Snuggle up with your partner: Watch these romance movies on Netflix
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and there’s never been a better time to spend the holiday at home on the couch watching some sappy content to celebrate everyone’s favorite Hallmark holiday. Romantic dates with dancing & fine dining are harder to come by this year, as many restaurants & moody nightclubs remain closed or with capacity restrictions as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on.
No one wants to gaze across a white tablecloth to find their lover’s smackers covered by a surgical mask, but cuddling up on the couch is a standby that offers a more relaxed evening perfect for these stressful times.
Tear-jerking love flicks are available on the many platforms competing in the ongoing streaming wars, but romance movies on Netflix are some of the best picks out there at the moment. We’ve come up with a quick guide for date night so you can skip the filler, and find the best romance movies on Netflix to watch this Valentine’s Day.
Flicks to skip
There are plenty of gushy romance movies on Netflix to choose from, but don’t be fooled: even some of the best romance movies on Netflix aren’t best to snuggle up & watch with your partner.
For example, Bonnie & Clyde is one of cinema’s greatest achievements and is the household standard of reckless true love. However, watching Clyde struggle with erectile dysfunction (you haven’t seen this in a while, huh?), and seeing the two turn to swiss cheese at the film’s end doesn’t exactly set the mood.
Netflix also has By the Sea in its romance section, and the Angelina Jolie-directed fictionalized telling of a brutal Brangelina story. Although the film has a beautiful setting, it’s a stinker that’s far from romantic.
Can’t Hardly Wait
Romance movies on Netflix are cross-listed with most other genres, and while some selections are a stretch, 1998’s Can’t Hardly Wait is a comedy with a seriously sweet love story. The 90s nostalgia explosion has a killer soundtrack, truly funny laugh out loud moments and the first (albeit short) theatrical appearance of Jason Segel.
Can’t Hardly Wait is a coming of age story told on one epic party night but is held together by our hero Preston Meyers & his longing for former highschool royalty Amanda Beckett.
Meyers decides to hang on to his love letter to Amanda, as he’s done for years, but the letter finds itself in her hands as the film shows us that sometimes, true love is meant to be and is worth fighting for. The cheesy ending with Yazoo’s “Only You” will have you wondering why you’re crying so hard.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
If you haven’t seen To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, you must have had your eyes & ears covered back in 2018. The teen rom-com took audiences by storm upon its release, as the film gave us a fresh take on a tired format with more heart than we’ve seen since Pretty in Pink.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before showed us another example of the power of the love letter, when Lara Jean’s letters to exes are sent out in the film, leading to a whirlwind romance with former crush Peter. Beautifully manicured with a Seattle backdrop, the film was a superhit for a reason; To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is perfect fluff & one of the best romance movies on Netflix.
Silver Linings Playbook
What is it about love letters that make for such captivating romance stories? The run time of Silver Linings Playbook is a buildup to a love letter reveal, one perhaps more powerful than any previously mentioned.
The letter’s given out by Bradley Cooper’s Patrizio “Pat” Solitano Jr., long after he’s released from a mental health facility for beating the piss out of his ex-wife’s lover.
Pat struggles with his PTSD from the manic event and makes a deal with Jennifer Lawrence’s Tiffany Maxwell that if he helps with her dance routine, she’ll help deliver his letter to his ex-wife. Well, surprise surprise, the two start “hanging out” and feelings are caught twofold.
When the best love letter reveal of this list goes down, you best have some tissues on hand. Silver Linings Playbook is a Philly romance movie that’s totally emotionally exploitive & a complete sappy fantasy, but it sure goes down easy.
