Amazon Prime Video’s Upgraded is an exciting new romantic comedy, and there are many other similar movies to explore next. The rom-com genre isn’t as abundant in the 2020s, as movies like 13 Going on 30 and The Wedding Planner just aren’t made as frequently as they used to be. However, that could be taking a turn for the better as the Sydney Sweeney-led rom-com Anyone But You made waves at the box office in January, and Camila Mendes’ Upgraded has been well-received on streaming.
Incidentally upgraded on her flight and finding herself in the business class section, a young art intern is mistaken for the director of the company she works for by a co-passenger trying to woo her. Instead of admitting to being an intern, Camila Mendes’ Ana plays along with it, embarking on a riveting romance facade. Many other romantic comedies have similar premises, with characters faking a persona and finding their way to love. There are also other movies with similar performances from the stars of Upgraded.
![10 Best Movies Like Camila Mendes’ Upgraded](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/camila-mendes-and-archie-renaux-in-upgraded-2024.jpg)
Amazon’s New Rom-Com Continues 1 Actor’s Winning Rotten Tomatoes Streak
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Amazon Prime Video’s latest rom-com, Upgraded, continues one of its lead actors’ winning Rotten Tomatoes streaks.
10 The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
The Devil Wears Prada
- Release Date
- June 30, 2006
- Director
- David Frankel
- Cast
- Anne Hathaway , Stanley Tucci , Meryl Streep
- Runtime
- 109minutes
One of the quintessential 2000s movies, The Devil Wears Prada, has the most narrative similarities with Upgraded. While more of a comedy-drama, the 2006 film is similar in that it follows a young woman who works for a controlling boss in an artistic industry, though in this case, it’s Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep working in fashion. One of the most famous and culturally influential movies of the past two decades, The Devil Wears Prada is a must-watch for fans of the workplace comedy-drama aspects of Upgraded.
9 Palm Springs (2020)
![Tala wearing a flower crown in Palm Springs.](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/tala-palm-springs.jpeg)
Palm Springs
- Release Date
- July 10, 2020
- Director
- Max Barbakow
- Cast
- Dale Dickey , Jena Friedman , Camila Mendes , Cristin Milioti , Meredith Hagner , Conner O’Malley , Tyler Hoechlin , Chris Pang , June Squibb , Andy Samberg , Tongayi Chirisa , Brian Duffy , J. K. Simmons , Peter Gallagher , Jacqueline Obradors
- Runtime
- 90 minutes
Unlike Upgraded, Camila Mendes isn’t the lead in Palm Springs, though she’s fun in a supporting role with Andy Samberg and Cristin Millioti starring. It’s Mendes’ only other streaming service-released rom-com, and it’s a fantastic, entertaining movie with a Groundhog Day time loop premise set at a wedding in Palm Springs. The 29-year-old actress may have found her market to corner with light-hearted comedy films on major streaming platforms, and Palm Springs is Camila Mendes’ best movie so far.
8 Do Revenge (2022)
Do Revenge
- Release Date
- September 16, 2022
- Director
- Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
- Cast
- Camilla Mendes , Maya Hawke , Sophie Turner , Rish Shah , Sarah Michelle Gellar , Austin Abrams , Eliza Bennett , Ava Capri
- Runtime
- 118 minutes
Another fantastic Camila Mendes comedy film is the Netflix release Do Revenge. The 2022 proves Mendes’ star power as a leading woman in the genre, mixing coming-of-age with dark comedy similar to Heathers or Mean Girls. The movie has a totally different premise from Upgraded, with Mendes playing a selfish, popular girl at a private school who swears vengeance on her ex-boyfriend after an intimate video of theirs is leaked online. Do Revenge is a ton of fun, with Camila Mendes and co-star Maya Hawke as the clear standouts.
7 While You Were Sleeping (1995)
![Sandra Bullock as Lucy Eleanor Moderatz holding flowers in While You Were Sleeping.](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/While-You-Were-Sleeping-Image-Cropped.jpg)
A classic ’90s rom-com, While You Were Sleeping stars Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, and Peter Gallagher. It has a similar premise to Upgraded, where a woman finds herself in a facade surrounding her love interest. Bullock’s Lucy saves the life of Peter, a man who ends up in a coma. While in the hospital, Peter’s family comes to the wrongful conclusion that Lucy is Peter’s fiancée, and she plays along with it. The twist in While You Were Sleeping is that while playing along with the lie, Lucy instead finds herself more interested in Peter’s brother.
6 You’ve Got Mail (1998)
![Tom Hanks smiling and looking at Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Tom-Hanks-Youve-Got-Mail-Characters.jpg)
You’ve Got Mail
- Release Date
- December 18, 1998
- Director
- Nora Ephron
- Cast
- Dave Chappelle , Tom Hanks , Greg Kinnear , Jean Stapleton , Parker Posey , Meg Ryan
- Runtime
- 119 minutes
Nora Ephron has written and directed some of the best rom-coms of all time, having written When Harry Met Sally and directed Sleepless in Seattle. You’ve Got Mail has the most similarities with Upgraded, tying the romantic premise in with the character’s career lives. Tom Hans and Meg Ryan star as two adults in the early internet era who form an online romantic connection, unaware that they’re business rivals. Like in Upgraded, work and romance intertwine as the two leads find their way to each other.
