Best Romantic Movies on Netflix [December 2022]: Top 20 Romantic Films to Watch Online on Netflix OTT Platform

Who doesn’t love a good romantic movie? The butterflies and mushy feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you watch a love story is second to none. Want to watch a great collection of love stories? Netflix is your best bet. The OTT platform has a huge collection of classic and modern love stories that are sure to take your breath away. So what are the best romantic movies on Netflix? Here are 20 of the mushiest, loveliest and most engaging love stories on the OTT app. 

She’s Gotta Have It

The story takes us through the life of Nola, a young black woman who is trying to pick between her 3 male lovers. She is also experimenting with her bisexuality, trying to satisfy herself. This movie has in-your-face realism which is a refreshing change. 

Release Year – 1986

Director – Spike Lee. 

Cast – Tommy Redmond Hicks, Tracy Camilla Johns, Raye Dowell,Joie Lee, John Canada Terrell, Spike Lee, Bill Lee,,S. Epatha Merkerson, Aaron Dugger,Cheryl Burr, Renata Cobbs, Stephanie Covington, Monty Ross,Cheryl D. Singleton, Erik Dellums, Lewis Jordan, Eric Payne, Reginald Hudlin.

Duration – 1h 24 min

IMDb rating – 6.8

When Harry Met Sally

In this movie, we are introduced to Harry, Sally and their 12 year journey to their union. Harry and Sally have known each other for years and are good friends, but are scared sex would ruin their friendship. 

Release Year – 1989

Director – Rob Reiner

Cast – Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal, Bruno Kirby, Carrie Fisher, Gretchen Palmer, Steven Ford, Robert Alan Beuth, Michelle Nicastro, Joe Viviani, David Burdick, Frank Luz, Harley Jane Kozak, Joseph Hunt, Kevin Rooney, Kyle T. Heffner, Tracy Reiner, Kimberley LaMarque

Duration – 1h 35 min.

IMDb rating – 7.7

Phantom Thread

In this story, we go back in time to 1950 London, where Reynolds Woodcock, a renowned dressmaker lives. A woman called Alma comes into his life and causes chaos. What happens with Alma in his life? Watch the movie and find out. 

Release Year-2017

Director – Paul Thomas Anderson

Cast – Daniel Day Lewis,Vicky Krieps, Julie Vollono,Lesley Manville, Joan Brown, Sue Clark Julie Duck,Dinah Nicholson, Maryanne Frost, Harriet Leitch, Amy Cunningham,Elli Banks,, Geneva Corlett,Amber Brabant, Camilla Rutherford, Juliet Glaves, Gona McKee, Philip Franks.

Duration – 2h 10 min

IMDb rating – 7.4

Call Me By Your Name 

This story takes us back to 1980’s Italy. We are introduced to a 17 year old man, and the affair he has with his father’s research assistant. This movie has been exquisitely shot, showcasing the luxury and privilege of spending one’s formative sexual years in Italy’s countryside. 

Release Year – 2017

Director – Luca Gaudagnino

Cast – Armie Hammer,Timothée Chalamet, Amira Casar,Michael Stuhlbarg, Victoire Du Bois, Esther Garrel, Antonio Rimoldi,Vanda Capriolo, Marco Sgrosso, Elena Bucci, Andrew Duncan Hinojosa,Peter Spears, Maria Caggianelli Villani

Duration – 2h 12 min

IMDb rating – 7.8

If Beale Street Could Talk

In this story, we are introduced to a young woman who embraces her pregnancy. At the same time, she and her family try to prove that her childhood friend and lover has not committed a particular crime. The screenplay by Barry Jenkins and the great script is what carries this movie, making it a must-watch.

Release Year – 2018

Director – Barry Jenkins

Cast -Stephan James,Kiki Layne, Teyonah Parris,Regina King, Ethan Barrett, Colman Domingo, Ebony Obsidian,Milanni Mines, Michael Beach,Dominique Thorne, Diego Luna, Aunjanue Ellis, Emily Rios,Finn Witrock, Brian Tyree Henry,Ed Skrein, Carl Parker, Shabazz Ray. 

