Official backdrop from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

genre collection

Romance Movies

Everything in the Nutevio catalogue tagged Romance, ordered by our rating.

50 movies Updated today 4 minute read The Nutevio Editors

Curated by Nutevio Editors

  • Most Influential
  • Most Rewatchable
  • Great First Watch

50 ranked entries

From the editors

Why this collection exists

A ranked collection selected from across the Nutevio catalogue.

What defines these movies. The entries here run from the 1930s to the 2020s, and cover romance, science fiction, drama, comedy filmmaking across 44 directors. A film only earns a place if it does something the rest of the list cannot: a formal idea, a performance, an ending, or an influence you can still trace in the films being made today. Popularity gets a film considered. It never gets one ranked.

Who should explore it. If you have watched the obvious titles and want to know what sits underneath them, start at the top and read the notes rather than skimming the posters. If you are new to Romance Movies, use the filters to narrow by decade or runtime and pick one film for tonight — every card tells you who it is for before you commit two hours.

How the ranking was determined. Each editor scores a film on craft, influence, rewatch value and how completely it delivers on its own premise. Those scores are argued out in full — the Nutevio Score you see on each card is the settled result, not an average of opinions. Where our score diverges from the audience consensus, the card says so and the note explains why. The ranking is revisited whenever a new release genuinely changes the conversation.

#Romance

Personality

Collection DNA

Twelve attributes averaged across every film here — the fingerprint of this ranking.

This collection reads as emotion-first, with romance and rewatch value close behind. Violence is the one register it deliberately leaves alone.

Hover an attribute to see which films drive it

Suspense
15

Restrained

    Action
    15

    Restrained

      Violence
      14

      Restrained

        Mystery
        15

        Restrained

          Humor
          27

          Restrained

            Emotion
            95

            Defining

              Darkness
              21

              Restrained

                Romance
                79

                Defining

                  Mind-Bending
                  16

                  Restrained

                    Pacing
                    32

                    Restrained

                      Accessibility
                      69

                      Present

                        Rewatch value
                        76

                        Defining

                          Chronology

                          How this collection evolves

                          Hover a year to preview the film, click to jump straight to its entry.

                          50 of 50 movies

                          Showing 125 of 50 entries

                          #1
                          Official poster for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
                          RomanceScience FictionDrama 1h 48m

                          Nutevio Score

                          8.3

                          IMDb
                          8.1
                          Rotten Tomatoes
                          83%
                          Metacritic
                          76

                          A man pays to have an ex-girlfriend deleted from his memory, then spends the procedure trying to hide her somewhere the machine can't reach.

                          Why it's ranked here — Rated 9.2 by the MovieVerse editors — one of the strongest romance titles in the catalogue.

                          The number one — extended editorial

                          Legacy

                          22 years on, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is still the title the rest of Romance Movies is measured against. The entries below it share something with it — a structure, a silence, a way of holding a shot a beat past comfortable.

                          Cultural impact

                          Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is unusually confident about what it asks of an audience: 108 minutes of romance storytelling that never explains itself twice.

                          Michel Gondry on the material

                          Michel Gondry treats the material as if the audience is already paying attention, which is the whole trick. Nothing is repeated for the slow row at the back, and that trust is what makes the ending land.

                          Awards summary

                          No Academy Awards on record for this title — its standing here comes from how well it holds up, not from a ceremony.

                          Rated 9.2 by the MovieVerse editors — one of the strongest romance titles in the catalogue.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and science fiction filmmaking
                          • Michel Gondry admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame
                          • First-timers looking for the essential entry point

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          Editor's note

                          Watch the first ten minutes of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with the sound up and no distractions. If it has not got you by then, this collection may not be for you — and that is genuinely fine.

                          Nutevio Editors
                          View Movie
                          #2
                          Official poster for Before Sunrise (1995)
                          RomanceDrama 1h 41m

                          Nutevio Score

                          7.9

                          IMDb
                          8.0
                          Rotten Tomatoes
                          79%
                          Metacritic
                          73

                          Two strangers get off a train in Vienna and give themselves one night to find out whether the conversation ever ends.

