Friends, I don’t have much else to do in lockdown right now, so I’m going to rank a bunch of Netflix rom-coms. Why? I bloody love them! Not all of these movies are 100% romantic comedies though, because I also chucked in a couple of romantic dramas (with a bit of “com”) for variety. All of these movies have a rom-com touch, though. Think Chrissy rom-coms, teen rom-coms, modern rom-coms, and just good ol’ fashion rom-coms.
Aight, let’s get into it.
46. The Last Summer
Maia Mitchell and KJ Apa
No.
I couldn’t even finish it.
The only highlight of this film, where teens try and recapture the magic before they head off to college, is seeing Maia Mitchell and remembering her iconic Mortified days.
45. Tall Girl
Luke Eisner and Ava Michelle talking about how hard it is to be tall, probably.
I finished watching this even though it hurt. It’s about a tall girl being tall in a small world. That’s it.
44. Falling Inn Love
Christina Milian and Adam Demos putting renovating an inn or some shit.
As far as stupid Netflix rom-coms go, this pretty much takes the cake.
Gist: American wins a run-down inn in New Zealand, American travels to New Zealand, American renovates inn with local Kiwi DIY man (?) who kind of has an Australian accent because he is an Aussie actor. You can fill in the blanks.
43. Christmas Inheritance
Eliza Taylor and Jake Lacy doing something in this nothing movie.
It’s like Falling Inn Love, but replace the inn with a business and some Christmas spirit.
42. Holiday In The Wild
Rob Lowe and Kristin Davis gazing (regretfully) into the distance.
Gist: Kate (Kristin Davis) travels to Africa on what would have been her second honeymoon, except her husband dumps her. There, she meets Derek (Rob Lowe). And then Kate finds herself and love, blah, blah, blah.
It’s got some real Hallmark-holiday-movie energy to it.
41. A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding
Pictured: Rose McIver, random pretend priest, and Ben Lamb.
There are three, three, of these movies.
The only thing I can remember about this movie is that it was released either just before or after the actual royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
40. A Christmas Prince
Rose McIver in A Christmas Prince.
I fell asleep halfway through, but I remember it being a nice level of trash.
39. A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby
Ben Lamb and Rose McIver and a fake baby bump.
This one was funny, because they had until midnight to break a curse otherwise their baby would be born with bad juju. Good stuff.
38. Sierra Burgess is a Loser
JUSTICE FOR BARB.
…meh? I watched it for Shannon Purser and Shannon Purser only. Noah Centineo‘s also in it, though.
Gist: Sierra (Shannon Purser) is the “smart” girl, not the “pretty” girl. One day, she receives a text from certified hot guy Jamey, who thinks he’s texting popular girl Veronica (Kristine Froseth). So then, Sierra and Veronica team up to essentially trick Jamey into dating Sierra. Yeah, weird.
37. The Holiday Calendar
Kat Graham and Quincy Brown in The Holiday Calendar.
This is a cute Chrissy movie! Lil’ bit of magic, lots of love.
Gist: A photographer inherits an antique Advent calendar that predicts her future, which of course includes love.
36. The Wrong Missy
???
Um, so this bloke named Tim (David Spade) thinks he’s invited his dream woman on a work retreat to Hawaii, except he didn’t. He accidentally texted this woman he had a terrible blind date with instead.
35. Romance on the menu
Has that guy on the back been on Neighbours?
Rom-coms with very obvious titles always make me giggle.
So this chef from New York inherits her aunt’s beloved café Down Under, so she travels there to renovate and sell it… with the help of this charming Aussie cook.
I wanted to like this one because it was filmed in Brisbane, but I once again fell asleep halfway through it.
It was okay…
34. Love, Guaranteed
Rachael Leigh Cook and Damon Wayans Jr. in Love, *Guaranteed*.
Bloke wants to sue a dating app (called Love, Guaranteed), bloke hires lawyer.
Suuuuuuper easy viewing.
33. Love Wedding Repeat
Tag yourself, I’m the guy on the left.
I had really high hopes for this movie! It’s a wedding movie, I LOVE wedding movies! I thought it was going to be good.
It was not good.
Although, if you’re a fan of chaos and mess then maybe you’ll like it. It was just a bit too much for me.
They also did Sam Claflin real dirty with that haircut.
32. Naked
A naked Marlon Wayans in Naked.
It’s like Groundhog Day, but with a naked man. Can’t sum it up any better than that.
Not the worst comedy, not the funniest.
31. Desperados
Sarah Burns, Anna Camp, and Nasim Pedrad in Desperados.
Girl starts dating “perfect guy”, guy stops replying to her texts, girl gets drunk and reads him to filth in an email, guy calls her and tells her he was in an accident in Mexico, girl flies to Mexico to delete email.
This is the type of movie you have on in the background while you scroll through Instagram / do a puzzle / do anything else.
