With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, the season to Netflix and chill has officially arrived. And nothing will get you in the mood for a 24-hour chillathon more than a romantic movie. Thankfully, after years of original movies and acquired streaming rights, Netflix has amassed a library of movies that serve as the cinematic equivalent to Barry White.
From romantic comedies like Richard Curtis’ About Time to romantic dramas like the After series and everything in between, here are the best romantic movies to watch on Netflix in 2022.
If you’re looking for more movies to get you ready for Valentine’s Day, check out our list of the best Valentine’s movies to watch on HBO, Amazon, Hulu, and more.
It’s the classic story of love: Girl meets boy, girl kisses boy, boy takes girl’s virginity on a bet, girl finds out, girl breaks up with boy, boy actually begins to like girl, boy tries to win girl back, boy might be abusive, girl should just get the heck out of this relationship but she can’t resist him. This trio of films that was tossed into the dumpster by critics has some teen 50 Shades of Gray vibes to it, as a woman just starting college gets involved with a “bad boy,” starting a passionate and turbulent romance.
This 2013 British rom-com with just a dash of science-fiction comes from Richard Curtis, the screenwriter of Love Actually, Notting Hill, and a dozen other famous films that make you go, “Awwwwww!” Domhnall Gleeson stars as Tim, whose dad lets him in on a little secret: All the men in the family can travel through time. Rather than make a few quid betting on cricket matches, he uses his new gift to right his romantic wrongs, focusing his attention on Mary (Rachel McAdams), reliving moments over and over until he gets them right. Of course, he learns that’s no way to live, but will he get the girl anyway? Maybe!
This charming rom-com stars Ali Wong as Sasha, a celebrity chef who reconnects with her childhood flame Marcus (Randall Park) in adulthood in their hometown of San Francisco. A lot has happened in the 16 years since they’ve seen each other — she’s successful, he’s, uhhh, not — but the spark still remains. Can their feelings for each other survive all the differences between them though? This Netflix original movie is as famous for its funny look at love as it is for an incredible cameo appearance from Keanu Reeves and Marcus’ diss rap of Keanu.
The Grand Prix winner at the 2019 Cannes Festival is this supernatural romantic drama about a woman, Ada, whose lover, Souleiman, is killed in a fire, but whose spirit, along with the spirits of other who also perished in the blaze, return and possess bodies of the living. While other spirits focus their energy on righting the wrongs of their murders, Souleiman wants to spend time with Ada. This Senegalese film is perfect for those who want to spend an evening exploring just how far one will go for love.
Sometimes it’s not enough to watch a romantic movie, you need to watch a romance between two Hollywood A-listers! Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence star in this 2012 romantic dramedy from director David O. Russell that received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Cooper plays a man with bipolar disorder who is released from a psychiatric ward and determined to reconnect with his ex-wife, and Lawrence plays a young widow who agrees to help him get her back, if he enters a dance competition with her. You’ll never guess what happens next!
Alright, alright, alright, you’re looking for a romantic comedy, but you also don’t want to wear any shoes and you’re not too keen on putting on a shirt. Enter Matthew McConaughey’s 2008 adventure film Fool’s Gold, a Romancing the Stone for today’s (or 14 years ago’s) audiences. McConaughey and Kate Hudson play a recently divorced couple who rekindle their romance while searching for lost treasure. Sure it’s not “good,” according to critics, but what can be more romantic than watching McConaughey traverse slippery rocks and jump around some boats in The Bahamas?
If you’re in the mood for The Notebook, then… you better have HBO Max. But if you want to see another Nicholas Sparks adaptation and don’t mind one that is a lot worse, then fire up Safe Haven. Julianne Hough stars as Katie, a woman on the run from her past who settles down in a small town on the North Carolina coast and is warmly welcomed, especially by a handsome widow (Josh Duhamel) with whom she starts a relationship. But soon, a stranger comes to town digging up Katie’s past and things do not go well. It’s a romance disguised as a thriller.
We should all leave true love to the people who know it best: teenagers! In this 2018 Netflix original rom-com, Elle (Joey King) has the bright idea to run a kissing booth for a fundraiser at her high school, where she locks lips with her best friend’s older brother. Their budding romance threatens her friendship with her best friend… what are they going to do!?!?!? This was a bigger hit among Netflix viewers than it was with critics, which was enough for the streamer to make a whole trilogy of The Kissing Booth movies.
This 2020 Netflix original movie puts a gay spin on the story of Cyrano de Bergerac, with a young, straight-A student helping a jock woo a girl by telling him what to say and do, even though she has a crush on the same girl. The well-reviewed film flirts with but doesn’t follow the typical rom-com formula you’re familiar with, preferring to focus on self-love and acceptance than any goal of getting it on with a crush. So if you’re currently obsessed with someone but don’t see a way in, maybe this is the movie to watch on Valentine’s Day.
Ignoring the potential problems that Woody Allen wrote and directed this film — can you separate art from the artist? — this 2011 fantasy film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, winning for Best Original Screenplay. It stars Owen Wilson as a man vacationing in Paris with his wife (Rachel McAdams) who, while walking the rues on his own after becoming disenchanted with his wife, time travels back to the 1920s with famous figures, repeating the adventure every night and understanding more and more about his relationship. It’s another “you got to learn to love yourself before you can love someone else” type of film, with a slight supernatural bent and set in the City of Lights.
