The best romance movies on Hulu include complex, heartwarming, and relatable love stories, from classic rom-coms to queer and historical films about love. Hulu’s library of movies covers every genre and offers subscribers options to suit any mood, from thrilling action movies to gripping horror to family-friendly adventures. Those Hulu users who are interested in exploring stories about love and relationships are especially in luck with the best romance movies on Hulu that offer a wide range of options from cinema classics to more modern entries in the genre.
Romance stories have always captured the attention of audiences and have been a huge part of movies since the beginning of the industry. There are also a lot of different types of stories in which romance is explored, from the romantic comedies that mix laughs in with the love story to tragic romances about relationships that were not meant to be to unique approaches to love stories not typically seen in these types of movies. They can capture the heart of the audience and move them with the best romance movies on Hulu showing the heights the genre can reach.
10 Drinking Buddies (2013)
The friends to lovers trope is consistently popular in romance, but Drinking Buddies takes a unique approach to such a story with the romance going largely unspoken. The movie stars Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson as two friends who work together in a brewery. While they each have their own relationships and seem happy just as friends, the connection and attraction between them are undeniable as they hover at the cusp of being something more.
Drinking Buddies is as much a movie about friendship as it is about romance, but it explores a very specific kind of love in a way not normally seen in movies. While the audience might see how obvious the attraction between them is, these two friends are doing everything they can to ignore it. Their moments of desire, anger, and understanding never directly address the real question between them which makes for an intimate and relatable story.
9 Rye Lane (2023)
Hulu is filled with some underseen gems of all kinds, including some great overlooked romance movies. Rye Lane is one such movie that tells a great small-scale love story while also marking a strong debut movie from director Raine Allen-Miller. The British movie follows two young strangers who happen to meet following their respective breakups and spend the day together.
There are a number of romance movies that attempt to pull off the story of two people getting to know each other and gradually falling in love over the course of the day. It can be a difficult thing to pull off but Rye Lane is clever, funny, and touching enough to make the premise work. It also benefits from some terrific young performances from the leads David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah.
8 Sliding Doors (1998)
While the idea of the multiverse is extremely popular in movies now, Sliding Doors took the concept of alternate realities to tell a very charming and compelling rom-com long before the days of the MCU multiverse. Gwyneth Paltrow stars in the movie as a woman who, unbeknownst to her, goes down two very different paths in life at the same time, based on whether or not she catches a train. The movie plays out with the audience seeing the result of both scenarios.
The movie is a clever exploration of the idea of small moments that can change the trajectory of a person’s life. All the what-ifs and possible scenarios are shown with the question of what is important in life is brought up. The idea of missing out on true love and the reality of finding it makes for a compelling parallel journey.
7 50 First Dates (2004)
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore have proven to be a charming rom-com couple with a trio of collaborations that showcase their easy chemistry. While The Wedding Singer is a favorite of many fans, there are also those who consider 50 First Dates the best collaboration between these two superstars. Sandler plays a womanizer living in Hawaii who meets a woman (Barrymore) and falls for her only to discover she has amnesia and forgets who he is at the beginning of each new day.
The silly premise makes for a great set up for some very funny antics of Sandler trying to win her love each day while also being a heartwarming story about love overcoming some very unexpected struggles. Of course, the strength of the movie are the two leads who are hilarious together while also making for a couple the audience wants to see work out.
6 Notting Hill (1999)
Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant are known as two of the titans of the rom-com genre and Notting Hill is regarded by many people as the best genre entry in either of their careers. Grant plays a mild-mannered British man who owns a bookstore and has a chance meeting with a movie star (Roberts) with the two striking up an unlikely romance together.
There have been countless love stories about an ordinary person who finds themselves in a romance with someone of great stature, but the gender roles are usually reversed. It works well for Notting Hill as Grant is hilarious and charming in the befuddled role of someone uncomfortable with the spotlight while Roberts, of course, suits the movie star role perfectly. It makes for a charming star-crossed lovers story.
5 Love, Simon (2018)
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LGBTQ+ teen love stories have shown the evolution of romance movies over the years that audiences of all kinds can relate to. Love, Simon is a heartwarming and smart story that examines the struggles of finding acceptance and embracing sexuality. Based on a novel by Becky Albertalli, the movie follows a closeted gay teen who faces having his secret exposed and begins an anonymous correspondence with a classmate who he begins to fall for.
The idea of a teen discovering their own identity is at the core of many coming-of-age stories, but Love, Simon shows how such thing is not easy. The movie is a crowd-pleasing story that is heartwarming while still being challenging about the harder issues of the story.
4 Good Luck, Leo Grande (2022)
Sexuality can often play a big role in romance movies but it takes center stage in the recent Good Luck, Leo Grande. The story stars Emma Thompson as a widower who wants to explore her sexuality after living in a passionless marriage for most of her life, so she hires a sex worker (Daryl McCormack). The movie unfolds over several meetings these two have together as they share aspects of their desires and life.
Thompson and McCormack make for a compelling duo leading the entire movie with their performances. Their dynamic shifts constantly throughout the movie with the relationship sometimes getting tense but a respect existing between them. While the premise might suggest a raunchy comedy, the movie takes an honest but emotional look at the power of sexuality later in life.
3 The Fault In Our Stars (2014)
There have been a number of teen romance stories that have mixed stories of love and tragedy. The Fault in Our Stars, based on the novel by John Green, is one such movie that became a hugely popular adaptation. Shailene Woodley stars as a young woman with cancer who attends a support group where she meets and falls for another cancer patient (Ansel Elgort).
The premise might sound like a tear-jerking story of doomed love that exploits the emotions of the audience. While it is certainly heartbreaking at times, The Fault in Our Stars does not cheapen the powerful story of love and life. It tells a smart and even funny story that manages to be a crowd-pleasing experience even with all the sadness thrown in. Sometimes audiences like a good cry with their romance stories and The Fault in Our Stars ending more than delivers.
2 Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (2019)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a beautiful and astounding French movie about forbidden love. The historical drama is set in 18th-century France and tells the story of an aristocratic woman living in a loveless marriage who begins a love affair with the female painter who has been commissioned to paint her portrait.
The simple setup makes for an intense and engrossing story of two women who begin their relationship with silent longing and desire. The movie is a rich period piece, commenting on the repressive time which only amplifies the bold affair at its center. It stirs the audience with its powerfully acted and beautifully shot scenes of burning desire, making for a movie considered by many to be one of the best movies of the 21st century.
1 Sleepless In Seattle (1993)
Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks are another legendary rom-com team with some true classics under their belt as a duo. However, most would have an easy time choosing the best as Sleepless in Seattle is regarded as one of the greatest rom-coms of all time. Ryan plays a woman engaged to be married who overhears a radio program speaking to a widowed father whose son is hoping to find him a new love. Ryan then becomes obsessed with this stranger and seeks him out.
The unique romance boldly keeps the two leads apart for the majority of the movie, but still manages to have the audience cheering for them to get together. It is a testament to Ryan’s charm and humor that she makes her character’s questionable choices work while Hanks is funny and likable while also gaining audience sympathy. It builds to a crowd-pleasing ending that will melt hearts.
