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(Left to right) Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in "When Harry Met Sally."
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection; Columbia/Courtesy Everett Collection
As Marlene Dietrich might sing: Falling in love again ... Because let’s face it, love springs eternal, and date nights never fall out of fashion. Ready for a romantic sofa session with your longtime love, or looking for a flirty flick to take in with a new special someone? Our critics are here to the (emotional) rescue, with 22 fabulous affairs to remember — tearjerkers, romantic comedies, star-driven blockbusters and seductive indies — all available to stream whenever you’re in the mood.
For couples who crave destination weddings: Anyone But You (2023)
Destination wedding rom-coms relish the enemies-to-lovers trope. In this bawdy box office blockbuster very loosely based on Much Ado About Nothing, rising stars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell play a pair who had a bad first date but reunite for more fighting at their loved ones’ lavish Australian nuptials. Looming on the sidelines for comic relief are the adorable lovers of the parents’ generation, with an all-star cast including Dermot Mulroney, Rachel Griffiths, Bryan Brown and Michelle Hurd.
Where to watch: currently in theaters and coming to Prime Video
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For romantics who reminisce with past loves: What Happens Later (2023)
There could be worse things that happen when trapped overnight at a snowbound airport than bumping into your significant ex. Rom-com queen Meg Ryan and David Duchovny circle each other, bicker, court and spark, before returning to the runway in this charming cry-a-little comedy directed by Ryan herself.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu
For exes who can’t let go: Ticket to Paradise (2022)
In a destination wedding rom-com, Julia Roberts and George Clooney play long-battling exes who can hardly be in the same room without screaming at each other. But when their only daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) impulsively decides to wed a young Balinese man, they travel across the world to his home island to disrupt, not celebrate, the nuptials. Emotional tension turns to romantic heat as the two A-list charmers come to accept their daughter’s happiness and, maybe, rediscover that the sun hasn’t entirely set on their love connection.
Where to watch: Prime Video
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For when you know they’re the one: An Affair to Remember (1957)
The American Film Institute anointed this tearjerker by Leo McCarey as one of Hollywood’s most romantic films. While on a luxury cruise, swoony Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr fall madly, deeply in love, despite being engaged to others. When the ship docks, they part, setting a future day and time to meet at the Empire State Building. What happens next is so memorable it inspired the ending of Sleepless in Seattle.
Where to watch: Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play
For love and laughter: Moonstruck (1987)
The fact that Cher and Nicolas Cage make no sense as a couple and yet we root for their lips to meet in a kiss is one of the many pleasures of the spaghetti romance between a Brooklyn bookkeeper and an opera-loving baker from director Norman Jewison. The marriage may not last — but what a honeymoon!
Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu
For BBC junkies: The Duke (2020)
The late Notting Hill director Roger Michell leaves behind this last delightful fiction feature. Pairing the incomparable Helen Mirren and spry Jim Broadbent, this bio-charmer is a based-on-a-true-story romantic caper. Broadbent is lovable 1961 working-class Londoner Kempton Bunton. The unlikely art thief steals Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery, holding it for ransom for charity. It’s never about the money, because he has true gold in the love of his wife, played by Mirren. Is he a Robin Hood or an idiot husband? A delightful bit of both.
Where to watch: Roku
For Lucy lovers: Being the Ricardos (2021)
Writer-director Aaron Sorkin goes behind the scenes of I Love Lucy to reveal how the sitcom sausage was made. At its center is perfectionist Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman, who has grown on the audience) and her Cuban American bandleader husband Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem). We see them in a moment of crisis — the tabloids say he’s cheating, the government accuses her of communist leanings — and they’re pregnant, too. Thanks to Sorkin, the dialogue pops and the pair sizzles while making comedy history at CBS.
Where to watch: Prime Video
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