Duration – 1h 59 min

IMDb rating – 7.1

Atlantics

Mati Diop has directed this 2019 supernatural romantic drama. In this story we are introduced to Ada, a young woman and her partner Souleiman, who are facing hard times due to family struggles, crime, class, ghosts, employment and migration. The refugee crisis, remorse, loss, grief, class struggles and taking responsibility of one’s actions – are the points covered in this movie.

Release Year – 2019

Director – Mati Diop

Cast –  Amadou Mbow,  Mame Bineta Sane, Nicole Sougou, Traore, Coumba Dieng, Aminata Kane, Ibrahima M’Baye,Mariama Gassama, Abdou Balde, Diankou Sembene, Arame Fall Faye,Babacar Sylla, Babacar Samba,Ya Arame Mousse Sene, Khouda Fall, 

Duration – 1h 46 min

IMDb rating – 6.7

Always Be My Maybe

Michael Golamco, Ali Wont and Randall Park have written this American romantic comedy, whose director is Nahnatchka Khan. In this story we meet MArcus and Sasha who had a brief teenage fling in their younger years. Sasha returns to San Francisco to start a restaurant, and finds their chemistry from their teenage fling is still alive. However, Marcus’s fears and Sasha’s fame and difficult career threaten to jeopardise their potential new relationship. 

Release Year – 2019

Director – Nahnatchka Khan – 

Cast – Ali Wong, Randall Park, James Saito, Michelle Buteau, Vivian Bang, Susan Park, Daniel Dae Kim, Keanu Reeves, Karan Soni, Casey Wilson, Lyrics Born, Charlyne Yi, Miya Cech, Emerson Min, Ashley Liao, Anaiyah Bernier, Jackson Geach, Raymond Ma

Duration -1h 41min

IMDb rating – 6.8

Bridget Jones’s Diary

In this story, we are introduced to the central character Bridget Jones, who has decided to improve herself while looking for love in a year during which she keeps a personal diary. Renee Zellweger delights as Bridget. She gained around 20 pounds to essay the role of the single British lady who falls for Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. 

Release Year – 2001

Director – Sharon Maguire

Cast – Colin Firth,Renée Zellweger, Gemma Jones,Hugh Grant, James Faulkner,Celia Imrie,, Charmian May,Jim Broadbent, Felicity Montagu, Paul Brooke, Sally Phillips,Shirley Henderson, Charlie Caine,James Callis,, John Clegg, Garth Marks,, Embeth Davidtz, Salman Rushdie.

Duration – 1h 37 min

IMDb rating – 6.8

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

In this story, we are introduced to a teenage girl who writes secret love letters. However, one day they come out in the open and her life is plunged into chaos. In the first 20 minutes of the film, all 5 love letters that she has written to her childhood crushes over the years have been pilfered and mailed out, and this includes one to her neighbour and best friend Josh. 

Release Year -2018

Director – Susan Johnson

Cast – Janel Parrish, Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Andrew Bachelor, Anna Cathcart, Madeleine Arthur, Trezzo Mahoro, Emilija Baranac, Israel Broussard, John Corbett, Julia Benson, Kelsey Mawema, Joey Pacheco,June B Wilde, Edward Kevin, Hunter Dillon, Isabelle Beech.

Duration – 1h 37 min

IMDb rating – 7

Clueless

In this story, we are introduced to a shallow, rich and socially successful Cher, who is at the top of the pecking order at her Beverly Hills high school. She is pretty, superficial and a vain LA teen who wants to turn her ugly duckling classmate into a Superswan. 

Release Year – 1995

Director – Amy Heckerling

Cast – Alicia Silverstone, Brittany Murphy, Stacey Dash, Donald Faison, Paul Rudd, Eliza Donovan, Brecken Mayer, Jeremy Sisto, Dan Hedaya, Aida Linares, Wallace Shawn, Justin Walker, Twink Caplan, Herb Hall, Julie Brown, Susan Mohun, Sabastian Rashidi, Nicole Bilderback.

Duration – 1h 37 min

IMDb rating – 6.9

The Half of It

In this story we are introduced to the smart but poor teen Ellie Chi, who decides to write a love letter for a jock. Unwittingly, however, she falls for his crush and becomes his friend. Linguistically challenged and underemployed, her father struggles to support the family. Ellie earns a side income writing papers for her whole class. 

