Once the school term is finally over, one of the best things to do is get your besties together to watch a movie marathon.
And there is nothing quite like watching iconic love stories while eating ice cream and chips to forget all about those annoying assignments and tests.
WATCH: Lana Condor manifested her role in ‘To all the boys I’ve loved before’.
Whether you like a classic love story, sweet meet-cutes or a stressful will-they-won’t-they narrative, we have put together a list of every romantic movie you will ever need to watch.
There are also plenty of heart-stealing characters to inspire your new fictional crush.
Romeo and Juliet (1996)
Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of the Shakespearean story is 100% stylised, 100% peak attractiveness Leo, 100% devastating.
The Notebook (2004)
The only thing more devastating than this movie? The fact that Noah and Allie (Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling) got together then broke up IRL. Still not over it.
Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961)
Audrey Hepburn was immortalised as Holly Golightly, the gold-digging socialite who falls in love with her poor, struggling writer neighbour and, somewhere in the process, became a style and cultural icon for the next fifty years.
Amélie (2001)
Amélie; The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain is a technicolour Parisian dream following the romantic journey of Amélie—an anti-Manic Pixie Dream Girl, played by Audrey Tatou.
Ghost (1990)
Who knew a supernatural love story could be so moving? Who knew pottery could be so sexy? Who knew a movie could make you cry so much?
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
“Can men and women be friends?” Asks late legend Nora Ephron, screenwriter of When Harry Met Sally. According to the film, no, apparently, but we don’t care, as long as these two ended up together.
Walk The Line (2005)
The real-life romance of Johnny Cash and June Carter is one of the most romantic in music history. Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix did so well in bringing the story to the silver screen that Reese took home the Oscar.
Titanic (1997)
Hands up if you’ve cried hysterically watching this movie? Yes? It’s essentially Romeo and Juliet on a sinking boat with young Leonardo and young Kate. Of course you did.
Casablanca (1942)
Casablanca is arguably the most important romantic movie ever. So many quotable lines, so much sexual tension, so much at stake.
Sleepless In Seattle (1993)
Sleepless in Seattle could be the corniest thing ever, but it just works. Thank Nora Ephron’s razor-sharp writing and the not-so-subtle references to An Affair to Remember.
Atonement (2007)
This World War I set tragedy centres around a string of tragic events that all begin with a single lie. That green dress, and that bookcase are bound to go down in history as one of the best sex scenes of all time.
Notting Hill (1999)
A Hollywood superstar (Julia Roberts) falls in love with a British bookshop owner (Hugh Grant), against the backdrop of London’s chic Portobello Road in the ’90s.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Ang Lee’s groundbreaking ’60s era Western romance broke all sorts of boundaries, and proved Hollywood was ready for a same-sex love story.
Dirty Dancing (1987)
The music! The dancing! The unbearably ’80s outfits! Dirty Dancing will live on in all of our hearts forever.
Love Actually (2003)
If you don’t watch this film every Christmas (meaning you’ve watched it at least 12 times), you’re doing Christmas wrong. Every love story in this movie—with the possible exception of that guy who goes to America to sleep around—is so romantic.
Edward Scissorhands (1991)
Tim Burton’s unconventional love story is all the more romantic since Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder met and fell in love while shooting.
Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (2004)
Jim Carey gives an uncharacteristically dramatic performance against Kate Winslet in this off-kilter romantic comedy by French director Michel Gondry.
Love, Rosie (2014)
The will they won’t they narrative is so annoying, but somehow we always get sucked back in and watching Lilly Collins, and Sam Clafin’s chemistry makes you want them to get together even more.
Moulin Rouge (2001)
Baz Luhrmann called on Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman to star in his bohemian-era Parisian musical, about a prostitute who falls in love with a writer. So. Sad.
Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)
This six-degrees-of-separation rom-com is a winner for so many reasons. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have so much chemistry, Steve Carrell is characteristically hilarious, the women are smart and well developed. Go you, Crazy, Stupid, Love.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
One of the few high-school dramas to stand the test of time, 10 Things I Hate About You is actually a modernisation of Shakespeare that we love because a) Julie Stiles plays a strong, independent woman with no interest in dating and b) because Heath Ledger.
In The Mood For Love (2000)
This critically acclaimed film is an angsty will-they, won’t-they set in conservative ’60s era Hong Kong. Sexual tensions and missed opportunities make this a must-watch.
To All The Boys I Loved Before (2018)
This Netflix movie had our hearts on the edge as we keenly waited to see how the fall out of Lana’s former loves receiving her old love letters would play out.
Betty Blue (1986)
A man falls in love with an increasingly mentally unstable young woman in this French cult drama. Strangely haunting.
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Roman Holiday (1953)
Audrey Hepburn makes yet another appearance on our list as a Vespa-riding European princess who falls in love with an American reporter.
Moonrise Kingdon (2012)
We’re not privy to a romance featuring two pre-teens but Wes Anderson, yet again, pulls it off. Moonrise Kingdom is a visual feast with amazing performances by then 14-year-old Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman.
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
1Renée Zellweger was so good as the overweight, bit-of-a-mess (British) Bridget Jones that she actually got nominated for an Oscar. The rom-com is loosely based on Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth reprising his role as the uptight Mr. Darcy.
500 Days of Summer (2009)
Quirky rom-com 500 Days of Summer turned the usual girl-meets-boy trope on its head, with Zooey Deschanel playing the aloof, uninterested girl and Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing the romantic, keen to settle down guy.
Her (2013)
Spike Jonze’s 2013 Oscar-favourite is a semi-dystopian love story set in a time where people can have relationships with computers. So beautiful.
My Fair Lady (1964)
In this ’60s musical Eliza Dootlittle (Audrey Hepburn) is “transformed” from a working class Cockney to a sophisticated Duchess as part of an academic experiment. Along the way, she falls for a young man called Freddy.
About Time (2013)
This movie is just such a wholesome celebration of love and family, and watching Domhnall Gleeson do everything he can for his family and gorgeous love interest, Rachael McAdams, will make you daydream about your future wedding.
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Danny Boyle’s Indian-set, decades-long love story tracks the story of Jamal, who goes on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” to try and find his lost love, Latika. Dev Patel and Frida Pinto, who star as the leads, also fell in love while making the movie (!!).
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Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Okay, okay, it’s officially a mini-series. But this adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel will go down in history as one of the most romantic on-screen love stories ever. Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, emerging from that lake, anyone?
Say Anything (1989)
Is there a more iconic image from ’80s rom-coms than John Cusack holding a boombox over his head, wooing Ione Skye’s Diane? Nope, we couldn’t think of one either.
The Half Of It (2020)
4This movie follows the story of an introverted schoolgirl helping out the school Jock as he attempts to win the heart of his love interest. However, things start to get messy when they realise they have both fallen in love with her.
Lost in Translation (2013)
Sure, it’s not strictly a “love story”, but there’s something so romantic about the interactions between Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in Sofia Coppola’s Oscar-winning classic.
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