The Best Romantic Dramas To Watch

I think sometimes, romantic dramas get a bad rap. They’re either dismissed as soft, unrealistic escapism or syrupy Hallmark garbage.

But also, it’s truly the perfect excuse to curl up with someone you love (or like, or tolerate, or your cat—no judgment) and watch people fall in love on screen while you eat your weight in chocolate. And before you roll your eyes at another "rom-com roundup," hear me out. This isn't your garden-variety list of schmaltzy kiss-fests.

This is a great collection that spans continents, decades, and even species. These are the Bollywood classics that make you swoon to Hollywood gems that show the messiness that love is sometimes.

Some may make you believe in love. Some might make you text your ex. Some do both in under two hours. Best of luck!

Before Sunrise (1995)

This isn’t really a movie about love; it’s a movie about talking until you accidentally fall in love. Two impossibly articulate twenty-somethings wandering Vienna, flirting via philosophy and bad poetry. Here romance is fleeting, terrifying maybe, but maybe just for one night we get to walk around with a stranger in a random city and truly be our unabashed selves.

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Nobody puts Baby in a corner, and nobody puts this movie in the corner either, I say. Patrick Swayze in a tight black tee teaching a sheltered rich girl how to move? That's a public service! A true classic.

Ten Things I Hate About You (1999)

Julia Stiles’ Bell Jar loving, moping, angry persona is who I aspired to be while growing up. And then Heath Ledger entered, sang on the bleachers, and we witnessed the classic trope of a bad boy falling for a smart, angry girl. This high school Shakespearean movie is comfort food for the soul.

Shrek (2001)

Plot twist: the best love story of 2001 involved an ogre and a princess. Somewhere in the middle, there was Donkey. Shrek is a middle finger to conventional fairy tales, reminding us that true love isn't about being perfect, but about finding someone who loves your weird, swamp-dwelling self, and what could beat that?

Jerry Maguire (1996)

"You had me at hello" has entered the cultural lexicon for a reason. Tom Cruise's sports agent having a moral crisis and finding love with Renée Zellweger is peak '90s romance. I mean, there are some red flags here or there but lets not entirely get into that.

Veer-Zaara (2004)

Did you really think we were going to have a Valentine’s Day listicle without a Shah Rukh Khan movie? Veer Zaara is the hill I will die on. Twenty-two years of separation, a border between them, and a love that refuses to die – this Yash Chopra epic is Bollywood melodrama at its finest. Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta's chemistry transcends logic, geography, and time itself. Fair warning: keep tissues handy.

The Princess Bride (1987)

True love, pirates, sword fights, and Andre the Giant—what more could you possibly want? It's a fairy tale that winks at itself while still delivering genuine romance, which is harder to pull off than it sounds. "As you wish" means "I love you" and now you can never unhear it.

WALL-E

A trash-compacting robot falls for a sleek probe droid, and it's the purest love story Pixar has ever told. With barely any dialogue, WALL-E proves that connection transcends words—it's in the gestures, the holding of hands, and the willingness to follow someone across the universe.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Toula Portokalos falling for a non-Greek guy shouldn't work according to her family, but love doesn't care about your relatives' opinions. This wholesome romantic drama celebrates the beautiful chaos of all our families.

When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

Can men and women be friends without sex getting in the way? Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner tackle the question while giving us one of the smartest, funniest love stories ever filmed. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan's chemistry is electric, and that deli scene? Ah, iconic doesn't even begin to cover it.

I Hate Luv Storys (2010)

A guy who despises Bollywood romances works on Bollywood romances and ends up in one (surprise, surprise!). The irony is thick and Imran Khan plays cynical-but-secretly-soft perfectly. Sonam Kapoor is all sunshine and fairy lights, and together they prove that even people who claim to hate love stories are just waiting for the right one to prove them wrong.

An Affair to Remember (1957)

Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr agree to meet atop the Empire State Building in six months if they're still in love. This is the film that inspired Sleepless in Seattle, and it still holds up beautifully.

Casablanca (1942)

"Here's looking at you, kid." Set against World War II, this isn't just a love story—it's the love story. If you haven't seen this, what are you even doing? Bogart and Bergman, wartime romance, impossible choices, and that ending that proves love isn't always about getting what you want.

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Joe Wright's adaptation of Austen's masterpiece is visual poetry. That hand flex. That first proposal in the pouring rain. That second proposal at dawn with the mist swirling around them. Joe Wright took Austen and made every frame look like a painting you'd hang in a museum.

Her (2013)

Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with his AI operating system, and what could be more relevant today than that? Her is a meditation on connection, loneliness, and what it means to truly love someone in an increasingly digital world.

In the Mood for Love (2000)

Two people don't have an affair and somehow it's sexier than anything actually happening? Wong Kar-wai shoots longing in slow motion with cigarette smoke everywhere. The movie is about everything that’s left unsaid, and I think it’ll ruin you.

Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na (2008)

You know what they once said? Always ruin the friendship. Yeah, it’s a tale as old as time, but Imran Khan is telling the tale, so we don’t mind watching it over and over again. It's breezy, genuinely funny, and captures the confusion and joy of falling in love with your best friend.

Hum Tum (2004)

Saif and Rani bicker their way across years and continents in Bollywood's answer to When Harry Met Sally. They're wrong for each other until suddenly they're not, and that journey—full of cartoon interludes that shouldn't work but totally do—is the whole point. It's got early 2000s Bollywood charm written all over it, and sometimes that's exactly what you need.