Summary
- The best romance movies on Hulu cover a wide range of love stories, from classic rom-coms to queer and historical films.
- Romance movies have always captured audiences’ attention and can evoke deep emotions, from laughter to tears.
- Hulu offers a diverse selection of romance movies that showcase the heights the genre can reach, including rom-coms and more complex love stories.
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, which offer a wide range of options.
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 romantic comedies that mix laughs in with the love story to tragic romances about relationships that were 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 include rom-coms and more, showing the heights the genre can reach.
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10 Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Starring Constance Wu & Henry Golding
Crazy Rich Asians
- Release Date
- August 15, 2018
- Director
- Jon M. Chu
- Writers
- Pete Chiarelli , Adele Lim
- Studio(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures
Crazy Rich Asians was a massive hit in 2018, making $238 million on a $30 million budget, becoming the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the 2010s (via Box Office Mojo). The movie stars Constance Wu as Rachel, a woman who falls in love with Nick (Henry Golding). However, what she doesn’t know is that Nick’s family is extremely wealthy and is almost royalty in Singapore. This all comes to a head when she goes to meet his family during his best friend’s wedding.
The movie was a fish-out-of-water story, with Rachel struggling to fit in with Nick’s wealthy family, and causing her to doubt their relationship. The film was a huge critical success on top of the box office take. It won several awards at the end of the year, including Best Comedy at the Critics’ Choice Awards, while the National Board of Review awarded it the Best Acting By an Ensemble Award.
9 Dirty Dancing (1987)
Starring Patrick Swayze & Jennifer Grey
Dirty Dancing
- Release Date
- August 21, 1987
- Director
- Emile Ardolino
- Cast
- jennifer grey , Patrick swayze , Jerry Orbach , Cynthia Rhodes , Jack Weston , Jane Brucker
- Writers
- Eleanor Bergstein
- Studio(s)
- Vestron Pictures
In 1987, Patrick Swayze won the hearts of fanns all over the world with his role with his role as dance instructor Johnny Castle in the romantic drama Dirty Dancing. The movie follows the story of a young woman named Frances, aka Baby, as she goes to a holiday camp with her family and falls in love with the camp’s dance instructor (Johnny). However, when he starts to teach her a more risqué dancing style – the dirty dancing from the title – it causes strife with her family, especially her father.
The movie is, at its core, about classism and the elite putting themselves over the working class. It was massively popular and was the first movie to ever sell over a million copies on home video (via The Telegraph). It went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song for “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, while the singers also won a Grammy for their song. It also won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards.
8 Pretty Woman (1990)
Starring Richard Gere & Julia Roberts
Pretty Woman
- Release Date
- March 23, 1990
- Writers
- J.F. Lawton
Pretty Woman is the movie that made Julia Roberts the biggest star in romance films in the 1990s. It sees her star as Vivian Ward, a Hollywood prostitute who falls in love with a wealthy man named Edward (Richard Gere) after he pays her to be his escort for a week. Pretty Woman sees Vivian as someone with dreams and aspirations and refuses to degrade her based on her career choices. It also shows that she can break through the heart of even the hardest man.
The movie was a massive hit when it was released. Julia Roberts picked up an Oscar nomination for her performance, and while she didn’t win, she did win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. The movie also won the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Comedy Motion Picture. At the time of its release, it was the fourth-highest-grossing movie of all time, making $462.4 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo).
7 Twilight (2008)
Starring Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart
Twilight
- Release Date
- November 21, 2008
- Director
- Catherine Hardwicke
- Cast
- Robert Pattinson , Ashley Greene , Peter Facinelli , Rachelle Lefevre , Elizabeth Reaser , Kristen Stewart , Nikki Reed , Jackson Rathbone , Cam Gigandet , Kellan Lutz , Taylor Lautner , Anna Kendrick , Billy Burke
- Writers
- Melissa Rosenberg
One of the most polarizing romance movies on Hulu, Twilight tells the story of love between centuries-old vampire Edward Cullen and a high school student named Bella Swan. Based on the novels by Stephanie Meyer, the entire franchise is on Hulu for fans of young adult romance, but the first movie tells a much more simple romance. As Edward and Bella fall in love, the vampire and his family must protect her from a vicious vampire who wants to end their romance before it ever starts.
The next three movies take the story into a more widespread mythological direction, and they also add a love triangle with a werewolf named Jacob. However, the first movie is mostly a gothic horror romance and plays well in that form. It was a huge success and guaranteed the franchise would play out all the books in the series.
6 Drinking Buddies (2013)
Starring Olivia Wilde & Jake Johnson
Drinking Buddies
- Release Date
- August 23, 2013
- Director
- Joe Swanberg
- Writers
- Joe Swanberg
The friends-to-lovers trope is consistently popular in romance movies, 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.
5 Rye Lane (2023)
Starring Vivian Oparah & David Jonsson
Rye Lane
- Release Date
- March 31, 2023
- Director
- Raine Allen Miller
- Cast
- Alice Hewkin , David Jonsson , Simon Manyonda , Munya Chawawa , Vivian Oparah , Karene Peter , George Taylor
- Writers
- Nathan Bryon , Tom Melia
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.
Several romance movies attempt to pull off the story of two people getting to know each other and gradually falling in love over 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.
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4 Love, Simon (2018)
Starring Nick Robinson & Keiynan Lonsdale
Love Simon
- Release Date
- March 16, 2018
- Cast
- Miles Heizer , Nick Robinson , jorge lendeborg , Josh Duhamel , Alexandra Shipp , Katherine Langford , Jennifer Garner , Tony Hale , Logan Miller , Keiynan Lonsdale
- Runtime
- 110minutes
LGBTQ+ teen love stories have shown the evolution of romance movies over the years that all audiences 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 whom 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 a 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.
3 Good Luck To You, Leo Grande (2022)
Starring Emma Thompson & Daryl McCormack
Sexuality can often play a big role in romance movies, but it takes center stage in the recent Good Luck to You, 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 story 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.
2 The Fault In Our Stars (2014)
Starring Shailene Woodley & Ansel Elgort
the fault in our stars
- Release Date
- June 5, 2014
- Director
- Josh Boone
- Cast
- Shailene Woodley
- Writers
- Josh Boone
- Studio(s)
- 20th Century
There have been several 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.
1 Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (2019)
Starring Noemie Merlant & Adele Haenel
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 an 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 film considered by many to be one of the best movies of the 21st century.