                          Why it's ranked here — Rated 8.9 by the MovieVerse editors — one of the strongest romance titles in the catalogue.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Richard Linklater admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame
                          • First-timers looking for the essential entry point

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          Editor's note

                          We nearly moved Before Sunrise three places in either direction, twice. It stayed because Richard Linklater does one thing here that nobody has improved on since, and you will know it when you reach it.

                          Nutevio Editors
                          View Movie
                          #3
                          Official poster for Forrest Gump (1994)
                          RomanceComedyDrama 2h 22m

                          Nutevio Score

                          8.7

                          IMDb
                          8.5
                          Rotten Tomatoes
                          87%
                          Metacritic
                          79

                          A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and comedy filmmaking
                          • Robert Zemeckis admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame
                          • First-timers looking for the essential entry point

                          Skip if

                          • You prefer action-heavy films

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          Editor's note

                          We nearly moved Forrest Gump three places in either direction, twice. It stayed because Robert Zemeckis does one thing here that nobody has improved on since, and you will know it when you reach it.

                          Nutevio Editors
                          View Movie
                          #4
                          Official poster for Your Name. (2016)
                          RomanceDramaAnimation 1h 46m

                          Nutevio Score

                          8.7

                          IMDb
                          8.5
                          Rotten Tomatoes
                          87%
                          Metacritic
                          79

                          High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Makoto Shinkai admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          Editor's note

                          Every revisit turns up another detail hiding in plain sight. Your Name. remains our internal benchmark — when we argue about a new release, this is the film someone inevitably reaches for.

                          Nutevio Editors
                          View Movie
                          #5
                          Official poster for Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)
                          RomanceComedyDrama 3h 10m

                          Nutevio Score

                          8.4

                          IMDb
                          8.5
                          Rotten Tomatoes
                          84%
                          Metacritic
                          78

                          Raj is a rich, carefree, happy-go-lucky second generation NRI. Simran is the daughter of Chaudhary Baldev Singh, who in spite of being an NRI is very strict about adherence to Indian values. Simran has left for India to be married to her childhood fiancé. Raj leaves for India with a mission at his hands, to claim his lady love under the noses of her whole family. Thus begins a saga.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and comedy filmmaking
                          • Aditya Chopra admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You do not have 3h 10m to give it in one sitting
                          • You prefer action-heavy films

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie

                          Chapter 1 · Romance craft

                          What romance does at its best

                          1994–2016 · five demonstrations

                          Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Before Sunrise, Forrest Gump, Your Name. and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge are here for craft rather than reputation. Each one solves a specific romance problem — how to sustain tension, how to earn a turn, how to end — and solves it in a way the rest of the list keeps borrowing.

                          Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) is the entry we would show someone who claims the genre is formulaic.

                          Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge closes the block.

                          #6
                          Official poster for Cinema Paradiso (1988)
                          RomanceDrama 2h 4m

                          Nutevio Score

                          8.3

                          IMDb
                          8.4
                          Rotten Tomatoes
                          83%
                          Metacritic
                          81

                          A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Giuseppe Tornatore admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie
                          #7
                          Official poster for A Silent Voice: The Movie (2016)
                          RomanceDramaAnimation 2h 9m

                          Nutevio Score

                          8.3

                          IMDb
                          8.4
                          Rotten Tomatoes
                          83%
                          Metacritic
                          77

                          Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shouko and Shouya do not speak to each other again... until an older, wiser Shouya, tormented by his past behaviour, decides he must see Shouko once more. He wants to atone for his sins, but is it already too late...?