Release Year – 2020

Director – Alice Wu

Cast –  Daniel Diemer,Leah Lewis, Wolfgang Novogratz,Alexxis Lemire, Becky Ann Becker, Collin Chou, MacIntyre Dixon,Enrique Murciano, Alec Tincher, Catherine Curtin, Tyler Crozier, Bonnie Flannery, Patrick T Johnson,Spencer Wawak, Gabi Samels,Haley Murphy,, Dean Tierney, Patrick Noonan.

Duration – 1h 44min

IMDb rating – 6.9

Omar

In this story we are introduced to a young Palestinian freedom fighter. Guilty after the killing of an Israeli soldier, he decides to work as an informant. He must scale the tall security wall that stands as a barrier between him and his girlfriend. Even though they are in love, they haven’t disclosed their relationship to her brother and Omar’s good friend, who is plotting with Omar and another close friend to kill an Israeli soldier. 

Release Year – 2014

Director – Hany Abu Assad

Cast – Leem Lubany,Adam Bakri, Eyad Hourani,Samer Bisharat, Mousa Habiib Allah,Waleed Zuaiter, Adi Krayem,Doraid Liddawi, Essam Abu Aabed,Foad Abed-Eihadi, Ziad Jarjoura, Anna Maria Hawa, Jehad Abu Assal,Wafaa Aon,  Hadi Abu Sineh,May Jabareen, Elias Abu Hattom, Butros Shaheen,

Duration – 1h 38 min

IMDb rating -7.5. 

Chocolat

In this story we are introduced to Juliette Binoche, a single mother starting a chocolate store in a little French village. Her young daughter and her chocolate shop displaces the rigid morality of the community. 

Release Year – 2000

Director – Lasse Hallstrom

Cast –  Juliette Binoche, Judy Dench, Alfred Molina,Johnny Depp, Aurelien Parent Koenig, Carrie-Anne Moss, Harrison Pratt,,Antonio Gil, Gaelan Connell, Hélène Cardona, Ron Cook,Élisabeth Commelin, Hugh O’Conor,Guillaume Tardieu,, John Wood,Peter Stormare, Lena Olin, Leslie Caron.

Duration – 2h 1 min

IMDb rating -7.3

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

In this story we are introduced to Sigrit and Lars, two musicians who finally get a chance to represent their country at a prestigious song competition. The movie depends on Ferrell’s master trope – a loving but clueless and self-obsessed man baby who is his own worst enemy. 

Release year – 2020

Director – David Dobkins

Cast –  Rachel McAdams,Will Ferrell, Mikael Persbrandt,Dan Stevens, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Pierce Brosnan, Joi Johannsson,Melissanthi Mahut, Demi Lovato, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson,, Jamie Demetriou,Graham Norton, Jon Kortajarena,Elina Alminas,, Elin Petersdottir, Alfrun Rose, Rebecca Harrod, Christopher Jeffers.

Duration – 2h 3 min

IMDb rating – 6.5

Loving

In this story we are introduced to Richard and Mildred Loving, a couple under arrest for interracial marriage in Virginia in 1960. That began a legal battle which would end with the Supreme Court’s historic decision in 1967. This movie is a serious screen depiction of a real life situation in the ongoing civil rights fights of the country. 

Release Year – 2016

Director – Jeff Nichols

Cast – Will Dalton, Dean Mumford, Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Terri Abney, Alano Miller, Chris Greene, Justin Robinson, Dennis Williams, Benjamin Booker, Keith Tyree, Sharon Blackwood, Rebecca Turner, Mike Shiflett, Christopher Mann,Winter-Lee Holland, Karen Vicks, Lance Lemon

Duration – 2h 3 min

IMDb rating – 7

I Lost my Body

In this story we are introduced to Naoufel, who is a young man in love with Gabrielle. A severed hand gets away from a lab, causing havoc. This story of an anthropomorphic hand finding its way across the city is weird but watchable. 

