35 Best Romantic Movies on Netflix
When you're feeling like you want to swoon (or have a cry), these are films to watch.
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Listen, "Netflix and Chill" didn't just arise out of thin air. The streaming service has, since its humble beginnings, been amassing a library of romantic movies to keep at your beck and call. And whether you want to "chill" with another person or watch these by your lonesome, they're ready and waiting for you at the push of a button.
When the mood strikes, these are the best romance movies on Netflix right now. A fair of them are Netflix originals, meaning you won't be able to find them anywhere else, but there are a bunch of older titles in the mix if you're looking to do a tried-and-true rewatch. And there is every flavor of romance imaginable: the great rom-com that throws a few laughs in with the yearning, the weepy-and-tragic movies for when you're in the mood to be bummed out, the sexy films that get your pulse racing and even the sweet teen movies that make you recall your own first loves.
They have some combo of attractive stars, amazing costumes, mistaken identities, missed connections and everything else you can want in a romantic flick. (And Glen Powell. So much Glen Powell.) Next time you're in the mood for love, throw one of these on.
Anyone But You (2023)
Glen Powell is having a romantic moment — he shows up on this list multiple times. In this chemistry-oozing rom-com, he plays Ben, half of the couple Ben and Bea. Only they're not a real couple, they're just pretending to be one to get their families off their backs and make their exes jealous during a weeklong destination wedding. Can they pull it off, or will real feelings get in the way of their plans?
La La Land (2016)
Before he was Ken, Ryan Gosling was Seb, a jazz musician in the City of Dreams who strikes up a romance with an aspiring actress played by Emma Stone. In addition to it being a romance between people, it's also a love letter to the movies and the city that brings them together. The music is also guaranteed to get your toes tapping.
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Hit Man (2024)
Gary Johnson isn't really a hit man — he just pretends to be one during police sting operations. But when a potential client falls hard for the ruse, can he keep up the lie? This one stars Glen Powell again in a movie directed by Richard Linklater, who oddly enough was inspired by a real-life fake assassin.
Phantom Thread (2017)
Daniel Day-Lewis and Vicky Krieps give astounding performances in this movie, which follows the ups and downs of long-term relationships (and how volatile those can be in a marriage between two creative people). Day-Lewis plays fashion designer Reginald Woodcock, and you can be forgiven for assuming he's a veiled version of the director, Paul Thomas Anderson.
A Family Affair (2024)
Young-celeb-older-woman romances are also a bit of a trend right now. In addition to Amazon Prime Video's The Idea of You, allegedly inspired by Harry Styles, Netflix has this one, starring Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and Joey King. King plays an assistant to Efron, a hot young actor, who finds out he's secretly having an affair with her mom. It's directed by Richard LaGravenese, who made The Fisher King and The Bridges of Madison County.
Lady Chatterly's Lover (2022)
Based on the steamy novel by D.H. Lawrence, this film stars The Crown's Emma Corrin as a woman who, after her husband returns from the war wounded, is shuttled off from the city to a country estate. She's miserable until she starts an affair with the estate's gamekeeper. (Swooning ensues.)
Someone Great (2018)
This movie starts off with heartbreak, making it perfect for anyone trying to get over a breakup. The film follows Jenny, still hurting from getting dumped, who goes out for a night with her girlfriends, but can't help but cross paths with her ex.
Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
This goes beyond steamy and into red-hot territory. Dakota Johnson plays Anastasia Steele, a normal girl who is plucked from obscurity and somehow earns the attention of the ultra-rich, ultra-sleek Christian Grey. But he's got a lot going on in the bedroom, and she's not sure if she can fit into his lifestyle either in it or beyond it.
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Rachel and Nick have a great life together, until Rachel flies to Nick's hometown for a wedding and finds out that he's rich. Like, really, really, really rich. Will she be able to earn the approval of his family, despite feeling out of his league? This is part-romcom, part-family drama all rolled into one.
Carol (2015)
Based on a book by Patricia Highsmith, Carol tells the story of an affair between a young photographer and an older woman in the process of divorce. It takes place in the '50s, so it's great for movie fans who love period fashions.
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Set It Up (2018)
The, well, setup to Set It Up is brilliant: Two personal assistants — played by current Hollywood It boy Glen Powell and the always charming Zoey Deutch — figure they'll get more free time if their workaholic bosses started dating each other, so they try and engineer a romance. But as they do, the assistants start to fall for each other along the way.
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
Based on the lovely novel of the same name, this story follows a writer who travels to visit a book club in a small town in England during World War II. During her stay, she befriends the locals and falls in love with more than just the scenery in a story that feels like sinking into a nice, warm bath.
Always Be My Maybe (2019)
This film stars Ali Wong and Randall Park, so you know it definitely falls on the "rom-com" side of romance. They play people who knew each other as kids, and reconnect as adults after not seeing each other for years, possibly rekindling their teenage spark.
The Last Letter From Your Lover (2021)
This film's love stories take place across two timelines, as it balances the tale of Ellie (Felicity Jones), a contemporary journalist who finds a misfiled love letter from a clandestine couple in the 1960s (played by Shailene Woodley and Callum Turner) and that love story itself. As Ellie begins to research that affair, her own love life takes a turn.
Our Souls at Night (2017)
Not all great romances start with passion — sometimes, it's about companionship. In this film, Jane Fonda and Robert Redford star as neighbors who start sleeping in the same bed (platonically, at first) to stave off loneliness. You'll just have to watch to see if the inevitable happens.
Persuasion (2022)
Dakota Johnson stars in this Jane Austen adaptation about a woman who reconnects with a man she once meant to marry. And while the movie takes place in a period setting, the filmmaking feels very modern, with Johnson breaking the fourth wall to talk to the audience.
A Jazzman's Blues (2022)
![solea pfeiffer as leanne and joshua boone as bayou in a scene from 'a jazzman's blues a good housekeeping pick for best movies 2022](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/best-movies-2022-jazzmans-blues-1660320214.jpg?crop=0.668xw:1.00xh;0.219xw,0&resize=980:* "solea pfeiffer as leanne and joshua boone as bayou in a scene from 'a jazzman's blues," a Good Housekeeping pick for best movies 2022")
This is another romance of the star-crossed variety, courtesy of Tyler Perry. In it, a blues musician named Bayou and a young girl named Leanne fall in love, and the movie traces their relationship through decades as it intersects with their town's history and scandals.
Two Lovers (2008)
This is the movie to throw on when you're down in the dumps about love and kind of want to stay there. Joaquin Phoenix plays a man torn between two women, but personal drama in the lives of all three of them make for an incredibly bumpy romance on all ends, to say the least.
Along for the Ride (2022)
If you also find yourself burning the midnight oil, this might be for you. Based on a book by Sarah Dessen, the film follows Auden, a teenage insomniac who wanders her town at night. It's then that she meets Eli, a fellow night owl who is determined to give her all the experiences she's missed out on.
Malcolm and Marie (2021)
A pandemic project, this film follows a couple in real time, in a limited location, as they explore truths about their relationship — making it feel almost like a play. It stars Zendaya and John David Washington, who are so smoking hot they all but send sparks off the screen.
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
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