The 12 Best Romantic Movies on Netflix (February 2022)

Valentine's Day is a great excuse to sit on the couch, watch two people fall in love in a romantic movie, and scream, "Why can't I have that!?!?" If you're looking for a place to stream some romance, then Netflix should be your first stop. We've put together some of the best romantic movies to watch on Netflix, from classics like Silver Linings Playbook to new Netflix originals like Always Be My Maybe to unapologetically sappy films like the After trilogy. 

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, the best rom-coms to stream, or our list of the most romantic movies to stream. We also have hand-picked selections based on shows you already love, as well as recommendations for Netflix (movies/shows), Amazon Prime Video (movies/shows), Hulu (movies/shows), Disney+ (movies/shows), HBO Max, Apple TV+, and Peacock.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

The movie that vaulted Lana Condor into the halls of teen rom-com royalty was this 2018 Netflix original based on Jenny Han's book of the same name, and follows a high schooler, Lara Jean (Condor), whose stash of love letters that she writes privately to her crushes accidentally gets released to the boys she likes, including a hunk played by Noah Centineo. The fallout forces her to come out of her shell and navigate some pretty complicated love triangles. It's cute in all the right ways!

Someone Great

Not everyone feels enamored with love on Valentine's Day, and for those who are looking for something a little bittersweet to go with their SweeTarts Sweethearts and chocolate Kisses, there's Netflix's Someone Great. It stars Gina Rodriguez as Jenny, an aspiring music writer struggling to deal with the end of a nine-year relationship as she prepares to move across the country to start the next phase of her career. LaKeith Stanfield plays her ex, Nate, who haunts Jenny at every turn as she tries to enjoy her last few days in New York with her best friends Blair (Brittany Snow) and Erin (DeWanda Wise). For an even deeper emotional punch, put on Taylor Swift's "Death by a Thousand Cuts" after you watch. Swift was inspired to write the song after watching Someone Great, which — in a weird loop of breakup art inspiration — was inspired by Swift's 1989 album, which Someone Great writer/director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson's listened to on repeat following her own breakup. Feelings inspire! -Megan Vick

After / After We Collided / After We Fell

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 Fifty Shades of Grey vibes to it, as a woman just starting college gets involved with a "bad boy," starting a passionate and turbulent romance.   

About Time

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!

Always Be My 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. 

Atlantics

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.

Silver Linings Playbook

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!

Fool's Gold

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?

Safe Haven

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.

The Kissing Booth

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. 

The Half of It

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.

Midnight in Paris

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.