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Naoko Yamada admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie
                          #8
                          Official poster for Call Me by Your Name (2017)
                          RomanceDrama 2h 12m

                          Nutevio Score

                          8.3

                          IMDb
                          8.1
                          Rotten Tomatoes
                          83%
                          Metacritic
                          76

                          In the summer of 1983, a 17-year-old Elio spends his days in his family's villa in Italy. One day Oliver, a graduate student, arrives to assist Elio's father, a professor of Greco-Roman culture. Soon, Elio and Oliver discover a summer that will alter their lives forever.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Luca Guadagnino admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          Editor's note

                          I have shown Call Me by Your Name to people who insisted they did not like romance films. It has never once failed. That is the closest thing to proof a ranking like this can offer.

                          Nutevio Editors
                          View Movie
                          #9
                          Official poster for Titanic (1997)
                          RomanceDrama 3h 14m

                          Nutevio Score

                          8.2

                          IMDb
                          7.9
                          Rotten Tomatoes
                          82%
                          Metacritic
                          75

                          101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • James Cameron admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You do not have 3h 14m to give it in one sitting
                          • You prefer action-heavy films

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie
                          #10
                          Official poster for Five Feet Apart (2019)
                          RomanceDrama 1h 56m

                          Nutevio Score

                          8.2

                          IMDb
                          8.2
                          Rotten Tomatoes
                          82%
                          Metacritic
                          76

                          Seventeen-year-old Stella spends most of her time in the hospital as a cystic fibrosis patient. Her life is full of routines, boundaries and self-control — all of which get put to the test when she meets Will, an impossibly charming teen who has the same illness. There's an instant flirtation, though restrictions dictate that they must maintain a safe distance between them. As their connection intensifies, so does the temptation to throw the rules out the window and embrace that attraction.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Justin Baldoni admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie

                          Chapter 2 · Against the grain

                          The entries that refuse the formula

                          Where the genre argues with itself

                          Cinema Paradiso, A Silent Voice: The Movie, Call Me by Your Name, Titanic and Five Feet Apart take the genre's expectations and decline them. That refusal is the reason they are in the list at all.

                          Ranked below the block above only because a broken rule is easier to admire than a rule perfectly kept.

                          #11
                          Official poster for Pride & Prejudice (2005)
                          RomanceDrama 2h 8m8.1IMDb

                          A story of love and life among the landed English gentry during the Georgian era. Mr. Bennet is a gentleman living in Hertfordshire with his overbearing wife and five daughters, but if he dies their house will be inherited by a distant cousin whom they have never met, so the family's future happiness and security is dependent on the daughters making good marriages.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Joe Wright admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie
                          #12
                          Official poster for Modern Times (1936)
                          RomanceComedyDrama 1h 27m8.3IMDb

                          A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and comedy filmmaking
                          • Charlie Chaplin admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame
                          • Classic-cinema viewers building a foundation

                          Skip if

                          • You prefer action-heavy films

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          Editor's note

                          Watch the first ten minutes of Modern Times with the sound up and no distractions. If it has not got you by then, this collection may not be for you — and that is genuinely fine.

                          Nutevio Editors
                          View Movie
                          #13
                          Official poster for The Handmaiden (2016)
                          RomanceDramaThriller 2h 25m8.2IMDb

                          1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl, Sook-hee, is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, Hideko, who lives a secluded life on a large countryside estate with her domineering Uncle Kouzuki. But the maid has a secret. She is a pickpocket recruited by a swindler posing as a Japanese Count to help him seduce the Lady to steal her fortune.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Park Chan-wook admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie
                          #14
                          Official poster for Vertigo (1958)
                          RomanceMysteryThriller 2h 8m8.1IMDb

                          A retired San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and mystery filmmaking
                          • Alfred Hitchcock admirers
                          • Viewers who enjoy slow-burn tension over shocks
                          • Puzzle-solvers who like piecing a story together
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: Late evening, lights off, phone in another room.

                          View Movie
                          #15
                          Official poster for Casablanca (1943)
                          RomanceDrama 1h 42m8.1IMDb

                          In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Michael Curtiz admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame
                          • Classic-cinema viewers building a foundation

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie

                          Chapter 3 · Romance craft

                          What romance does at its best

                          1936–2016 · five demonstrations

                          Pride & Prejudice, Modern Times, The Handmaiden, Vertigo and Casablanca are here for craft rather than reputation. Each one solves a specific romance problem — how to sustain tension, how to earn a turn, how to end — and solves it in a way the rest of the list keeps borrowing.

