The 27 best romantic movies on Netflix (December 2025)

10 Things I Hate About You (1998)

The 20th century ended on a high, at least as far as rom-coms are concerned. Starring some of the hottest young talent of the late-‘90s, 10 Things I Hate About You reimagines William Shakespeare’s beloved play The Taming of the Shrew as a high school love story. Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) falls in love with Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik), but learns she isn’t allowed to date until her older sister, Kat (Julia Stiles), does. After Cameron manages to convince resident bad boy Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to woo Kat, Padua High School finds itself overrun with hormones and hijinks.

A classic rom-com with a killer soundtrack, 10 Things I Hate About You is the only film to answer the question of what would happen if Shakespeare went to high school in Seattle. —Ilana Gordon

Where to watch 10 Things I Hate About You: Netflix through Dec. 28

Director: Gil Junger

Cast: Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik

As Good As It Gets (1997)

As Good As It Gets is not interested in being your prototypical romantic comedy. The film scorns genre tropes and easy-to-digest characters in favor of following a selfish, misanthropic writer (Jack Nicholson), a struggling waitress (Helen Hunt), and a gay painter (Greg Kinnear), all of whom end up in each other’s lives after a series of unfortunate events. Released in the late ‘90s and offering a progressive — at the time — exploration into topics like sexuality and mental health, the film is well-regarded for its smart dialogue and winning performances. (Nicholson and Hunt both took home best acting Oscars for their work.) —I.G.

Where to watch As Good As It Gets: Netflix

Director: James L. Brooks

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr., Skeet Ulrich, Shirley Knight

Always Be My Maybe (2019)

Two old childhood friends reconnect in Always Be My Maybe, starring Ali Wong and Randall Park. As teens, the pair considered a romantic relationship, but it didn’t work out. As adults, she’s become a famous chef while he’s still stuck in a small-time band and working for his dad’s business.

Now, they’ll have to try and see if love is their destiny once again while facing her fame and his insecurities. The movie also features plenty of quirky moments, including Keanu Reeves playing an odd version of himself as a love interest for Wong’s character. And, as an added bonus, there’s also Wong’s amazing wardrobe. —Lia Beck

Where to watch Always Be My Maybe: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Nahnatchka Khan

Cast: Ali Wong, Randall Park, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Dae Kim, James Saito, Michelle Buteau, Vivian Bang

Blue Jay (2017)

Twenty years after breaking up, former high-school sweethearts Jim (Mark Duplass, who also wrote the script) and Amanda (Sarah Paulson) bump into each other in their California hometown and end up spending the day — and night — together. As they update each other on what’s transpired in their lives in the years since they last spoke, Jim and Amanda reminisce together about the people they used to be while attempting to understand the people they have become. A slice of life film that offers a glimpse into the optimism of youthful infatuation, and the bitter realities of aging, living, and loving, Blue Jay’s simple story is still meaty enough for its two leads to dig their performative talons into. —I.G.

Where to watch Blue Jay: Netflix

Director: Alex Lehmann

Cast: Mark Duplass, Sarah Paulson

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Singapore is a small country with a big thirst for gossip — at least as it pertains to the extravagantly wealthy families on the island in Crazy Rich Asians. And nobody there is considered a more eligible bachelor than Nick Young (Henry Golding), who left for the States years ago and is now returning to attend a friend’s wedding along with his girlfriend, Rachel (Constance Wu), who — to the dismay of the area’s singles — is American born, and worse, does not come from money.

Shocked to learn that her down-to-earth boyfriend is actually the heir to one of Singapore’s biggest and longest-established fortunes, Rachel must learn to navigate this new culture, impress Nick’s snobbish family, and generally survive life among the excess if she hopes to continue her relationship. —I.G.

