Being single on Valentine’s Day gets a bad rap, but ultimately — if you’re a holiday person, anyway — February 14 is about love, and love looks different for everyone. That’s why this list doesn’t just include romantic comedies and tearjerkers: in these shows and movies, you’ll also find some meditations on heartbreak, depictions of messy, dramatic romances gone awry, and platonic love stories. From the saccharine to the cynical, here are Netflix’s best movies and shows about relationships, romance, and love in its many forms.
The To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before Trilogy
In many ways, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is Netflix’s flagship rom-com: it earned two sequels, turned both Lana Condor and Noah Centineo into teen drama royalty, and won over hordes of obsessive fans. Whether or not you’ve seen the film before, February 14 is the perfect day to marathon To All The Boys and its two equally delightful sequels.
Someone Great
If you’re going through a breakup or just celebrating this weekend with your Galentines, Someone Great is the bittersweet, friendship-focused film you’ll want to stream. The movie follows Jenny (Gina Rodriguez), on the heels of a breakup and preparing for a cross-country move, as she enjoys one last emotional night out with her two best friends.
The Half of It
This queer, big-hearted take on Cyrano de Bergerac is a celebration of both romantic and platonic love. Ellie (Leah Lewis), a quiet, lonely student, is approached by a football player who wants her to ghostwrite his love letters to Aster (Alexxis Lemire) — who happens to be Ellie’s longtime crush. She ultimately accepts, but naturally, the plan starts to go awry when she and Aster start to genuinely connect over letters and texts.
Bridgerton
If you’re looking to a marathon something sexy and romantic with a guaranteed second season, you should consider joining the 82 million households that have already watched Shonda Rhimes’ Netflix debut. The first season of the Regency romance focuses on Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and eligible duke (Regé-Jean Page) as they fake a romance that slowly turns into the real thing.
Carol
Based on Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt, Carol is about two women — a young photographer (Rooney Mara) and an older, soon-to-be-divorcée (Cate Blanchett) — who develop an undeniable connection when they meet at a department store circa 1952. What ensues is a tender story of love and identity. Even though Carol could be called a Christmas film, the pitch-perfect emotion and romance makes it an excellent Valentine’s Day watch, too.
Always Be My Maybe
Starring Ali Wong (who also wrote the film) and Randall Park, Always Be My Maybe is a hilarious, heartfelt romantic comedy about two estranged childhood friends who re-enter each other’s lives as adults. But once they come back together (and with the help of Keanu Reeves) they realise that their story might not be over just yet.
Moonlight
Barry Jenkins’ intimate, affecting coming-of-age film focuses on one man’s (Trevante Rhodes) struggles with his identity, trauma, and relationships within his community through three pivotal eras, including his childhood and adolescence. Moonlight is far from easy going romantic fare, but it also tells one of the most striking love stories we’ve seen on-screen in ages.
Loving
This biographical drama tells the true story of Mildred (Ruth Negga) and Richard (Joel Edgerton) Loving, a couple sentenced to prison in 1958 for breaking an anti-miscegenation law in Virginia. Along with depicting the story of Mildred and Richard’s relationship, Loving follows their landmark Supreme Court fight to overturn anti-miscegenation laws across the country.
Feel Good
Mae Martin’s semi-autobiographical series offers a thoughtful, realistic, and often funny look into a relationship between a young comedian (Martin) recovering from addiction and George (Charlotte Ritchie), an English teacher still coming to terms with her sexuality. Feel Good covers heavy topics and the central romance isn’t always romantic, but the series isn’t short on heart, humor, and honesty.
Schitt’s Creek
If any show encapsulates the theme of love, it’s this irreverent, feel-good comedy that you’ve probably already seen — and if you haven’t, you should! Schitt’s Creek is an easy watch about a wealthy family forced to readjust to new lives in a small, rural town after they suddenly go broke. Romance and heartwarming friendship abound, especially in the show’s later seasons, but the slow-burn familial love is what really makes Schitt’s Creek special.
Love
Gus (Paul Rust) and Mickey (Gillian Jacobs) don’t have a lot in common — and they don’t exactly meet at the right time. Still, they decide to try a relationship. Judd Apatow’s Love follows both characters as they navigate the highs, lows, and intricacies of dating and commitment.
Outlander
If you aren’t up for rewatching Bridgerton but want a similarly sexy, immersive historical romance, give Outlander a shot. This time travel drama follows Claire (Caitriona Belle), a World War II nurse who becomes transported into the 18th century and enters a passionate relationship with a Highland warrior (Sam Heughan). Each season of the Starz show is based on a different book from the popular Diana Gabaldon series.
The Lovebirds
In this twist on both the rom-com and buddy comedy genres, Leilani (Issa Rae) and Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) are on the verge of breaking up, but when a car ride argument ends in a crash — and then a carjacking — they become unintentionally enmeshed in a complicated murder case.
Jane the Virgin
There’s no way you’ll be able to watch all of Jane the Virgin in one night. But if you want to start a show on Valentine’s Day, obsessively watch as much as you can, and then have plans every night for the next month, check out the pilot of this CW show. In Jane the Virgin, a woman accidentally becomes artificially inseminated… and then learns that the sperm donor was actually her former crush, who is also her boss. (And no, the plot twists don’t stop there.)
Irreplaceable You
Abbie (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Sam (Michiel Huisman) have been together forever — so long, in fact, that Sam is clueless when it comes to dating. So when Abbie receives a devastating cancer diagnosis, she decides to find her fiancé’s next girlfriend.
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