Release Year – 2019

Director – Jeremy Clapin

Cast – Hakim Faris, Patrick d’Assumçao, Victoire Du Bois, Alfonso Arfi, Myriam Loucif, Hichem Mesbah, Bellamine Abdelmalek, Maud Le Guenedal, Nicole Favart, Quentin Baillot, Deborah Grall, Pascal Rocher, Céline Ronté, Bruno Hausler, Jocelyn Veluire, Raymond Hosni, Guillaume Desmarchellier, Brooke Burgstahler

Duration – 1h 21min

IMDb rating – 7.5

Lagaan

This movie is iconic. The story of Bhuvan’s 11 defeating a team of proper Englishmen at their own game makes for some interesting watching. This movie received India’s third ever Academy Award nomination in 2011, and has all the ingredients for a hit – a high-stakes sports game and a forbidden romance. Indian villagers challenge their British colonists to a game of cricket in exchange for removing their tax burden. 

Release Year -2001

Director – Ashutosh Gowariker

Cast -Aamir Khan, Raghuvir Yadav, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne, Suhasini Mulay, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rajendra Gupta, Raj Zutshi, Rajesh Vivek, Shri Vallabh Vyas, Javed Khan Amrohi, Akhilendra Mishra, Shri Vallabh Vyas, Dayashankar Pandey, Yashpal Sharma, Amin Hajee, Aditya Lakhia, Pradeep Singh Rawat. 

Duration – 3h 44min

IMDb rating – 8.1

The Incredible Jessica James

In this story, we are introduced to Jessica James, a 20-something theatre crazy woman who is attempting to get one of her plays produced while dealing with a breakup. Her ex can’t stay out of Jessica’s dreams. Jessica meets a new fling, and starts to re-evaluate her love life while sticking to her life goals. This is a perfect popcorn film for guys and girls. 

Release Year – 2017

Director – Jim Strouse

Cast – Jessica Williams, Chris O’Dowd,LaKeith Stanfield, Noel Wells, Taliyah Whitaker, Will Stephen, Zabryna Guevara, Eric Loscheider, Patricia R Floyd, Evander Duck Jr., Robert King, Susan Heyward, Ann Carney, Megan Ketch, Dana Jacks, Sarah Jones, Hannah Boss, Kimberly Ramirez. 

Duration – 1h 25min

IMDb rating – 6.5

A Whisker Away

The story introduces us to Miyo Sasaki, who is in love with Kento Hinode, her classmate. She tries to get his attention by magically transforming into a cat, but somewhere in time, the boundary between her and the feline becomes ambiguous. 

Release Year – 2020

Director -Junichi Sato, Tomotaka Shibayama

Cast – Mirai Shida, Natsuki Hanae, Johnny Yong Bosch, Bob Buchholz, Kira Buckland, Reba Buhr, Griffin Burns, Amar Kumar Dang, Todd Haberkorn, Erika Harlacher, Ayako Kawasumi, Rina Kitagawa, Eri Kitamura, Motomu Kiyokawa, Minako Kotobuki, Cherami Leigh, Shin’ichirô Miki, Daisuke Namikawa. 

Duration – 1h 44 min

IMDb rating – 6.7

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara 

This is the Bollywood version of Euro Trip. It cashes in on quarter-life anxiety and existential crisis. 3 childhood friends go on a transformational road trip in Spain where they clash over the life each has separately built. Arjun is a workaholic who doesn’t know how to chill, Imran is a copywriter who has had an affair with Arjun’s ex-girlfriend, while Kabir is a groom-to-be second-guessing his decisions. They reconnect over a series of extreme events and return to their old life fully changed. 

Release Year-2011 

Director – Zoya Akhtar

Cast – Farhan Akhtar, Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif, Kalki Koechlin, Ariadna Cabrol, Naseeruddin Shah, Deepti Naval, Supreet Bedi, Juan Jose Amador, Anisa Butt, Lolo Herrero, Aashrita Kamath, Barbara Holzer, Pino Losada, Ravi Khemu, Raaghavv Chanana, Anuradha Chandan. 

Duration -2h 35 min

IMDb rating – 8.24

 

Well that rounds off the list of 20 great love stories on Netflix. So, which one are you going to watch first?