25 Best Romantic Comedy Movies On Netflix

The best rom-coms on Netflix showcase classics and provide new, originally produced content. The streaming service proves its love of the genre with a healthy dose of first-rate romantic comedies in its massive digital library. Netflix doesn’t just bring in the best rom-coms from theatrical releases, but it also loves to dip its toes into the genre with its original movies, and the results have been successful. In the same way the horror genre was on its last legs in the early ’90s, romantic comedies have been a mostly untapped resource over the past few years.

With Netflix stepping up to the plate with original content like the adaptation of Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and the workplace rom-com Set It Up, romantic comedies are edging their way back into the spotlight. However, there are a lot of movies and TV shows on Netflix, and it is often hard to find the best rom-coms on Netflix when surfing the homepage. Whether someone loves digestible, easy-to-swallow love stories or deeply relatable comedies of errors, there is plenty to pick from when looking at the best rom-coms on Netflix.

25 He’s All That (2021)

A Gender Swapped Remake Of She’s All That

He’s All That was a surprising addition to the rom-coms on Netflix in 2021 and is a gender-swapped remake of the 1999 movie, She’s All That, which starred Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook. In this version, Cook even returns as the mother of the new female star, Addison Rae. The movies have a similar story, with Rae starring as Padgett, a social media influencer who bets that she can transform an antisocial nerd into the Prom king.

She chooses Cameron (Tanner Buchanan). The movie was the number one release on Netflix the week of its release, paying tribute to the film it remade. The soundtrack has some notable artists, including Katy Perry, Surf Mesa, and Cyn. Critics mostly dismissed the movie, though, as it sits at a low 28% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes. The main complaint was that the chemistry between the stars was nowhere near as good as the original movie that it is based on.

24 The Perfect Date (2019)

A High School Student Creates A Fake Date App

A high school student (Noah Centineo) finds a unique way to earn money for college in this Netflix original movie. He decides to create a dating app, although the app only features him as a potential date. He becomes a “fake date” that teenage girls can hire for events to please their parents or so they don’t have to attend alone. The scheme works for the most part but starts to become complicated when he develops real feelings for one of his clients.

While the movie isn’t the most original concept, it features a cast of up-and-coming talents like Centineo, Laura Morano, and Camila Mendes, who all demonstrate their talent and charm. Based on the novel The Stand-In by Steve Bloom, the movie was a quick success for Netflix, with over 48 million households watching it in its first month on the streaming service. It also received mixed to positive reviews, with a 67% critical review rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

23 Along For The Ride (2022)

Two Insomniac Teens Who Fall In Love

Inspired by the Sarah Dessen novel of the same name, Along for the Ride is as much a tale of friendship and coming of age as it is romance. A young woman (Emma Pasarow) spends the summer with her father, his new wife, and their new baby while struggling to fit in with other teens. Auden has always felt more comfortable around the adult academic world of her parents, so working at a boutique with other teenage girls and connecting with a local boy with a tragic past came as a surprise.

The cast features some big names in the adult roles, including Kate Bosworth, Andie MacDowell, and Dermot Mulroney. Netflix released the movie as a romantic comedy original on the streaming service in 2022. Critics were split on the film, and it sits at an average of 57%, making it just barely on the positive side of the bubble. The biggest complaints came from fans of the novel, but the audience score was hugely positive, with an 83% fresh Popcornmeter.

In 2019, Netflix also acquired the screen rights for Dessen novels
This Lullaby
and
Once and For All
, which the streamer also plans to adapt into movies.

22 The Wedding Planner (2001)

A Wedding Planner Falls In Love With The Groom

In the early 2000s, Matthew McConaughey was the go-to guy for many romantic comedies. In 2001, he teamed up with Jennifer Lopez for a romantic comedy called The Wedding Planner. In this movie, Lopez stars as Mary Flore, a San Francisco wedding planner who is hired to plan a wedding for a catering heiress named Fran Donolly (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras). Before she gets started, a handsome pediatrician named Steve saves her when she almost gets hit by a taxi cab.

As expected from a rom-com like this, Steve (Matthew McConaughey) is the groom of the wedding that Mary was hired to plan. Mary fell for Steve after he saved her, and now she has tough decisions to make. The movie was a relative success, making $94.7 million on a $35 million budget. However, critics savaged the movie, and it has a 17% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the audience was kinder, ranking it at 57%, meaning there might be something there for fans of rom-coms.