                          Pride & Prejudice (2005) is the entry we would show someone who claims the genre is formulaic.

                          Casablanca closes the block.

                          #16
                          Official poster for La La Land (2016)
                          RomanceComedyDrama 2h 9m7.9IMDb

                          Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian, a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and comedy filmmaking
                          • Damien Chazelle admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You prefer action-heavy films

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          Editor's note

                          We nearly moved La La Land three places in either direction, twice. It stayed because Damien Chazelle does one thing here that nobody has improved on since, and you will know it when you reach it.

                          Nutevio Editors
                          View Movie
                          #17
                          Official poster for Accidental Partners (2026)
                          RomanceComedy 1h 50m9.0IMDb

                          Two women discover they were both scammed by the same man (who also got them pregnant). They form an alliance to take revenge.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and comedy filmmaking
                          • Ihtzi Hurtado admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie
                          #18
                          Official poster for Me Before You (2016)
                          RomanceDrama 1h 50m7.9IMDb

                          Lou Clark, a directionless 26-year-old from the English countryside, takes a job at the local castle as a caregiver and companion to a wealthy young banker, Will Traynor. Wheelchair-bound from an accident two years prior, the once adventurous Will has all but given up — that is until Lou determines to show him that life is worth living.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Thea Sharrock admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie
                          #19
                          Official poster for Gabriel's Inferno (2020)
                          RomanceDrama 2h 2m8.4IMDb

                          An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love, and redemption, Gabriel's Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible--forgiveness and love.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Tosca Musk admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie
                          #20
                          Official poster for The Notebook (2004)
                          RomanceDrama 2h 3m7.9IMDb

                          An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Nick Cassavetes admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          Editor's note

                          Watch the first ten minutes of The Notebook with the sound up and no distractions. If it has not got you by then, this collection may not be for you — and that is genuinely fine.

                          Nutevio Editors
                          View Movie

                          Chapter 4 · Against the grain

                          The entries that refuse the formula

                          Where the genre argues with itself

                          La La Land, Accidental Partners, Me Before You, Gabriel's Inferno and The Notebook take the genre's expectations and decline them. That refusal is the reason they are in the list at all.

                          Ranked below the block above only because a broken rule is easier to admire than a rule perfectly kept.

                          #21
                          Official poster for Amélie (2001)
                          RomanceComedy 2h 2m7.9IMDb

                          At a tiny Parisian café, the adorable yet painfully shy Amélie accidentally discovers a gift for helping others. Soon Amelie is spending her days as a matchmaker, guardian angel, and all-around do-gooder. But when she bumps into a handsome stranger, will she find the courage to become the star of her very own love story?

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and comedy filmmaking
                          • Jean-Pierre Jeunet admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie
                          #22
                          Official poster for Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc (2025)
                          RomanceActionFantasyAnimation 1h 40m8.5IMDb

                          In a brutal war between devils, hunters, and secret enemies, a mysterious girl named Reze has stepped into Denji's world, and he faces his deadliest battle yet, fueled by love in a world where survival knows no rules.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and action filmmaking
                          • Tatsuya Yoshihara admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie
                          #23
                          Official poster for City Lights (1931)
                          RomanceComedyDrama 1h 27m8.3IMDb

                          A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and comedy filmmaking
                          • Charlie Chaplin admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame
                          • Classic-cinema viewers building a foundation

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie
                          #24
                          Official poster for About Time (2013)
                          RomanceFantasyDrama 2h 3m7.9IMDb

                          The night after another unsatisfactory New Year's party, Tim's father reveals to him that the men in their family have the ability to travel through time. They can't change history, but they can change what happens and has happened in their own lives. Thus begins the start of a lesson in learning to appreciate life itself as it is, as it comes, and most importantly, the people living alongside us.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and fantasy filmmaking
                          • Richard Curtis admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          Editor's note

                          We nearly moved About Time three places in either direction, twice. It stayed because Richard Curtis does one thing here that nobody has improved on since, and you will know it when you reach it.

