100 Best Romantic Movies to Watch on Valentine’s Day

Titanic (1997)

Titanic is an epic romantic film directed, written, produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. Incorporating both historical and fictionalized aspects, it is based on accounts of the sinking of the RMS Titanic and stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage. Also starring are Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Victor Garber, and Bill Paxton.

The Notebook (2004)

The Notebook is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love in the 1940s. Their story is read from a notebook in the present day by an elderly man (played by James Garner), telling the tale to a fellow nursing home resident (played by Gena Rowlands, the director Cassavetes’ mother).

Notting Hill (1999)

The story is a romance between a London bookseller (Grant) and a famous American actress (Roberts) who happens to walk into his shop. It stars Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, with Rhys Ifans, Emma Chambers, Tim McInnerny, Gina McKee, and Hugh Bonneville in supporting roles.

La La Land (2016)

The film stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a struggling jazz pianist and an aspiring actress, respectively, who meet and fall in love while pursuing their dreams in Los Angeles. John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, Finn Wittrock, and J. K. Simmons appear in supporting roles.

About Time (2013)

About Time is about a young man with the ability to time travel who tries to change his past in hopes of improving his future. It stars Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander, and Margot Robbie.

The Fault in Our Stars (2014)

The Fault in Our Stars is a coming-of-age romance film starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, with Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Nat Wolff, and Willem Dafoe in supporting roles. Woodley plays a sixteen-year-old cancer patient forced by her parents to attend a support group, where she meets and subsequently falls in love with another cancer patient, played by Elgort.

Fifty Shades Of Grey (2015)

Fifty Shades of Grey is an erotic romantic drama film based on E. L. James’ 2011 novel of the same name and stars Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle, and Marcia Gay Harden. The story follows Anastasia Steele (Johnson), a college graduate who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with young business magnate Christian Grey (Dornan).

It is the first installment in the Fifty Shades film series and was followed by two sequels, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, released in 2017 and 2018.

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

When Harry Met Sally… stars Billy Crystal as Harry and Meg Ryan as Sally. The story follows the title characters from the time they meet in Chicago just before sharing a cross-country drive, through twelve years of chance encounters in New York City. The film addresses but does not resolve questions along the lines of “Can men and women ever just be friends?”

Love, Simon (2018)

Love, Simon is based on the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. The film stars Nick Robinson, Josh Duhamel, and Jennifer Garner.

It centers on Simon Spier, a closeted gay high school boy who struggles to balance his friends, his family, and the blackmailer threatening to out him to the entire school, while simultaneously attempting to discover the identity of the anonymous classmate with whom he has fallen in love online.

A Star Is Born (2018)

A Star Is Born is a musical romantic drama film that stars Cooper, Lady Gaga, Dave Chappelle, Andrew Dice Clay and Sam Elliott, and follows an alcoholic musician (Cooper) who discovers and falls in love with a young singer (Gaga).

The Proposal (2009)

The film stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds with Malin Åkerman, Craig T. Nelson, Mary Steenburgen and Betty White in supporting roles. The plot centers on a Canadian executive who learns that she may face deportation from the U.S. because her visa renewal application was denied. Determined to retain her position as editor-in-chief of a publishing house, she convinces her assistant to temporarily act as her fiancé.

After (2019)

After is based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Anna Todd. The film stars Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes Tiffin and follows an inexperienced teenage girl who begins to romance a mysterious student during her first months of college. The cast includes Selma Blair, Inanna Sarkis, Shane Paul McGhie, Pia Mia, Khadijha Red Thunder, Dylan Arnold, Samuel Larsen, Jennifer Beals, and Peter Gallagher in supporting roles.

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Another best Valentine’s Day movie for a romantic date night is 1987 Dirty Dancing. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances “Baby” Houseman, a young woman who falls in love with dance instructor Johnny Castle (Swayze) at a vacation resort.

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

If Beale Street Could Talk stars an ensemble cast that includes KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave Franco, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal, Ed Skrein, Brian Tyree Henry, and Regina King. The film follows a young woman who, with her family’s support, seeks to clear the name of her wrongly charged lover and prove his innocence before the birth of their child.

Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)

Crazy, Stupid, Love is a romantic comedy film starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei, and Kevin Bacon. It follows a recently separated man who seeks to rediscover his manhood and is taught how to pick up women at bars.

Love and Basketball (2000)

It tells the story of Quincy McCall (Epps) and Monica Wright (Lathan), two next-door neighbors in Los Angeles, who are pursuing their respective basketball careers before eventually falling for each other.