21 The Lovebirds (2020)

A Couple Ends Up On The Run After Witnessing A Murder

The Lovebirds is a Netflix original rom-com released in 2020 starring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae as a couple who have been together for four years and now constantly argue about everything. However, the couple finds themselves running from the police when a stranger steals their car, kills a man on a bike, and flees before the police show up. This leads to a convoluted storyline involving blackmail and more murders that end up making their relationship stronger than ever by the end.

The movie received mixed to positive reviews thanks to the chemistry of the two lead stars. Directed by Michael Showalter (MTV’s The State), the film was supposed to be a theatrical release but was pulled thanks to the pandemic shutting down theaters. When it hit Netflix, it ended up as the 10th most-watched straight-to-streaming title on Netflix in 2020. Critics praised it, awarding it a 66% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the leads and the humor they brought to the script.

20 The House Bunny (2008)

A Playboy Bunny Helps A Socially Awkward Sorority

When The House Bunny premiered in 2008, Anna Faris and her impeccable comedic timing were the movie’s big draw. However, it also boasts a very stacked cast of comedic talent, including Emma Stone, Kat Dennings, Katherine McPhee, and Colin Hanks. The House Bunny sees a former Playboy bunny, kicked out of the life she knew, seeking a new purpose in life. She decides to become the “house mother” for a sorority in which the members are considered “losers” on their university campus.

She finds that there’s more to life than appearance and parties, and the sorority members begin to see that they are more than what other people think of them. A love story provides the through line for everyone’s transformations. The movie was a minor box office success, making $70.4 million on a $25 million budget. While it only received a 43% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, it had an audience score of 50%, and it is a movie that has improved in reputation as the years wore on.

19 Plus One (2019)

Two Friends Agree To Be Each Other’s Wedding Date Plus One’s

Wedding season is a common trope used in stories about characters in their 20s and 30s. That’s when everyone the main characters know decides to get married. Sitcoms like New Girl and comedies like Wedding Crashers have embraced that trope in different ways, and so does Plus One. Alice (Maya Erskine) and Ben (Jack Quaid) have been friends for years.

They find themselves alone and attending the weddings of other people after she suffers a breakup, and he becomes obsessed with the “perfect woman.” They agree to be one another’s plus ones for the wedding season to help one another in their relationship troubles, but they end up becoming even closer in the process. Maya Erskine really steals the show, and it’s her and Jack Quaid’s chemistry that keeps the movie from feeling like a cliché.

18 Holidate (2020)

Two People Agree To Be Each Other’s Holiday Dates

Though Holidate is often seen as a Christmas movie, it actually takes place over a full calendar year, spotlighting numerous holidays as it does. The movie stars Emma Roberts as Sloane and Luke Bracey as Jackson, two people who dread the holidays. Sloane is tired of her family bugging her about being single and Jackson just came off a bad relationship and wants a casual relationship where nothing is expected – like spending holidays with someone’s family.

The two strike up the deal to be one another’s dates to every holiday gathering to ease both their problems, but soon, as with the best rom-coms, they end up falling in love. Critics gave it average reviews, with praise going toward the self-aware romantic comedy story that helped it stand out from the more generic holiday offerings.

17 No Hard Feelings (2023)

A Woman Is Paid To Help A Teen Break Out Of His Shell

No Hard Feelings is a 2023 romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lawrence as a woman in her early 30s who needs a new car to keep her job as an Uber driver after hers is repossessed. She finds an ad posted by two parents who offer up a car if a female can help their awkward and socially inept son come out of his shell before college. She agrees and soon finds that this will be harder work than she ever expected.

This was a rare role for Lawrence in what amounts to a raunchy comedy, which was a nice change of pace, and Lawrence delivered a great performance. It was a minor box office success after the pandemic shut down theaters and people were slow to return. However, its $87.3 million box office was a profit, and it got even bigger on streaming. Subscribers streamed it for 1.1 billion minutes in the week of its release, and Lawrence earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.

16 You People (2023)

A Black Woman & Jewish Man Struggle With Their Families

Kenya Barris, the creator of Black-ish, directed the rom-com on Netflix You People. Jonah Hill plays Ezra, a finance broker who also runs a pop culture podcast. He ends up falling in love with Amira, a stylist. They then realize they have little culturally in common, with Ezra as a White Jewish man and Amira as a Black woman whose family practices the religion of the Nation of Islam. In its first three months on Netflix, subscribers watched over 181.9 million hours of the movie.