                          Nutevio Editors
                          View Movie
                          #25
                          Official poster for A Beautiful Mind (2001)
                          RomanceDrama 2h 15m7.8IMDb

                          From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash Jr. experiences it all. As a brilliant but socially awkward mathematician, he made a groundbreaking discovery early in his career and stands on the brink of international acclaim. But as the handsome and arrogant Nash accepts secret work in cryptography, he becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy. His life takes a nightmarish turn and he soon finds himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery.

                          Imported record — imported from the Nutevio library and placed by ranking signal. A Nutevio editorial verdict has not been written for this entry yet.

                          Perfect for

                          • Fans of romance and drama filmmaking
                          • Ron Howard admirers
                          • Viewers who want a film to land emotionally, not just cleverly
                          • Viewers drawn to relationships at the centre of the frame

                          Skip if

                          • You dislike deliberate, unhurried pacing
                          • You prefer action-heavy films
                          • You are looking for something light

                          Best watched: A quiet night when you can let the ending sit with you.

                          View Movie

                          Chapter 5 · Romance craft

                          What romance does at its best

                          1931–2025 · five demonstrations

                          Amélie, Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc, City Lights, About Time and A Beautiful Mind are here for craft rather than reputation. Each one solves a specific romance problem — how to sustain tension, how to earn a turn, how to end — and solves it in a way the rest of the list keeps borrowing.

                          Amélie (2001) is the entry we would show someone who claims the genre is formulaic.

                          A Beautiful Mind closes the block.

                          Page 1 of 2 — keep going to complete the collection

                          At a glance

                          Collection statistics

                          What this ranking is made of — eras, runtimes, ratings and accolades.

                          Average Nutevio Score
                          8.0
                          Average IMDb rating
                          8.1
                          Average release year
                          2000
                          Oldest film
                          1931

                          City Lights

                          Newest film
                          2026

                          Accidental Partners

                          Longest runtime
                          3h 58m

                          Gone with the Wind

                          Shortest runtime
                          1h 24m

                          Beauty and the Beast

                          Oscar winners
                          0

                          of 50 films

                          Countries represented
                          1

                          United States of America

                          Average runtime
                          2h 0m
                          Most common director
                          Tosca Musk

                          3 films in this list

                          Most common decade
                          2010s

                          17 films

                          Languages represented
                          1

                          English

                          Community

                          Discuss this collection

                          Rankings are arguments. Here is where the counter-argument will live.

                          Argue the ranking

                          Think #4 should be #1? Make the case — our editors read every thread.

                          Nominate a missing movie

                          Tell us what we left out and which entry it should replace.

                          Post an alternative ranking

                          Reorder the list your way and share it as a counter-cut.

                          Ask for a recommendation

                          Say what you liked here and the community will point you onward.

                          Community threads for Romance Movies open soon — saved collections will carry over.

                          Join the conversation

                          Community discussions

                          All threads about Romance Movies

                          In conclusion

                          Why these movies matter

                          Why these films matter: Romance Movies spans 1931 to 2026, 44 filmmakers and 0 Academy Award winners, and it holds together because every entry is arguing for the same thing — that the way a story is told is the story. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind states the case most completely; Chungking Express proves the case is still open.

                          What holds them together: the entries above share a preoccupation rather than a formula, and the ordering reflects how completely each one commits to it. Where two titles were inseparable, we broke the tie on how well the film holds up on a second viewing.

                          Where to go next: follow a director, follow a decade, or follow a mood. The recommendations below are scored on shared films, filmmakers, genres, themes and eras rather than picked at random, so each one continues a thread this collection started.

                          The Nutevio Editors · updated 4 August 2026

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