By Nermeen Nabil Khear 
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It’s become fashionable to hate on Valentine’s Day, and I get it—the commercialization; the unreasonable expectations; the bland commodification of a deeply human experience. But here’s why I clarify that it’s also OK to love love. It’s OK to look forward to Valentine’s Day, whether because you’ve found your own storybook romance (whatever it looks like), or because you enjoy watching other people navigate the many possible relationship complications.
Here are 25 movies that celebrate love, ranging from dark to outright comedic, If the expectations of V-Day start to feel overwhelming, throwing on a movie might offer you a break, or a reminder of why you are making the effort in the first place.
Moonstruck (1987)
Cher and Nicolas Cage are such distinctive, idiosyncratic performers that it’s hard to imagine a romantic pairing between the two being something other than a cartoon. Instead, it’s one of the great film romances of all time, with engaged widow Loretta Castorini falling for her boyfriend’s younger brother. That love triangle is the film’s core, but the troubled marriage of Loretta’s parents, played by Olympia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia is a significant piece of the film’s heart. While most rom-coms deal with young people and first love, Moonstrucksuggests that that there’s room for romance even as life grows more complicated in middle age. You can stream Moonstruck on Prime Video, Tubi, Freevee, and The Criterion Channel.
God’s Own Country (2017)
Until relatively recently, gay romances (even many of the comedies) with happy endings were rather shockingly rare, with God’s Own Country representing a firm shift away from what felt like a dramatic necessity that these types of stories end in tragedy. It’s more pronounced here, because it simply doesn’t feel like the kind of movie that’s going to end well. Josh O’Connor (The Crown’s Prince Charles) and Alec Secăreanu play Yorkshire farmer Johnny and Romanian migrant worker Gheorghe. The initially tempestuous relationship that develops really does feel like it’s headed for tragedy (à la Brokeback Mountain), which makes the film’s unexpected turn even more joyous. You can rent God’s Own Country from Prime Video.
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
This is one of Hollywood’s all-time team-ups, with director George Cukor at the helm of a Katherine Hepburn vehicle in which she’s pursued by both Cary Grant and James Stewart (and, of course, her fiancé played by John Howard—but he never really has a chance). It’s hard to know who to root for. In one regard, this was Hepburn’s own attempt to manage and soften her public image—it worked, but only by adding shades to the perception of her as a woman in command. Even when she’s back-footed by the men in her life, she’s still the whole show, bandying brilliant dialogue in a movie that veers effortlessly from sophisticated to screwball. You can stream The Philadelphia Story on Tubi or rent it from Prime Video.
Love & Basketball (2000)
As the title suggests, the film and its characters are split between forces that seem to be in opposition. Monica and Quincy (Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps) share hoop dreams from their first meeting as children, as well as an attraction that grows over the years. What keeps them apart is the game that they both love, and their dedication to divergent careers in sports. It’s a sports movie, in part, but one in which the central relationship is more important than any big game. You can stream Love & Basketball on Max and Tubi or rent it from Prime Video.
Fire Island (2022)
A bunch of friends go on vacation at the queer destination, only to find that social class is no less prevalent among modern gay friends than it was for the leads in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, on which this is very explicitly based. Joel Kim Booster plays Noah, the Elizabeth Bennett character interested in Conrad Ricamora’s rich lawyer Will, while Bowen Yank plays his friend Howie—fat (at least by movie standards), femme, and Asian, and insecure about all of it. As in the novel, the paths toward true(-ish) love hit some bumps, but it’s a reminder that, in romantic narratives, things haven’t changed all that much. You can stream Fire Island on Hulu.
Palm Springs (2020)
If you could live your life without consequences, what, or who, could make you ever want to truly change? In this twist on Groundhog Day, Andy Samberg plays Nyles who, we learn, has been stuck in a time loop on the day of a wedding in Palm Springs for quite some time, mostly doing whatever the hell he wants when not being hunted by Roy (J. K. Simmons) who’s stuck with him in the loop and blames Myles for his awful fate. Cristin Milioti’s Sarah is soon drawn in with them, but when real feelings start to develop between her and Nyles, a life devoid of forward motion starts to seem less than ideal. You can stream Palm Springs on Hulu.
Before Sunset (2004)
This middle chapter of director Richard Linklater’s trilogy might not have the most unambiguously happy ending of the three, but it’s the most memorable—one of the great romantic movie endings of all time, really. Reuniting nearly a decade after Before Sunrise, Jesse and Céline (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) spend a day roaming Paris, at which point the two are forced to decide whether or not they’re willing to leave their present dissatisfying lives and relationships—a scene perfectly set to Nina Simone. You can rent Before Sunset from Prime Video.