The real comedy here comes from the supporting cast, which includes Eddie Murphy and Nia Long as Amira’s parents and David Duchovney and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss as Ezra’s parents. You People received average reviews, called both “smart” and “heavy-handed,” although its Rotten Tomatoes score is on the lower side, at 40% rotten. There was praise, though, to the cast, with Eddie Murphy continuing his late-career resurgence after years out of the spotlight.

15 Happy Anniversary (2018)

A Couple Questions Their Relationship After Three Years

A Netflix Original, Happy Anniversary tells the kind of love story that exists well after the honeymoon phase of a relationship. When Molly and Sam (played by Noël Wells and Ben Schwartz, respectively) reach their three-year anniversary, they also reach a point where they’re not entirely sure if they’re meant for each other. Critics mentioned the witty banter and engaging stars, although the movie was called “slight but sweet.”

This bittersweet rom-com tackles an all-too-familiar realization that all couples deal with when “love” is less about needing to be swept off your feet than it is about unconditionally sharing your life with somebody. The movie also stars Rahul Kohli, Joe Pantoliano, and Annie Potts. While the movie was released in 2018, it was one of the early Netflix original rom-com releases. Critics praised the movie, giving it a high 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

14 Friends With Benefits (2011)

Two Friends Decide To Have Sex Without Strings

Often, there are two movies that hit at the same time that are almost identical to each other. The world of rom-com movies had one of those moments as in 2011, No Strings Attached (with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher) and Friends with Benefits (with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis) arrived within months of each other, telling the same story. Friends With Benefits was considered the better of the two.

Both are about friends who decide they can have sex and not have a relationship but soon learn that they are actually falling in love with each other. Will Glick (Easy A) directs Friends with Benefits, with Timberlake and Kunis proving to be a great pairing. The movie made $149 million at the box office, and the two actors earned nominations at both the People’s Choice Awards and Teen Choice Awards, showing their success in the eyes of rom-com fans.

13 Love At First Sight (2023)

Two People Meet & Fall In Love, But Things Aren’t That Easy

Based on the Jennifer E. Smith novel The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, this Netflix original movie sees two young strangers meet in an airport, end up on the same flight, and spend a few hours falling for one another despite the likely reality that they will never see one another again. However, life has other ideas, and the two end up swept back into each other’s lives until they finally realize that they have met “the one” and eventually marry and grow old together.

The movie captures the charm and the logic of the novel perfectly, focusing on the facts of math and how feelings can override all logic. The leads truly make the audience believe in the possibility of love at first sight, but much of the movie’s charm comes from its whimsy like Jameela Jamil acting as narrator and playing multiple roles throughout the story. Critics praised Haley Lu Richardson and Ben Hardy in the lead roles, awarding the movie a 73% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

12 Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

An Asian-Led Rom-Com

Crazy Rich Asians was one of the most successful movies of 2018, and it was the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the year at the box office. The movie has a predominantly all-Asian cast and crew, with John M. Chu directing and names like Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, and Michelle Yeoh in the cast. Rachel (Wu) travels to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick (Golding) for his best friend’s wedding.

However, when they arrive, she realizes that his family is extremely wealthy, and they are almost like royalty in the country. This develops into a comedy of errors, as she is not ready to fit in with this eccentric and oftentimes snobby group of people. The movie had a $30 million budget and grossed $239 million at the box office. It earned two Golden Globe nominations and won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema at The Asian Awards in 2019.

11 The Incredible Jessica James (2017)

Two People Fresh Off Breakups Find Love With Each Other

Not unlike Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the Netflix Original The Incredible Jessica James begins with a breakup. However, Jessica (played by Jessica Williams) finds the perfect remedy in the form of a man named Boone (played by Chris O’Dowd), who is also reeling off a breakup. Despite the fact that romance isn’t exactly appealing to either of them in their vulnerable states, they see where things go regardless.

Also starring Lakeith Stanfield and Noël Wells, The Incredible Jessica James is a painfully (but also pleasantly) real-life depiction of modern love. Critics praised the movie for taking a standard storyline and making it great, mostly thanks to the performance of Williams. This led to a very high 89% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, although the audience score was lower at 65%, with both praising the willingness to show a strong Black woman who finds success and happiness in herself, rather than through love.

