaves them both bitter—then, two years later, they meet up at the destination wedding of her sister and his roommate’s sister, perfectly positioned for a classic enemies-to-lovers turnabout.
The Incredible Jessica James (2017)
Jessica Williams plays the title’s New York City playwright, who finds herself at loose ends following a bad breakup and a seemingly endless string of rejections for her work. She’s introduced to divorced Boone (Chris O’Dowd), with whom she bonds over life’s disappointments. The real charm in this smart indie are in its performances, as well as its conviction that romance needn’t be an end unto itself, but can go hand in hand with a renewed sense of artistic purpose.
The Lovebirds (2020)
Bumped from theaters and sold to Netflix at the beginning of the pandemic, his two-hander starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani was largely overlooked at the time, but deserves a second chance. They play a couple whose relationship is at a low point after four years together. Through bizarre circumstances, the same night they decide to break up, they are the joint witnesses to a murder and must go on the run—and nothing reignites an old flame like life-or-death stakes. The film was directed by Michael Showalter, who helped put Nanjiani on the map with 2017’s The Big Sick.
She’s Gotta Have It (1986)
The first Spike Lee joint, this enormously charming low-budget feature follows Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns), a young artist living in Brooklyn in the pre-hipster 1980s, as she muses on her romantic relationships with three different men (one of them played by Lee himself). If a little rough around the edges, it’s an extremely accomplished debut, hinting at Lee’s future career with creative flourishes, from a documentary shooting style to sequences in which interviews with the characters (and a handful of real people) offer commentary on the difficulties of navigating romantic relationships in the then-modern era.
A Tourist’s Guide to Love (2023)
Vietnam is the real star in this, the first movie to be shot in the country following the COVID-19 pandemic. Rachael Leigh Cook (She’s All That) stars as a travel executive (dealing with a recent break-up, naturally) who sneaks off to Southeast Asia to go undercover on one of the group tours her company promotes. In the process she meets tour guide Sinh (Scott Ly), who encourages her to step outside of her comfort zone. Together, they explore some of the most beautiful features of modern Vietnam. Probably they fall in love too, IDK.
Nappily Ever After (2018)
Violet Jones (Sanaa Lathan) spends her life in near-terror of rain, for fear that her rigorously straightened hair will be ruined. That hair is a signifier in every aspect of her life, straightening sessions even having been a way to bond with her demanding mother (Lynn Whitfield). Following a breakup with her boyfriend because of her exacting nature (particularly regarding her hair), she experiments with: different colors that her friends object to; a natural style that renders her either invisible or the subject of derision; she even shaves her head at one point, which only gets her invited to a cancer support group. Director Haifaa al-Mansour’s movie makes a great point about the fraught nature of Black hair, particularly when that hair belongs to a woman. Meeting a salon owner in the middle of a freakout, Violet begins a slow journey to learning to love herself, her hair, and maybe even the hot salon owner (Lyriq Bent).
Always Be My Maybe (2019)
Romantic comedies are often (not always) comfort food, and so we often find familiar plots: Here, longtime friends who’d lost touch (Ali Wong and Randall Park) reconnect after a falling out years before. She’s a successful celebrity chef and engaged; he’s fixing air conditioners with his dad, which is how the two meet up. Nahnatchka Khan (creator of Fresh Off the Boat) brings a light touch here, and Wong and Park have great chemistry; they’re joined by a fun supporting cast that includes a really funny turn from Keanu Reeves playing himself.
Set It Up (2018)
Some of the best romantic comedies involve a slightly outlandish scheme, and this reliably charming Netflix original has one of those great setups: Two overworked assistants (Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell) come up with the idea that, if they can get their bosses (Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs) laid, they’ll be less interested in stressing out their employees. So the two harried assistants plan to set their bosses up, which, not unexpectedly, goes very comedically awry in pretty much every way. Naturally these things never work out as planned, and the romance in the offing is not the one that anyone had expected.
The Perfect Find (2023)
Though Numa Perrier’s film hits plenty of the traditional rom-com beats, lead Gabrielle Union provides the spark that ignites the whole film (based on the Tia Williams novel). She’s never been better than she is here, playing Jenna, a woman in her 40s making a clean break of a long-term relationship and taking on a high-profile, high-stakes career in beauty journalism—only to wind up in a one-night stand with Eric (Keith Powers), 15 years younger and the son of her boss.