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Family is the biggest barrier to lasting love in Crazy Rich Asians, the rare example of a crowd-pleasing modern blockbuster that doesn’t involve car chases or capes. Constance Wu plays New York native Rachel Chu, an economics professor from a poor family who learns a little too late that her boyfriend Nick (Henry Golding) is the scion of one of Singapore’s wealthiest families. She’s not prepared for the level of conspicuous wealth, nor the snobbery she encounters when she travels with him for a family wedding—Rachel’s forced to decide if she can handle the pressure and judgement from Nick’s family, and if she even wants to. The happy ending here does not come easy for anyone. You can stream Crazy Rich Asians on Max or rent it from Prime Video.
The Shape of Water (2017)
The course of true love is unlikely to ever run smooth in a Guillermo del Toro movie, this story of the cleaner in a Cold War-era laboratory and the alluring fish-man with whom she develops a relationship. What follows is a dark fairy-tale romance with elements of horror that place it firmly in the classic Grimm tradition, but with an atypically happy outcome. You can rent The Shape of Water from Prime Video.
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Launching a thousand similar movies, most of which aren’t half as good, The Shop Around the Corner isn’t the first time that mistaken identity was central to a romance, nor the first time that mutual loathing turned (slowly) to love, but it’s never really been done with quite this level of style. Set at a shop in Budapest leading up to the Christmas season, Margaret Sullivan and James Stewart play competing co-workers who are always at each other’s throats, even as they develop a romantic relationship via their anonymous correspondence (neither knowing that they’re falling in love with their real-life nemesis). It’s cute, but never silly, and with all the frothy trademarks of director Ernst Lubitsch. You can rent The Shop Around the Corner from Prime Video.
Love, Simon (2018)
Nick Robinson is closeted high schooler Simon, who takes inspiration from the anonymous confession of a similarly closeted student in his school. Without knowing the true identity of “Blue,” Simon strikes up an online friendship that turns into something more. Think The Shop Around the Corner, or You’ve Got Mail, with modern queer high schoolers. You can rent Love Simon from Prime Video.
It Happened One Night (1934)
The template for a million romantic comedies to come, It Happened One Night, despite appearing during the awkward early years of sound, and at the equally awkward end of the pre-Code era, remains unsurpassed in its charm and sexiness. Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable have terrific chemistry, and their relationship is one of near-equals—something that the coming Production Code would make nearly impossible for decades. In that way, it feels more modern than any number of much more recent movies. It’s also one of only three films to have won an Academy Award in every major category, and deservedly so. You can stream It Happened One Night on Tubi and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video.
Rafiki (2018)
Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) is the daughter of a Nairobi shopkeeper, helping her dad run the store while she prepares for nursing school. Ziki (Sheila Munyiva), on the other hand, mostly just hangs out with her friends and makes up dances. Their attraction is instantaneous, but they only meet because their fathers are running against each other for county assembly. Their love story, in a place where it’s illegal, threatens to complicate their family’s lives as much as their own, but the film still maintains a wonderfully bright, colorful, and musical, atmosphere, leading to a happy ending—even if that ending takes some time. You can rent Rafiki from Prime Video.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
The modern classic, but very ‘90s, rom-com that retells The Taming of the Shrew in an American high school. And without some of the ugly misogyny. The film’s concluding exchange of a guitar for the title poem is delightfully memorable—there’s a reason the movie made stars of Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. You can stream 10 Things I Hate About You on Disney+ or rent it from Prime Video.
Shelter (2007)
Aspiring artist Zach (Trevor Wright) has had to give up his dreams of art school, literally flipping burgers in order to support his disabled father and young nephew. The vibe being so very SoCal, Zach spends whatever free time he has painting and surfing, and starts hanging out with his best friend’s older brother, Shaun (Brad Rowe). It’s very nearly love at first sight, none of which makes Zach’s family problems go away—fortunately, Shaun’s not going anywhere and, by the end, the two have formed not just a relationship, but a family. You can stream Shelter on Here TV.
Love Jones (1997)
Smart and atmospheric, Love Jones didn’t do much at the box office back in 1997, but it’s developed bit of a cult following since. Larenz Tate plays Chicago poet Darius, who develops an instant attraction to photographer Nina Mosley (Nic Long). The film’s blues-y, bohemian setting in a world of middle-class Black artists and intellectuals was unusual in the 90s, and not all that much less so today, which lends the film a style and intelligence that stands apart. The essential question of any romantic drama (will they or won’t they?) is left to the very last moments here. You can rent Love Jones from Prime Video.