Where to watch Crazy Rich Asians: Netflix through Dec. 31

EW grade: B

Director: Jon M. Chu

Cast: Henry Golding, Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Jimmy O. Yang

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Get ready for the time of your life with Dirty Dancing, an ‘80s movie about a summer spent growing up and falling in love. Set in 1963, Frances „Baby“ Houseman (Jennifer Grey) joins her parents and older sister at a resort in the Catskills for a vacation, where she finds herself drawn to Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze), a working-class dance instructor. But as Baby grows closer to Johnny, she begins to shed her upper-middle-class, sheltered upbringing and find her place in the world — and on the dance floor.

Swayze and Grey famously didn’t get along during production, but their chemistry and dance moves onscreen are so iridescent, they remain relevant almost 40 years later. The plot wades into dramatic waters, but the film’s love story, soundtrack, and dance moves make it the feel-good movie we need right now. —I.G.

Where to watch Dirty Dancing: Netflix through Dec. 31

Director: Emile Ardolino

Cast: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes

Duck Butter (2018)

Love gets fast-tracked in Duck Butter, a 2018 independent film co-written by and starring Alia Shawkat. Struggling with the local dating scene, actress Naima (Shawkat) and artist Sergio (Laia Costa) meet at a bar and decide to accelerate their relationship by spending 24 hours together and having sex once an hour. But the more time Naima and Sergio spend together, the more they find their quickly-established intimacy tested by new friends and loved ones.

While the Sergio character was originally written for a man, the decision to cast a woman instead adds another layer of specificity and nuance. Heavier on the toilet humor than you might expect, Duck Butter is worth a watch for its excellent acting and killer roster of supporting players. —I.G.

Where to watch Duck Butter: Netflix

Director: Miguel Arteta

Cast: Alia Shawkat, Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Mae Whitman, Hong Chau, Kate Berlant, Kumail Nanjiani

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)

If the Puritans knew that coming to America would later disqualify them from competing in the Eurovision Song Contest, they might have had second thoughts about leaving England. As it is, the closest Americans will get to participating in Eurovision is by turning on Will Ferrell’s 2020 parody of the annual competition. Lovingly crafted and full of legitimately good songs — including the always requested „Jaja Ding Dong“ — Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a silly story about a maligned musical duo (Ferrell and Rachel McAdams) who are selected to represent Iceland at the competition after a tragedy befalls the country.

McAdams is particularly delightful as the nightingale-voiced Sigrit who commits to helping her bandmate (not brother) achieve his dream of competing in the Eurovision Song Contest. If you’re looking for a musical romp populated by whales and gnomes, this is the film for you.  —I.G.

Where to watch Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga: Netflix

Director: David Dobkin

Cast: Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens, Graham Norton, Demi Lovato, Pierce Brosnan

Frances Ha (2012)

One of the best-known additions to the mumblecore movement that briefly invaded independent cinema during the mid-2010s, Frances Ha is also one of the most charming. Directed by Noah Baumbach and co-written by the film’s star, Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha chronicles a difficult period in 27-year-old aspiring dancer Frances Halladay’s life. Struggling with the dissolution of one of her closest friendships, financial challenges, and difficulties with her chosen career, Frances is both unmoored and undeterred.

A late-20s coming-of-age story released in 2012, Frances Ha contains some vague similarities to HBO’s Girls (Adam Driver, for one), which premiered that same year, but the film offers such a high level of style, point of view, and performance as to distinguish itself from the rest of the genre. —I.G.

Where to watch Frances Ha: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Noah Baumbach

Cast: Greta Gerwig, Adam Driver, Mickey Sumner, Michael Zegen, Michael Esper, Charlotte d’Amboise

Groundhog Day (1993)

Decades before Hollywood started pumping out romantic comedies like Leap Year (2010), Valentine’s Day (2010), and New Year’s Eve (2011), there was Groundhog Day, the ultimate niche holiday comedy. The film follows a TV weatherman named Phil Connors (Bill Murray) who is assigned to cover the annual February festivities in Punxsutawney, Pa., only to find himself reliving the same day over and over again.

