The best romance movies on Netflix right now

Thanks to Anyone but You,  Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney are the breakout stars of 2024. And it was a rom-com that helped launch them to the stratosphere. Bea (Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell) start off the movie hot with an instant love connection. Their relationship quickly goes south over some miscommunication that leaves both blaming each other.

Less than a year later, Bea and Ben are reunited as guests for a destination wedding, and their distaste for each other is apparent. The only reason why they agree to pretend to be getting back together is to make Glen’s ex-girlfriend, Margaret (Charlee Fraser), jealous, and to keep Bea’s parents from pressuring her to reunite with her ex-fiancé, Jonathan (Darren Barnet). But as in all rom-coms, Bea and Ben’s renewed proximity means that sparks are going to fly.

Nick Young (Herny Golding) might have left out some important information when he was courting Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) … like the fact that he comes from a fabulously wealthy family. Crazy Rich Asians’ title is not an exaggeration about Nick’s family, as they are practically royalty in Singapore. And just because Rachel didn’t know about Nick’s fortune doesn’t mean that the family will welcome her.

Astrid Leong-Teo (Gemma Chan), Nick’s cousin, is the only one who embraces Rachel. Everyone else thinks that Rachel is a gold digger, especially Nick’s mother, Eleanor Sung-Young (Michelle Yeoh). Eleanor even goes out of her way to damage the bond between Nick and Rachel in the hope of driving them apart before Nick can propose.

If you know your Arthurian lore, then you’ll notice that First Knight has a very … generous take on the love triangle between King Arthur (Sean Connery), his wife, Guinevere (Julia Ormond), and her lover, Lancelot (Richard Gere). This film came out only five years after Pretty Woman, so Gere was still in his heartthrob era while Connery was portrayed as a much older incarnation of Arthur.

First Knight is more about Lancelot and Guinevere’s love than it is about Arthur’s love for his wife. Yet, Guinevere’s feelings for both men may threaten Camelot’s unity when a former knight, Malagant (Ben Cross), threatens to take the kingdom for himself.

Get ready for a tearjerker with All the Bright Places. Jennifer Niven co-wrote the adaptation of her own novel, which features Elle Fanning as Violet Markey. One year after the death of her sister, Violet seemingly contemplates suicide before Theodore “Theo” Finch (Dungeons & Dragons star Justice Smith) successfully talks her down and befriends her.

Over time, Theo and Violet become close even though their relationship causes some friction with her parents. However, Theo has some very serious emotional demons to face, and not even his connection to Violet may be enough to pull him back from the brink.

Although it may be implied by the title, The Noel Diary is not a movie about the famous Christmas carol, The First Noel. Instead, it’s a literal diary by Noel Ellis (Essence Atkins), a woman who is unknowingly the common factor connecting Jake Turner (Justin Hartley) and Rachel Campbell (Barrett Doss).

Jake is back in his hometown to handle his late mother’s estate when he meets Rachel, a woman who is looking for Noel, the woman who may be her birth mother. Because Noel was once Jake’s nanny, he realizes that his estranged father, Scott Turner (James Remar), may have answers. And as Jake helps Rachel find what she’s looking for, they may find something even greater together.

Sometimes, you just need a break from life. When her mother passes away and her husband doesn’t show up to the funeral, it’s the last straw for Zeynep (Naomi Krauss). She’s already dealing with stress at work, an aging father at home, a husband who is clearly too preoccupied with his job for her, and a typical closed off teenage daughter.

So, she takes things into her own hands and decides to drive off to a home in Croatia that her mother bought before her death. But when she arrives, the owner of the villa Josip (Goran Bogdan) is still living there. This could pose a problem, or could it? Faraway is a romantic drama with elements of comedy and feel-good heartwarming moments that fans have likened to movies like Mamma Mia.