15 Best Romantic Films On Netflix Right Now
The essential heart-breakers and love stories to stream...
It's easy to find life becoming quite a grind these days, each day feeling awfully similar to the last and with seemingly no end in sight to the lockdown. With all episodes of The Tiger King exhausted, now is as good a time as any to find something else on Netflix to engage with, and what better than a good old Romance movie to reignite passions and let ourselves have a good cry.
Netflix has a strong range of Romantic Films in their cavalcade of movies, from the quirky to the standard fare from the Romance genre that lets us have a sigh and a cry. While many films on this list fall under the banner of 'Rom-Com', the focus of each film on this list is the Romance, even if there is the odd laugh to be had.
The standard genre trope of dead or dying spouses does not detract from a movie's ability to feature here, even if it is the most overused device in cinema. Providing the death has the desired effect of moving the story forward and making us use several packets of tissues, then it's perfectly suited for this list.
15. When We First Met
This Netflix original proves to be a thoroughly enjoyable time in spite of a few missteps, with a charming lead performance from Adam DeVine providing a protagonist to really get behind. Devine plays loser in love Noah, who looks on as the girl of his dreams, Alexandra Daddario's Avery, is engaged to another man. Noah finds out that the photo booth in which he and Avery once shared a 'moment' sends him back in time three years, where he can try once more to win his 'dream girl'.
In other shoes the character of Noah would come across as a bit of a doosh, but there's a real likability and grounded feel to DeVine's characterisation that has you cheering for him, even when his character errs along the way. The film plays out like a nicer version of The Butterfly Effect, Noah skipping forward in time after each attempt to win his love to once more see how his plan has backfired.
There are some strong decisions in the script that elevates this piece, most notably scenes where Noah actually does get his girl, but proves unhappy all the same. The final message of the film is a lovely one, emphasising that all events occur for a reason, even if they don't seem ideal at the time.