A movie that paved the way for other time loop stories like Looper (2012), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Palm Springs (2020), Groundhog Day casts Murray as a Scrooge-esque misanthrope, places him in an unwinnable situation, and watches as he proceeds to have an existential meltdown — before seizing on his unique situation and attempting to woo his producer, Rita (Andie MacDowell). As EW’s critic writes, „Groundhog Day — with its really high concept — unfolds with a goofy elegance that feels like a tonic.“ —I.G.

Where to watch Groundhog Day: Netflix

EW grade: A

Director: Harold Ramis

Cast: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society (2018)

Fans of period romances will fall head over heels for the Netflix original The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society. The 2018 film stars Lily James as a writer who gets to know the residents of Guernsey, an island that had recently been under German occupation during World War II. As for the romantic aspect, the lead character is torn between two men: her American fiancé (Glen Powell) and a new man from Guernsey (Michiel Huisman). EW’s review of Mike Newell’s film calls it „as snug and sweet and congenitally British as a tea cozy.“ —L.B.

Where to watch The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Mike Newell

Cast: Lily James, Michael Huisman, Glen Powell, Jessica Brown Findlay

The Half of It (2020)

Securing Tribeca’s Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, Alice Wu’s queer revision of Cyrano de Bergerac introduces viewers to Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis), a booksmart outcast whose writing skills become a lucrative business with her peers as customers. When she starts drafting love letters for himbo jock Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer, a.k.a. Will Poulter’s doppelgänger) to popular girl Aster Flores (Alexxis Lemire) — whom Ellie secretly harbors feelings for — the unlikely pair forge a connection far more profound than any high school crush.

Through atmospheric camerawork, whip-smart dialogue, and a sea of film references for cinephiles to bathe in, The Half of It spins a coming-of-age love story that bleeds wisdom beyond its years. —James Mercadante

Where to watch The Half of It: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Alice Wu

Cast: Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Alexxis Lemire, Enrique Murciano, Wolfgang Novogratz, Catherine Curtin, Becky Ann Baker, Collin Chou

How to Be Single (2016)

Fresh out of college, Alice (Dakota Johnson) embarks on a new chapter of life by taking a break from her long-term boyfriend, Josh (Nicholas Braun), and relocating to N.Y.C. to start her career as a paralegal and move into her sister’s apartment. Now navigating the single life, Alice is feeling way in over her head, but she doesn’t have to do it alone: She has her sister (Leslie Mann) and co-worker–turned–best friend (Rebel Wilson) by her side, who add a little spice and humor to her misadventures.

Interweaving multiple story lines, How to Be Single captures the chaos of modern dating and the quest to embrace life on your own terms. Whether you’re in a relationship, inexperienced in love, or somewhere in between, this film offers something for everyone — and might reveal a thing or two about yourself. —J.M.

Where to watch How to Be Single: Netflix through Dec. 31

Director: Christian Ditter

Cast: Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Leslie Mann, Alison Brie, Damon Wayans Jr., Anders Holm, Nicholas Braun, Jake Lacy, Jason Mantzoukas

In the Heights (2021)

Welcome to Washington Heights, the Manhattan neighborhood that houses the vibrant characters who light up the screen in the movie musical, In the Heights. A film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Broadway hit, which ran for three years in the late aughts, the movie leads audiences on a stunning journey through the primarily Dominican neighborhood as the inhabitants live, fall in love, and battle gentrification, racism, and immigration issues. 

Crazy Rich Asians’ Jon M. Chu directs, and Hamilton’s Anthony Ramos is gripping as Usnavi de la Vega, a Dominican kid who runs his parents’ neighborhood bodega and dreams of returning to his native home. EW’s critic applauds the adaptation, writing, “the film version is both a faithful staging and a full-blown screen extravaganza of its own design.” —I.G.