The Half of It (2020)
Writer/director Alice Wu made a splash with her queer classic Saving Face way back in 2004. Her long-awaited follow-up, a comedy-drama inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac, is better. Here, friendless high schooler Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis, from “Nancy Drew”) is tasked with writing love letters to her crush, Aster (Alexxis Lemire), on behalf of a football player named Paul. There’s plenty that’s familiar here, but Wu makes everything feel fresh and fun.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)
One of the most iconic and memorable rom-coms of the 1990s might be new to many American viewers, who are missing out on a movie that’s both wonderfully goofy and deeply poignant in the best tradition of the genre. Shah Rukh Khan plays Rahul Khanna, best friends in college with Anjali (Kajol), but smitten with Tina (Rani Mukerji). Rahul and Tina get married and time goes by, but Tina always feels a little bit guilty, like maybe she got in the way of something. With little time left to live following complications in childbirth (did I mention there’s also drama here?), Tina writes her daughter a series of letters—the last one asking that she make sure that dad and Anjali reconnect.
Our Souls at Night (2017)
Indian director Ritesh Batra (The Sense of an Ending and The Lunchbox) brought together screen legends Robert Redford and Jane Fonda for this well-received romantic drama from a top-rate director. Despite the ominous title, it’s a quiet and sweet film that’s worthy of its stars. It’s not really a comedy, so I’m cheating a bit by putting it here, but it’s got such a satisfyingly light touch that it hits most of the same buttons as more straightforward rom-coms.
Alex Strangelove (2018)
High schooler Alex Truelove (Daniel Doheny) is psyching himself up to have sex with his girlfriend, Claire, for the first time—but something’s holding him back. Openly gay Elliott (Antonio Marziale) has an idea why Alex is so reluctant and, frankly, the audience ought to have a clue by that point, as well. It’s a perfectly sweet, good-natured coming-of-age story that has some fun with Alex’s awkward efforts to set expectations aside and just kinda be himself.
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
If you want a rom-com to clean up at the Oscars, you’re gonna need to put it in drag. Maybe throw in some Shakespeare. Hell, might as well make it about Shakespeare. A lot less heavy than 2026 Oscar contender Hamnet, this one finds Joseph Fiennes as the rakish title character to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Viola de Lesseps, the daughter of a wealthy merchant who loves the theater so much that she’s more than willing to dress up like a man to get to appear on stage. Their eventual infatuation will have to overcome the strictures of the era and earn the approval of Judi Dench’s Queen Elizabeth.
Wedding Season (2023)
Asha (Pallavi Sharda) just broke off her engagement and left her Wall Street investment firm in favor of a Jersey City startup. Her concerned mother sets her daughter up on a dating app, and Asha acquiesces to a single date with the first match: Ravi (Suraj Sharma). It doesn’t go particularly well, but they’re both under a lot of parental pressure to get married, and Asha has about a dozen weddings to go to over the course of the summer, most of them filled with busybodies who want to see her in a relationship. So, naturally (for a movie), Ahsa and Ravi decide to play at being a couple to get people off their backs—which works out fine, until it doesn’t.
Barakah Meets Barakah (2016)
Class-busting romance is nothing particularly new, but this candid Saudi Arabian comedy-drama sees middle-class civil servant Barakah (Hisham Fageeh) strike up a relationship with Bibi, a boundary-pushing Insta celebrity. Just finding time and space to pursue a frowned-upon relationship in modern Saudi is challenging, but the movie explores the social and political obstacles with a light touch.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
Imagine that everyone you’d ever had a crush on received a letter expressing your exact feelings. It’s a nightmare scenario, but a reality for shy high school junior Lara Jean (Lana Condor), who’d written the letters as a form of secret diary, only to show up at school one day to find that her little sister had mailed them all. Can you imagine? Condor is fantastic here, and the whole thing is delightful. It’s been followed by two also-very-good sequels, as well as an ongoing spin-off series (XO, Kitty).
Seriously Single (2020)
We start out in familiar territory here: Dineo and Noni (Fulu Mugovhani and Tumi Morake, both very funny) are a couple of successful big-city women—this time in Johannesburg. Dineo is on the hunt for a long-term relationship, even after getting dumped via livestream at work, while Noni is perfectly content with one-night stands. Their romantic (and un-romantic) trials are alternately charming, horrifying, and hilarious. The heart of the movie is its two leads, and the friendship that sustains them.