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, the film follows a journalist (Ryan) who, despite being newly engaged, becomes enamored with a recently widowed architect (Hanks), when the latter’s son calls into a talk radio program requesting a new partner for his grieving father. In addition to Bill Pullman, Ross Malinger, and Rob Reiner, the film features an ensemble supporting cast also consisting of Rosie O’Donnell, Gaby Hoffman, Victor Garber, Rita Wilson, Barbara Garrick, and Carey Lowell.

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

You’ve Got Mail is inspired by the 1937 Hungarian play Parfumerie by Miklós László (which had earlier been adapted in 1940 as The Shop Around the Corner and in 1949 as In the Good Old Summertime), starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It tells the story of two people in an online romance who are unaware they are also business rivals.

50 First Dates (2004)

50 First Dates is a Valentine’s Day movies you never get bored of, starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore with Rob Schneider, Sean Astin, and Dan Aykroyd in supporting roles. It follows the story of Henry, a womanizing marine veterinarian who falls for an art teacher named Lucy. When he discovers she has amnesia and forgets him when she falls asleep, he resolves to win her over again each new day.

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Pride & Prejudice is based on Jane Austen’s 1813 novel of the same name. The film features five sisters from an English family of landed gentry as they deal with issues of marriage, morality, and misconceptions. Keira Knightley stars in the lead role of Elizabeth Bennet, while Matthew Macfadyen plays her romantic interest, Mr. Darcy.

Kate & Leopold (2001)

Kate & Leopold is a romantic-comedy fantasy film that tells a story of a physicist by the name of Stuart (Liev Schreiber), who accidentally pulls his great‑great‑grandfather, Leopold (Hugh Jackman), through a time portal from 19th‑century New York to the present, where Leopold falls in mutual love with Stuart’s ex‑girlfriend, Kate (Meg Ryan).

Bridget Jones Diary (2001)

Bridget Jones’s Diary is it is based on Fielding’s 1996 novel of the same name, which is a reinterpretation of Jane Austen’s 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. The adaptation stars Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones, a 32-year-old British single woman, who writes a diary that focuses on the things she wishes to happen in her life. However, her life changes when two men vie for her affection, portrayed by Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones appear in supporting roles

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Crazy Rich Asians is based on the 2013 novel of the same title by Kevin Kwan. The film stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, and Michelle Yeoh. It follows a Chinese-American professor who travels to meet her boyfriend’s family and is surprised to discover they are among the richest in Singapore.

Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella) (1997)

Starring Roberto Benigni, who co-wrote the film with Vincenzo Cerami. Benigni plays Guido Orefice, a Jewish Italian bookshop owner, who employs his fertile imagination to shield his son from the horrors of internment in a Nazi concentration camp. The film was partially inspired by the book In the End, I Beat Hitler by Rubino Romeo Salmonì and by Benigni’s father, who spent two years in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during World War II.

Hitch (2005)

Hitch is a romantic comedy film starring Will Smith in the title role, along with Eva Mendes, Kevin James, and Amber Valletta. Features Smith as Alex “Hitch” Hitchens, a professional “date doctor” who makes living teaching men how to woo women. Unfortunately, while helping his latest client woo the woman of his dreams, he finds out that his game doesn’t quite work on the gossip columnist with whom he’s smitten.

Her (2013)

The film follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an artificially intelligent virtual assistant personified through a female voice. The film also stars Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, and Chris Pratt.

Forrest Gump (1994)

Forrest Gump is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and Sally Field. The film follows several decades in the life of a slow-witted and kindhearted Alabama man named Forrest Gump (Hanks) and his experiences in the 20th-century United States. The film differs substantially from the novel.

Forrest Gump won six Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Hanks, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing. It received many award nominations, including Golden Globes, British Academy Film Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Various interpretations have been made of the protagonist and the film’s political symbolism. In 2011, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

The Princess Diaries (2001)

The Princess Diaries is based on Meg Cabot’s 2000 young adult novel of the same name. It stars Anne Hathaway (her feature film debut) and Julie Andrews, with a supporting cast consisting of Héctor Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, Mandy Moore, Caroline Goodall, and Robert Schwartzman. The film follows Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway), a shy American teenager who learns she is heir to the throne of a European kingdom. Under the tutelage of her estranged grandmother (Andrews), the kingdom’s reigning queen, Mia must decide whether to claim the throne she has inherited or renounce her title permanently.

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Romeo + Juliet is a modernized adaptation of William Shakespeare’s tragedy of the same name, albeit still utilizing Shakespearean English. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles of two teenagers who fall in love, despite their being members of feuding families. Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Sorvino and Diane Venora also star in supporting roles. It is the third major film version of the play, following adaptations by George Cukor in 1936 and by Franco Zeffirelli in 1968.