Where to watch In the Heights: Netflix through Dec. 31

EW grade: A–

Director: Jon M. Chu

Cast: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, Jimmy Smits

The Incredible Jessica James (2017)

Jessica Williams took the world by storm when she became the youngest correspondent on The Daily Show. And after leaving the program in 2016, Williams honed in on film — starting by taking on the roles of Executive Producer and lead actor in the rom-com The Incredible Jessica James. The role of Jessica James was created especially for Williams by writer-director Jim Strouse, and the character is perfectly customized to flaunt her many comedic and performative strengths.

In the film, Jessica is an aspiring playwright and employee at a children’s theater workshop who just broke up with her boyfriend (LaKeith Stanfield). After her friend Tasha (Noël Wells) sets her up on a date with Boone (Chris O’Dowd), Jessica must decide if their romance is worth pursuing, and what she wants her love life and work life to look like going forward. —I.G.

Where to watch The Incredible Jessica James: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Jim Strouse

Cast: Jessica Williams, LaKeith Stanfield, Noël Wells, Chris O’Dowd

Knocked Up (2007)

Based solely on the sheer number of films he wrote, directed, and/or produced during this period, it’s reasonable to assume that Judd Apatow was responsible for at least 10 percent of the laughs enjoyed during the mid- to late-aughts. Released two years after the success of Apatow’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up stars a who’s who of comedy legends past, present, and future.

The film follows Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl), an up-and-coming E! News reporter, and Ben Stone (Seth Rogen), a Canadian deadbeat she meets at a Los Angeles nightclub. When a drunken hookup between the two results in an unexpected pregnancy, everyone from Ben’s slacker friends to Alison’s sister’s family gets involved as the parents-to-be decide to keep the baby and attempt to stay together. Never one to over-edit, Apatow’s film runs long, but the jokes are worth it. —I.G.

Where to watch Knocked Up: Netflix through Dec. 31

EW grade: A

Director: Judd Apatow

Cast: Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Martin Starr, Charlyne Yi, Leslie Mann, Paul Rudd, Maude Apatow, Iris Apatow

Lady Chatterley’s Lover (2022)

If Fifty Shades of Grey and Bridgerton welcomed a child, its name would be Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Enduring decades of bans for its salacious content, D.H. Lawrence’s 1928 avant-garde novel gets a fresh adaptation under the heedful eye of Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, who deftly explores the depths of female desire. In this soft-core romance about emotional and bodily fulfillment, an unhappily married aristocrat (Emma Corrin) defies gender roles by acting on her own urges — starting a clandestine affair with the gamekeeper (Jack O’Connell) of her husband’s (Matthew Duckett) estate.

While EW’s critic observes a lack of dramatic conflict in the film, they highlight that „what’s left is just an unabashedly heady romance, rich in pretty costumes — when they’re wearing them — and lush, lusty atmosphere.“ —J.M.

Where to watch Lady Chatterley’s Lover: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre

Cast: Emma Corrin, Jack O’Connell, Matthew Duckett, Faye Marsay, Ella Hunt, Anthony Brophy

The Lovebirds (2020)

After four years of dating, Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) and Leilani (Issa Rae) are prepared to call it quits — until the couple finds themselves involved in a murder that requires them to put their break up aside and go on the run. Too concerned about racial profiling to involve the police, Jibran and Leilani must hunt down the identity of the man who was murdered so they can find out who killed him and clear their own names.

Directed by Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer), The Lovebirds is a romantic evening gone wrong in the style of films like 2010’s Date Night and 2018’s Game Night. Boasting a high ratio of jokes per minute and a pair of lead actors who know how to wield their witticisms like machetes, Nanjiani and Rae’s on screen bickering and loving needling will have you rooting for their relationship, even as it’s falling apart. —I.G.

Where to watch The Lovebirds: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Michael Showalter

Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Issa Rae, Anna Camp, Paul Sparks

Match Point (2005)

Woody Allen’s work usually centers around the neuroticisms of wealthy New Yorkers, but in Match Point, he deviates in almost every regard. A psychological romantic thriller, the film is the story of Chris (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a former professional tennis player turned social climber who marries a wealthy woman (Emily Mortimer), only to enter into an affair with an aspiring American actress (Scarlett Johansson).

