The romance is the second-oldest narrative form in cinema (the first is the chase). Almost every silent film had a romance subplot; the studio era produced romance as a category with its own conventions and stars; the 1990s romantic comedy was the form's last commercial peak in mainstream American cinema.
Since about 2000, the genre has fragmented. Theatrical romantic comedy has mostly migrated to streaming. The serious romance is now overwhelmingly an international category or a prestige American release. Below: our picks across decades and registers.
The classics
- Casablanca (1942) — Curtiz. The most-quoted romance screenplay ever written. Bogart, Bergman.
- Roman Holiday (1953) — William Wyler. Audrey Hepburn's American debut.
- The Apartment (1960) — Billy Wilder. Best Picture winner. Office romance as social satire.
- Annie Hall (1977) — Woody Allen. The form-breaking romantic comedy.
- When Harry Met Sally (1989) — Rob Reiner, Nora Ephron's screenplay.
The Linklater trilogy
Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013) are, taken together, the most-respected romance project in American cinema since the studio era. The three films track Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy across eighteen years of their characters' lives. Each is talky, walked-and-shot, and devoid of conventional romantic-comedy machinery.
If you start one, you almost certainly want to watch all three. Each individually is excellent; together they are the kind of project American cinema rarely permits.
Romantic dramas worth more than their reputations
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) — Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry. The romance as memory loss.
- Punch-Drunk Love (2002) — Paul Thomas Anderson. Adam Sandler in his strangest and best lead.
- Brokeback Mountain (2005) — Ang Lee. Wyoming, 1963 to 1983.
- Moonlight (2016) — Barry Jenkins. Best Picture. A three-part character study built around a romance.
- Carol (2015) — Todd Haynes. 1950s New York. Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara.
International romance
- In the Mood for Love (2000) — Wong Kar-wai. Cantonese / Mandarin. Two neighbours in 1960s Hong Kong whose spouses are having an affair with each other. Widely considered the greatest romance of the 21st century.
- Amélie (2001) — Jean-Pierre Jeunet. French. The most commercially successful French-language romance of the 2000s.
- Cinema Paradiso (1988) — Giuseppe Tornatore. Italian. The love-letter-to-cinema film.
- Past Lives (2023) — Celine Song. Korean-American. Two childhood friends, twenty-four years apart.
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) — Céline Sciamma. French. 1770 Brittany.
The romantic comedy at its sharpest
- Bringing Up Baby (1938) — Howard Hawks. Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn. The screwball comedy's peak.
- Notting Hill (1999) — Roger Michell. Richard Curtis's screenplay. The most-rewatchable Hugh Grant.
- 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) — Gil Junger. The Shakespeare adaptation everyone forgets to mention.
- Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) — Glenn Ficarra, John Requa. The 2010s' best major-studio romantic comedy.
- The Big Sick (2017) — Michael Showalter. Kumail Nanjiani's autobiographical screenplay.
The musical-romance
- La La Land (2016) — Damien Chazelle. The most commercially successful original musical romance of the 21st century.
- Once (2007) — John Carney. The €100,000 Irish indie that won the Best Original Song Oscar.
- Singin' in the Rain (1952) — Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly. Sometimes called the best Hollywood musical ever made.
- Begin Again (2013) — John Carney again. Kiera Knightley, Mark Ruffalo.
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