Meet Joe Black (1998)

Meet Joe Black is a romantic fantasy film starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, and Claire Forlani. Celebrating his 65th birthday, businessman and devoted family man Bill Parrish is visited by Death, who wants to know what it’s like to be human in return for giving Bill extra days of his life. The screenplay was written by Bo Goldman, Kevin Wade, Ron Osborn, and Jeff Reno, and is loosely based on the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday, an adaptation of the 1924 Italian play La morte in vacanza by Alberto Casella.

The Princess Bride (1987)

The Princess Bride is adapted by William Goldman from his 1973 novel of the same name, it tells the story of a swashbuckling farmhand named Westley, accompanied by companions befriended along the way, who must rescue his true love Princess Buttercup from the odious Prince Humperdinck. The film preserves the novel’s metafictional narrative style by presenting the story as a book being read by a grandfather to his sick grandson. Starring Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, and Christopher Guest.

A Moment to Remember (2004)

A Moment to Remember (Korean: 내 머리 속의 지우개) is based on the 2001 Japanese television drama Pure Soul. It stars Son Ye-jin and Jung Woo-sung and follows the theme of discovery in a relationship and the burdens of loss caused by Alzheimer’s disease.

The Big Sick (2017)

Another best movie for Valentine’s Day is The Big Sick, starring Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Adeel Akhtar, and Anupam Kher. Gordon and Nanjiani wrote the film based on their relationship; it follows an interracial couple who must deal with cultural differences after Emily (Kazan) becomes ill.

Someone Great (2019)

The film stars Gina Rodriguez, Brittany Snow, DeWanda Wise, Lakeith Stanfield, and Peter Vack. Rodriguez plays a music journalist who decides to go on a last hurrah with her two best friends after her boyfriend dumps her right before she is due to leave the city to take her dream job.

Shotgun Wedding (2022)

Shotgun Wedding is a romantic film starring Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel, Sônia Braga, Jennifer Coolidge, Lenny Kravitz, and Cheech Marin.

Darcy (Jennifer Lopez) and Tom (Josh Duhamel) gather their lovable but very opinionated families for the ultimate destination wedding, just as the couple begins to get cold feet. And if that wasn’t enough of a threat to the celebration, suddenly everyone’s lives are in danger when the entire party is taken hostage. “‘Til Death Do Us Part” takes on a whole new meaning in this hilarious, adrenaline-fueled adventure as Darcy and Tom must save their loved ones–if they don’t kill each other first.

Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)

Where the Crawdads Sing is based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Delia Owens. Daisy Edgar-Jones leads the cast featuring Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, Michael Hyatt, Sterling Macer Jr., Jojo Regina, Garret Dillahunt, Ahna O’Reilly, and David Strathairn.

The story follows an abandoned yet defiant girl, Kya, who raises herself to adulthood in a North Carolina marshland, becoming a naturalist in the process. When the town’s hotshot is found dead, she is the prime suspect and is tried for murder.

You People (2023)

You People features an ensemble cast that includes Hill, Lauren London, David Duchovny, Nia Long, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Eddie Murphy. Its plot focuses on an interracial couple and how their families reckon with modern love amid culture clashes, societal expectations, and generational differences.

The Lucky One (2012)

The Lucky One is an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ 2008 novel of the same name. The film stars Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, Jay R. Ferguson, and Blythe Danner. The film follows Zac Efron as Logan Thibault, a US Marine who finds a photograph of a young woman while serving in Iraq, carries it around as a good luck charm, and later tracks down the woman, with whom he begins a relationship.