When Chris’ lust threatens to derail his marriage and financial stability, the former tennis star struggles to keep his life from combusting. Those looking for Allen’s traditional comedic stylings are sure to be disappointed, but the film is a tight, taut thriller that EW’s critic calls a “serious and lusciously entertaining adultery drama driven by a lust that turns into authentic compulsion.” —I.G.

Where to watch Match Point: Netflix

Director: Woody Allen

Cast: Brian Cox, Matthew Goode, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Penelope Wilton

Our Souls at Night (2017)

Some partnerships just keep getting better with age, and the onscreen relationship between Robert Redford and Jane Fonda — now in its fourth iteration — is one of those unions. In the Netflix original movie Our Souls at Night, Redford and Fonda play longtime neighbors and widowers Louis and Addie, who find comfort in spending their nights together as platonic friends. Aware that their unorthodox relationship and sleeping arrangement is eliciting side eyes from the town and their adult children, the pair must eventually choose between their growing emotional dependence on each other and the needs of their respective families.

With a cast of only seven actors, the strength of Our Souls at Night lies mainly in the steady hands of its two leads, who make falling in love look just as appealing as they did half a century ago in Barefoot In The Park. —I.G.

Where to watch Our Souls at Night: Netflix

Director: Ritesh Batra

Cast: Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Judy Greer, Matthias Schoenaerts, Bruce Dern, Iain Armitage

Phantom Thread (2017)

There are lots of lighthearted romantic movies on Netflix, but if you’re looking for something much, much darker, there’s Phantom Thread. The Paul Thomas Anderson movie stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a fashion designer who finds a muse and partner in a waitress (Vicky Krieps) during the 1950s. The couple’s relationship is rocky to say the least, and some poisonous mushrooms play a hefty role in the film’s tension.

„What’s true with Daniel is that you’re always in front of someone very awake, so you have to be awake,“ Krieps tells EW about working with Day-Lewis. „You couldn’t go and do something not really knowing what you’re doing or being half thinking about your lunch. It wouldn’t work because you’d just crash against the wall.“ —L.B.

Where to watch Phantom Thread: Netflix through Dec. 31

EW grade: B

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Kreips, Lesley Manville  

Set It Up (2018)

If you found Glen Powell to be perfect boyfriend material in Anyone but You (2023), wait until you see him paired with the dynamic Zoey Deutch in Set It Up. When two stress-ridden assistants from adjoining companies, Harper (Deutch) and Charlie (Powell), conspire to set up their Type-A bosses (Taye Diggs, Lucy Liu) in hopes of freeing themselves from the nonstop office grind, it sparks an enemies-to-lovers fling between the two matchmakers that’s as satisfying as a sublime slice of pizza. Set It Up ranks among Netflix’s finest rom-coms, injecting the genre’s familiar elements with an extra dose of heart — all fueled by the palpable chemistry between Powell and Deutch. —J.M.

Where to watch Set It Up: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Claire Scanlon

Cast: Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs, Joan Smalls, Meredith Hagner, Pete Davidson, Jon Rudnitsky, Tituss Burgess

She’s Gotta Have It (1986)

Spike Lee’s first feature film as a writer and director, She’s Gotta Have It presents intertwining romances as lead character Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns) decides which of the three men she’s dating (Lee, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell) she wants to have a monogamous relationship with. Luxuriating in Lee’s creative sensibility and shot in crisp black and white, Nola’s journey towards picking a partner is funny, thought-provoking, and unique in every respect.

In a review of Netflix’s 2017 She’s Gotta Have It adaptation (also directed by Lee), EW’s critic describes the original movie, writing, “She’s Gotta Have It was Spike Lee’s first feature film, and few movies feel so joyfully first.” A dramedy that questions sexual, relationship, and gender norms of the time, She’s Gotta Have It is notable for its subject matter, aesthetic, and for launching Lee’s storied Hollywood career. —I.G.