10 Alex Strangelove (2018)

A Teen Questions His Sexuality

Another Netflix Original, Alex Strangelove is a rom-com that isn’t just about a teenage boy on a familiar journey to lose his virginity, but a journey to discover his sexual identity as well. After Alex (played by Daniel Doheny) is well on his way to having sex with his girlfriend Claire (played by Madeline Weinstein), a hurdle gets in his way in the form of a boy named Elliot (played by Antonio Marziale), a young gay man who now has Alex questioning his own sexuality.

Now – not unlike similar situations dealt with in shows like The Real O’Neals and movies like Love, Simon – Alex isn’t just on the verge of coming of age, but coming out. The Netflix Original was a hit with critics, who praised the story and honest insight into teen sexuality. The film sits at 81% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, while the audience score is a lower 69%, which is expected from the subject matter. It remains a solid LGBTQ+ romantic comedy release on Netflix.

9 Candy Jar (2018)

Two Rivals Go From Hate To Love

Young love (but also unbridled competition) is front and center in the Netflix Original Candy Jar. Two teenagers on the high school debate team (played by Sami Gayle and Jacob Latimore) have nothing but resentment toward each other. That is until they’re forced to work together and realize that they’re really not so different – even though their equally competitive mothers (played by Christina Hendricks and Uzo Aduba, respectively) don’t make any shot of a budding relationship easy.

Directed by Ben Shelton, critics praised the movie for portraying young people who struggle with high expectations and allow those pressures to affect their relationships with others. As the movie takes an honest look at young people realizing what is really important in life, critics gave it mostly positive reviews, with a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience was also mostly impressed, although with a slightly lower 64% Popcornmeter score.

8 Set It Up (2018)

Two People Fall In Love At Work

The movie that kicked off Netflix’s new reputation as the modern rom-com maestro, Set It Up is a charming workplace comedy that explores unexpected love in corporate America. In an attempt to make their own work lives easier, Harper (played by Zoey Deutch) and Charlie (played by Glen Powell) devise a plan to set their bosses up with each other.

Naturally, per unofficial rom-com rules, Harper and Charlie inadvertently double down on the romance and end up falling for each other in the process. The movie also stars Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs, Tituss Burgess, and Pete Davidson. Critics loved the romantic comedy, delivering enough positive reviews to result in a high 92% score, which means it was certified fresh on the site. The audience score was slightly lower, at 69%, but that still remains a positive score. Netflix is even considering a sequel.

7 Ibiza (2018)

A Young Woman Finds Love While On Vacation

Most business trips are dull and uneventful, but the business trip in the Netflix Original Ibiza is a distinct exception. When Harper (played by Gillian Jacobs) is sent to Barcelona for work, her two friends (played by Phoebe Robinson and Vanessa Bayer) invite themselves along – not to help her work, but to party. In the process, Harper can’t help but fall for a local DJ (played by Richard Madden).

At the same time, her friends help her throw inhibition to the wind in an attempt to find him and see if there’s any real chance at forming a legitimate relationship. The film received mostly mixed reviews from critics, but it still has a slightly positive 67% Rotten Tomatoes score, with praise going to its comedy and talented cast, although the complaints are that it plays it safe and offers little freshness to the genre. Ironically, the movie was filmed in Croatia, despite using the Ibiza name.

6 Ali’s Wedding (2016)

A Muslim Rom-Com

The “complicated wedding” subgenre is no stranger to romantic comedies (see: My Best Friend’s Wedding, Father of the Bride, Four Weddings and a Funeral), and the Netflix Original Ali’s Wedding is the latest example of this. As Ali (played by Osamah Sami) is forced to follow through with an arranged marriage, his heart can’t help but follow the girl he actually has feelings for. When his lies start to spiral out of control, he finds that he might not be able to make anyone happy.

As charming as it is complicated, Ali’s Wedding explores the all-too-familiar scenario of not always getting what you want out of love. The movie is a fresh take on the genre, though, as the story follows two Muslims finding love, and this is said to be the first Muslim rom-com. The film was nominated for eight AACTA Awards in Australia, winning for Best Original Screenplay. It has a very high 92% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 78% audience score.