30. The Kissing Booth 2
Taylor Zakhar Perez and Joey King in the Kissing Booth 2.
I watched The Kissing Booth movies back-to-back after a couple of wines on a Friday night, and it gave me a good laugh. Were they actually good? I don’t know, I genuinely do not remember.
29. I Am Not An Easy Man
Marie Sophie Ferdane and Vincent Elbaz
French rom-com coming in hot! In this tale, a man hits his head and then wakes up in a matriarchal society. It’s a role reversal movie, pretty much.
Mum liked it.
I can’t really comment, I spent the entire length of the movie trying to figure out if I can still understand French or not.
28. When We First Met
Adam Devine and Alexandra Daddario and a sad pumpkin.
This movie is dumb and it got really bad reviews, but I liked it.
So, Noah (Adam Devine) meets Avery (Alexandra Daddario) at a Halloween party and immediately falls in love with her. They have the perfect date, but Noah doesn’t tell Avery how he feels. Three years later she’s engaged to another guy. Enter a time machine that takes Noah back to the same day he met Avery.
27. Unicorn Store
Samuel L. Jackson and Brie Larson in Unicorn Store.
This one’s a fantasy film with some rom-com. I don’t quite know how to explain it, to be honest.
It’s alright (I expected better).
Brie Larson has a very wholesome YouTube channel now, by the way.
26. The Kissing Booth
Jacob Elordi and Joey King in the kissing booth in the Kissing Booth.
I feel like the first movie was better than the second one?
25. Ibiza
G’day.
Gist: woman and two besties travel to Spain to find Richard Madden. I’m annoyed at this movie, because I thought it was going to be good and I had very high hopes. Also, Gillian Jacobs (Love) is in it so it should’ve been good. Ugh.
File this one under “unrealistic impromptu trips” rom-coms.
24. Seriously Single
*that look*
This is fun and cute!
Gist: a newly single woman is encouraged to embrace her new relationship status, but she can’t quite let go of an old love.
23. The Knight Before Christmas
SWEATER.
This is the first of two Vanessa Hudgens Chrissy rom-coms.
Gist: time-travelling knight journeys to the present time on a quest to find love and befriends a disillusioned teacher, who’s pretty much over it.
It’s an okay-ish Chrissy rom-com. I personally frothed it ‘cos I’m a slut for men in cute sweaters.
22. Like Father
Kristen Bell and the back of Kelsey Grammer’s head.
I’m ranking this higher than I should because the actors are really, really good in it.
Gist: Rachel (Kristen Bell) is left at the alter so she ends up going on her Caribbean honeymoon cruise with the last person she ever expected: her estranger father. Seth Rogen is also in this.
21. Work It
Jordan Fisher and Sabrina Carpenter.
I feel like every dance teen rom-com is the same, no? The underdog puts together a team to compete in a high-stakes competition. At first they fail, but then they end up winning / come second. Dancers fall in love. The end.
20. Feel The Beat
Sofia Carson and all her minions.
See #21.
There are some really touching moments in this one though.
19. The Perfect Date
Hey boo.
Another Noah Centineo rom-com.
Gist: a high school student creates an app to offer himself as the perfect (fake) date to make money for college. What could go wrong?
18. To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You
Peter Kavinsky who?
As much as I love, love, love, love, love the first film, I didn’t like the sequel as much.
17. Isn’t It Romantic?
Is it romantic, tho?
In so many words, this is a rom-com within a rom-com. Like, Rebel Wilson wakes up in a rom-com.
It’s a fun movie. I expected better, not gonna lie. But it’s got a massive cast, including Liam Hemsworth, Priyanka Chopra, Adam DeVine, and a very random Tom Ellis (Lucifer) cameo,
16. Win It All
Jake Johnson being super moody.
This was oddly a lot better than I thought it’d be.
Gist: gambling addict gets himself in a very bad situation after he’s asked to stash a duffle bag full of cash for a mate.
15. The Lovebirds
Everything is fine!
I’ll watch anything with Kumail Nanjiani in it.
Gist: Leilani (Issa Rae) and Jibran (Nanjiani) are on the brink of breaking up when they unintentionally get involved in a murder mystery. Hate it when that happens.
14. The Princess Switch
Vanessa Hudgens and Vanessa Hudgens in The Princess Switch.
I bloody love The Princess Switch, it’s so dumb but it really loosens my juices. And that’s why I’m ranking it so high, don’t @ me.
I don’t even need to explain the plot to you, the picture above says it all.
It’s also getting a sequel called – I shit you not – The Princess Switch: Switched Again, where the identical strangers discover a THIRD Vanessa Hudgens. Incredible.
13. Alex Strangelove
God, I miss being this close to someone else.
This was sweeeeeet.