Where to watch She’s Gotta Have It: Netflix

Director: Spike Lee 

Cast: Tracy Camilla Johns, Spike Lee, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell

Sliding Doors (1998)

If The Butterfly Effect was a romantic comedy, it would be Sliding Doors. Gwyneth Paltrow stars as Helen Quilley, a London publicist whose life after being fired unfolds in parallel storylines: One details what happens to Helen after she catches a train home, the other tells the story of what happens after she misses the train.

As Helen’s two paths deviate and coincide throughout the film, her love life and career trajectory unfold in separate arcs, an effective narrative illustration of how the small moments in our lives can have the biggest impacts on our future outcomes. Alternatively funny, tragic, and ultimately very, very British, EW’s critic writes, “writer-director Peter Howitt demonstrates a lovely feel for the dreamy poetry of what-ifs — a deeply satisfying formula for romances and melodramas, from It’s a Wonderful Life to Brief Encounter.” —I.G. 

Where to watch Sliding Doors: Netflix 

Directors: Peter Howitt

Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah, John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn

Someone Great (2019)

Heartbreak just hits different in Netflix’s Someone Great, a film about Jenny (Gina Rodriguez), a music journalist who goes through a breakup after accepting her dream job in San Francisco and learning her boyfriend (LaKeith Stanfield) doesn’t want to come along. Emotionally buttressed by her best friends Erin (DeWanda Wise) and Blair (Brittany Snow), Jenny decides to make the most of her last night in New York City, and along the way encounters an eclectic supporting cast including Rosario Dawson, RuPaul, and SNL’s Alex Moffat.

In addition to being a solid modern rom-com, Someone Great also has great significance in Swiftie lore: Taylor’s 2014 song „Clean“ off the 1989 album was one of the inspirations for the film’s story, and Swift wrote Lover’s „Death by a Thousand Cuts“ after seeing the movie. Deeply relatable for anyone who’s been blindsided or suffered a broken heart, Someone Great is about endings, beginnings, and finding the joy in both. —I.G.

Where to watch Someone Great: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

Cast: Gina Rodriguez, DeWanda Wise, Brittany Snow, LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, RuPaul, Alex Moffat

This Is 40 (2012)

Judd Apatow expands the Knocked Up universe with This Is 40. Set five years after Ben and Alison’s whirlwind courtship and pregnancy, This Is 40 follows Alison’s sister Debbie (Leslie Mann) and her husband Pete (Paul Rudd) as they explore what it means to be partners and parents in their 40s.

Knocked Up was about the beginning of a relationship, but This Is 40 explores the gnarly portion in the middle of a marriage when you know everything about your partner, and have to figure out how to love them anyway. The film doesn’t offer the same laugh out loud gags as its predecessor, but EW’s critic writes “it’s ticklishly honest and droll about all the things being a parent can do to a relationship. And why it’s still worth it.” —I.G.

Where to watch This Is 40: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Judd Apatow

Cast: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, John Lithgow, Megan Fox, Albert Brooks

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)

Navigating high school is painful enough without all of your crushes finding out you like them — at the same time. A modern rom-com that EW’s critic calls „breezy and charming,“ To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before follows Lara Jean Covey (Lana Condor) as her worst fears are realized when the love letters she never meant to send find their way to the boys who inspired them.

Cornered by love, Lara Jean negotiates a sham relationship with her former crush to throw off her current one, but when feelings start catching, Lara Jean must deal with the consequences of both her lies and the truths she’s starting to realize. The first in a series of three films, which also include 2020’s To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You and 2021’s To All the Boys: Always and Forever, the original still hits the hardest. —I.G.

Where to watch To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Susan Johnson

Cast: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart, Andrew Bachelor, Trezzo Mahoro, Madeleine Arthur, Emilija Baranac, Israel Broussard, John Corbett