• Decision to Leave (2022)
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
• How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire
• Love (II) (2015)
• If Beale Street Could Talk
• Empire of Light (2022)
• While You Were Sleeping
• Bones and All (2022)
• Maid in Manhattan (2002)
• Beauty and the Beast (1991)
• Breathless (1961)
• Always Be My Maybe (2019)
• Blonde (2022)
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
• The Half of It (2020)
• Four Weddings and a Funeral
• The First Wives Club (1996)
• Moonstruck (1987)
• The Time Traveler’s Wife
• Roman Holiday (1953)
• He’s Just Not That Into You
• The Spectacular Now
• P.S. I Love You
• Say Anything
• Up in the Air
• The Bodyguard
• Bridget Jones’s Diary
• The Wedding Planner
• The Last Song
• Puss in Boots (2011)
• Teen Wolf: The Movie (2023)
• Willow (1988)
• The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society
• Barbie (2023)
• To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
• Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
• Late Night
• Maybe I Do (2023)
• Book Club
• Music and Lyrics (2007)
• Enchanted (2007)
• It’s Complicated (2009)
• Dave (1993)
• Clueless (1995)
• Brooklyn (2015)
• Crazy Stupid Love (2011)
• Pretty Woman (1990)
• Lady and the Tramp (1955)
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
• Cleopatra (1963)
• ‘Before Sunrise’ (1995)
• Roman (1953)
• To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
• Say Anything (1989)
• Friends With Benefits (2011)
• Call Me By Your Name (2017)
• P.S. I Love You (2007)
• Casablanca (1942)
• Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)
• Serendipity (2001)
• Me Before You (2016)
• Under The Tuscan Sun (2003)
• Things I Hate About You (1999)
• Ticket to Paradise (2022)
• Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight
• Good Will Hunting (1997)
• Bridget Jones’s Diary
• This Is 40 (2012)
• Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
• The Little Mermaid (2023)
• Think Like A Man
• The Other Woman
• Literally, Right Before Aaron
• Casablanca (1942)
• Life Itself
• The Lobster (2015)
• My Best Friend’s Wedding
• Lady Chatterley’s Lover (2022)
• The Parent Trap
• Holidate
• Casablanca
• First Dates
• Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
• The Lost City (2022)
• A Man Called Ove (2015)
• An Affair to Remember
• Licorice Pizza (2021)
• One Day
• The Shape of Water
• Bridget Jones’s Diary
• Obvious Child
• The Apartment
• Enchanted
• The Wedding Singer
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
• When We First Met
• The Blue Lagoon (1980)
• P.S. I Love You
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
• Dear John
• Little Women (2019)
• Blue Valentine
• Purple Heart (2022)

• Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
• He’s Just Not That Into You (2009)
• 13 Going on 30 (2004)
• Fire Island
• Mr. Malcolm’s List
• Emma
• The Shape of Water
• Why Did I Get Married?
• Lolita (1997)
• Shrek (2001)
• Jerry Maguire (1996)
• Pride & Prejudice (2005)
• Before Sunrise (1995)
• Love Story (1970)
• The Thin Man (1934)
• Father of the Bride
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
• It Happened One Night (1934)
• Weekend (2011)
• Casablanca (1942)
• Magic Mike (2012)
• Harold and Maude (1971)
• WALL-E (2008)
• The Spectacular Now (2013)
• Just Wright (2010)
• Beginners (2010)
• Love and Basketball (2000)
• True Romance (1993)
• Brokeback Mountain (2005)
• Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
• Always Be My Maybe (2019)
• Waiting to Exhale (1995)
• Love Jones (1997)
• Pretty in Pink
• Heartburn
• Failure to Launch
• The Vow
• Don’t Worry Darling (2022)
• Cactus Flower (1969)
• Lost in Translation (2004)
• When in Rome (2010)
• Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
• The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
• The Tourist (2010) (Runner Up: Original Sin)
• This Means War (2012)
• (500) Days of Summer (2009)
• Walk the Line (2005)
• Ghost Town (2008)
• About a Boy (2002)
• Seems Like Old Times (1980)
• True Romance (1993) (Runner Up: Natural Born Killers)
• Bride and Prejudice (2004)
• Love, Actually (2003)
• Never Been Kissed (1999)
• Say Anything
• Big (1988)
• The Wedding Year
• Blended (2014)
• Under the Tuscan Sun
• Grease (1978)
• Brittany Runs a Marathon
• Pride & Prejudice (2005)
• Booksmart
• Twilight (I) (2008)
• Tuck Everlasting
• The Worst Person in the World (2021)
• The Break-Up
• 365 Days (2020)
• Things I Hate About You
• Shortbus (2006)
• Love Actually (2003)
• Love Jones (1997)
• Eat Pray Love (2010)
• Brown Sugar (2002)
• Friends with Benefits (2011)
• The Dreamers (2003)
• Juliet, Naked (2018)
• The First Wives Club (1996)
• Southside with You (2016)
• Bride and Prejudice (2004)
• Fire Island (2022)
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
• In The Mood For Love
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s
• 13 Going on 30
• Always Be My Maybe
• If Beale Street Could Talk
• The Half of It
• Sylvie’s Love
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire
• She’s Gotta Have It
• Palm Springs
• Someone Great
• Sixteen Candles (1984)
• 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
• Sylvie’s Love (2020)
• In the Heights (2021)
• Someone Great (2019)
• To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)
• Magic Mike (2012)
• Falling Inn Love (2019)