Gist: Alex Truelove (Daniel Doheny ) plans on losing his virginity to his girlfriend Claire (Madeline Weinstein), but things get complicated when he meets Elliot (Antonio Marziale), who has him questioning his sexual identity.
12. Nappily Ever After
Sanaa Lathan in Nappily Ever After.
I cried real hard, guys.
Gist: Violet lives a life of perfection – she has the perfect job, perfect partner, and prides herself on her straight hair. But one day, that all changes and Violet realises that she hasn’t really been living at all.
11. Always Be My Maybe
Mum and Dad Ali Wong and Randall Park.
Gist: childhood friends bumped uglies back in the day and later reunite.
Always Be My Maybe… not as good as I wanted it to be. It was great! I just… I’ve only watched it once and haven’t felt the desire to watch it again.
This is the rom-com with that fantastique Keanu Reeves cameo.
I’ve, uh, watched this one scene more times than I like to admit.
10. Lady J
“Get off me.”
If you love slow burn period movies then you’ll love Lady J. This French film is long, but it’s a smart and very satisfying watch.
I’d describe it as a tale of revenge, but with a twist.
9. Happy Anniversary
Ben Schwartz and Noël Wells being cute / sad in Happy Anniversary.
For those keen on rom-coms that show what happens after the happy ending, this one’s for you.
Molly (Noël Wells) and Sam (Ben Schwartz) celebrate their three-year anniversary, but not everything’s blue skies and rainbows. They pretty much figure out if they want to stay together or not.
8. Tramps
I miss taking the train.
Gist: HEIST MOVIE.
If you’re after something different then watch Tramps. It’s a lot of fun.
7. Catching Feelings
Can’t find a pic, so here’s the trailer instead.
Very smart characters do stupid things. It’s witty, fresh, and funny, I liked it.
Gist: amid growing tensions in their marriage, a Johannesburg professor and his journo wife find their lives upended by a famous and very hard-partying author who doesn’t mind fucking shit up.
6. The Incredible Jessica James
Chris O’Dowd and Jessica Williams having a nice picnic, something I dearly miss.
Jessica James (Jessica Williams), an aspiring playwright in New York, is navigating a break-up when she meets this bloke named Boone (Chris O’Dowd), who’s trying to get over a divorce. Together, they figure shit out.
If you’re a fan of modern rom-coms, this one’s for you.
5. Let It Snow
Isabela Merced and Shameik Moore being wholesome in Let It Snow.
This is, in my opinion, the best Christmas rom-com on Netflix. Why? ‘Cos it’s based on a book written by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle. So, you know, there’s more to the plot than the usual stuff you see.
The plot: when a snowstorm hits a small town on Christmas Eve, several high school seniors discover unexpected opportunities as well as complications that test their friendships, love lives, and aspirations for the future.
It’s got a beaut cast including Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Jacob Batalon (the new Spider-Man flicks), and Shameik Moore (Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse).
4. Set It Up
Glenn Powell and Zoey Deutch being cute in Set it Up.
Two overworked personal assistants set up their tyrannical bosses, guess what happens next.
Also, Lucy fucken Liu.
This is pure feel-good content, through and through. Like, out of all the rom-coms on this list, this is probably the closest one to the 2000s’ rom-com era.
Can’t go wrong with Set It Up.
3. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
Noah Centineo and Lana Condor realising they’ve struck gold.
Perfection.
Almost too perfect, one might say.
2. Someone Great
Gina Rodriguez and my husband Lakeith Stanfield in Someone Great.
The gist: Jenny Young (Gina Rodriguez) is dumped by her longterm partner, Nate (Lakeith Stanfield). In an attempt to get over him, she recruits her two best mates, Erin (Dewanda Wise) and Blair (Brittany Snow) on a trip around New York.
It’s funny, heartbreaking, relatable, and real! There’s one particular scene in it that makes me cry every single time I watch it. If you’ve seen it before, you absolutely know what I’m talking about.
FUN FACT: Taylor Swift‘s song Death By A Thousand Cuts was inspired by this movie, which would never have existed without Swift’s 1989 album.
1. The Half of It
The excellent Leah Lewis and Alexxis Lemire in The Half of It.
Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis), who is incredibly smart, makes good money writing essays for other students in her tiny town in the middle of Woop Woop. One day, sweet but inarticulate jock, Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer), hires Ellie to write love letters for his crush, Astor Flores (Alexxis Lemire). But things get complicated when Ellie realises she has feelings for Astor as well.
The Half Of It is an excellent, excellent film about sexuality, love, and friendship and it’s perfectly corny in all the right ways. I can’t say anything more without spoiling it.
It’s also nice when the main character actually looks like a teenager.
So, there you have it – 46 Netflix rom-coms ranked from worst to best. I am definitely missing a couple of really shite ones though, but I don’t think I can put myself through another one.
…maybe next week.