My Fair Lady (1964)
In the abstract, a movie about a wealthy aristocrat who molds a poor young woman into his female ideal doesn’t sound like it the stuff romances are made of. Audrey Hepburn plays Galatea Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney street peddler whose societal rehabilitation becomes the personal project of Rex Harrison’s Henry Higgins, who is eager to prove that even a poor can mingle with the upper crust if provided the right training and elocution (a not entirely regressive notion). She’s game, for a time, but comes to realize that she’s not content to be an experiment—which, in turn, leads Higgins to understand that the things he’s come to love about her don’t need fixing. Aw, you realized a woman has agency! Have a cookie. You can rent My Fair Lady from Prime Video.
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
There’s a classic Disney set-up at the heart of the company’s last big 2-D animated princess story, set in New Orleans in the Roaring ’20s. Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) works multiple jobs hoping to save enough money to open her own restaurant. When she is asked to make beignets for the wedding of the arrogant Prince Naveen, fate finds her mistaken for a princess—and both she and Naveen turned into frogs due to the scheming of a villain looking to steal the prince’s fortune. By the end of this enemies-to-lovers story, each of them proves willing to sacrifice their human lives if it means they can be together. You can stream The Princess and the Frog on Disney+ or rent it from Prime Video.
Barefoot in the Park (1967)
A little old-fashioned even in 1967, there’s so much chemistry among a cast headlined by Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, and Charles Boyer that it all works as a charming comedy (from a Neil Simon play) about a newlywed couple who very quickly come to believe that they’ve made a horrible mistake. Comedic and romantic complications ensue before a drunken climax on the roof of an apartment building leads to cheers from the supporting cast. You can rent Barefoot in the Park from Prime Video.
The Photograph (2020)
A photograph left behind by her deceased mother leads Mae (Issa Rae) to explore her own family’s past, while also bringing her into the orbit of a young journalist played by Lakeith Stanfield. Learning about her mother’s mistakes ultimately leads Mae to think twice before turning love away in this beautifully shot, multi-generational love story. You can stream The Photograph on Freevee or rent it from Prime Video.
Desert Hearts (1985)
Desert Hearts was an absolute breath of fresh air during an era in which queer characters were typically either serial killers or themselves dying of HIV/AIDS. Here, Vivian (Helen Shaver), an English professor in the middle of a divorce, meets Cay (Patricia Charbonneau), an uninhibited sculptor, at a ranch in Reno. Vivian struggles a bit with the unexpected lesbian attraction, but this romantic drama never veers toward tragedy, and is all the better for it. After years as a gem of queer cinema, the perception of the movie, of late, places it more in the category of outright classic. You can stream Desert Hearts on Max and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video.
Loving (2016)
Based on the true story of the couple who took a challenge to their marriage all the way to the Supreme Court, Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga play the couple who were arrested shortly after their marriage under Virginia’s anti-miscegenation laws. It’s a love story that, quite literally, changed the course of history. You can stream Loving on Peacock or rent it from Prime Video.
The Lady Eve (1941)
I’m not convinced that a lot of real-life romances begin as con-jobs, but it absolutely seems to work in the movies, and rarely better than in this Preston Sturges classic. Barbara Stanwyck is out to fleece shy, clueless beer heir Henry Fonda. Stanwyck is never anything less than completely shameless, and yet, somehow, you’re still cheering for her to get her man. You can stream The Lady Eve on The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video.
The Princess Bride (1987)
There are any number of great romantic moments in The Princess Bride, all leading to an ingenious fairytale ending. It’s the silly, swoon-worthy moment, though, when Westley (Cary Elwes) and Buttercup (Robin Wright) are reunited following a long absence that qualifies as the film’s most romantic, with Buttercup only realizing that she’s met her true love after she throws him down a hill. There’s only one thing to do when in the grip of one of film’s all-time great romances: throw yourself right down after him. You can stream The Princess Bride on Disney+ or buy it from Prime Video.
Little Women (1994)
As a Louisa May Alcott obsessive, I prefer Greta Gerwig’s 2019 take on Little Women; a appreciate the way her version blurs Alcott’s biography with Jo’s character in the final act, cleverly acknowledging that Jo’s romance with the older, duller Professor Bhaer was a puckish move on the author’s part, rather than something we’re meant to swoon over (were it not for editorial and audience demands, Alcott would have let Jo remain happily single). This 1994 take, however, pulls a similarly impressive feat in centering that romance and actually making us care about it. By the time Winona Ryder and Gabriel Byrne are kissing in the rain in the final moments, it’s hard not to cheer them on. (Laurie is still an idiot though.) You can rent Little Women on Prime Video.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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