![The best rom-coms montage](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/the-best-rom-coms-montage.jpg)
15 Best Rom Coms Of The Last 5 Years
The best romantic comedies in the last five years have increased diversity and turned rom-com tropes on their heads, creating new iconic rom-coms.
5 Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961)
![Holly Golightly eating a pastry and standing outside Tiffany's in Breakfast at Tiffany's](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/breakfast-at-tiffany-s.jpg)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
- Release Date
- October 6, 1961
- Director
- Blake Edwards
- Cast
- Audrey Hepburn , George Peppard , Patricia Neal , Buddy Ebsen , Martin Balsam , José Luis de Villalonga
- Runtime
- 115minutes
Another of the best romantic comedies ever is 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s, starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. While not all areas of the film have aged well, it’s still a delightful, heart-warming cinematic experience. Like Upgraded, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a rom-com with underlying ideas about wealth in romance. Hepburn’s Holly is a woman working as an escort in hopes of marrying a wealthy older man so that she can live the life of a socialite. While she isn’t as direct in her facade as Ana in Upgraded, it’s still an essential aspect of the film.
4 Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
![Constance Wu and Henry Golding on the poster for Crazy Rich Asians](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Crazy-Rich-Asians-Movie-Review.jpg)
Crazy Rich Asians
- Release Date
- August 15, 2018
- Director
- Jon M. Chu
- Cast
- Gemma Chan , Chris Pang , Awkwafina , Jimmy O. Yang , Michelle Yeoh , Ken Jeong , Henry Golding , Sonoya Mizuno , Jing Lusi , Constance Wu
- Runtime
- 121minutes
Another of the best recent rom-coms is Jon M. Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians, starring Constance Wu, Henry Golding, and Awkwafina. The film is centered around a woman who visits her boyfriend’s home in Singapore for the first time to attend a wedding. She discovers how ridiculously wealthy her boyfriend is and is thrust into a difficult situation where she has to impress the family, including her boyfriend’s overbearing mother (Michelle Yeoh). Crazy Rich Asians has a star-studded cast, is laugh-out-loud funny, and offers a modern premise similar to Upgraded.
3 Pretty Woman (1990)
![Vivian helping Edward in Pretty Woman](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/vivian-helping-edward-in-pretty-woman.jpg)
Pretty Woman
- Release Date
- March 23, 1990
- Director
- Garry Marshall
- Cast
- Richard Gere , Julia Roberts , Ralph Bellamy , Laura San Giacomo , Jason Alexander
- Runtime
- 119 minutes
One of the best romantic comedies of the ’90s, Garry Marshall’s Pretty Woman is a classic with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. Like many comedies from the era, it hasn’t aged perfectly, but Pretty Woman is still worth watching for the immaculate chemistry between its stars. Like Upgraded, the film uses the common rom-com trope of a dating facade, though in this case, a wealthy businessman hires a sex worker to act as his girlfriend during a set of meetings. Despite the facade and their differing worlds, the two begin to fall for each other.
2 Coming To America (1988)
![Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall in Coming to America](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Coming-to-America.jpg)
Coming to America
- Release Date
- June 29, 1988
- Director
- John Landis
- Cast
- James Earl Jones , John Amos , Eddie Murphy , Shari Headley , Arsenio Hall
- Runtime
- 116 minutes
One of the funniest movies of the 1980s and one of the funniest Eddie Murphy performances, Coming to America is almost an inversion of the Upgraded plot. Similarly, the classic comedy follows a character pretending to be someone else who ends up finding love in the process. Oppositely, Coming to America is centered around the prince of a wealthy country who pretends to be an underprivileged fast food worker to meet a woman who truly loves him rather than someone marrying him for his money.
![actors_that_would_be_great_in_romcoms](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/actors_thatwould_begreat_in_romcoms.jpg)
10 Actors Who Would Unexpectedly Be Great In Rom-Coms
Rom-coms don’t get enough love, despite being a wonderful, grounded stage for actors to prove their talents in portraying emotion, and humor.
1 The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
![Tom on a rooftop in Italy in The Talented Mr. Ripley](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/mixcollage-24-jan-2024-05-44-pm-8778.jpg)
The Talented Mr. Ripley
- Release Date
- December 12, 1999
- Director
- Anthony Minghella
- Cast
- Matt Damon , Jude Law
- Runtime
- 139 minutes
While not a rom-com, The Talented Mr. Ripley is an unbelievable film centered around a character pretending to be someone they’re not. Opposed to Ana in Upgraded, Matt Damon’s Tom Ripley’s goals are far more malicious, and the film leans into psychological thriller elements. For audiences of Upgraded that liked the thrilling game of a character pretending to be someone they’re not, teetering on the edge of being caught, there’s no better choice than the wildly entertaining The Talented Mr. Ripley.