30 films · The Lovvy team
The 30 best movies to watch as a couple
Thirty films for two, sorted by mood: to fall in love, to laugh, to cry, something different and a big night in.
The best film to watch as a couple is not the best film ever made. It is the one that suits the night you are having: tired or wide awake, in the mood to laugh or to feel something, with an hour and a half or with the whole evening. So this list is sorted by mood rather than ranked.
If you still cannot choose between them, here is how to settle it.
To fall in love
- 1
About Time (2013)
Directed by Richard Curtis
A young man learns he can travel back to moments of his own life, and slowly works out that the point is not to fix every day but to live it properly.
Also in: Movies for a first date at home, Movies to watch cuddled up: 20 picks for a quiet night, The best movies for a couple’s movie night
- 2
Before Sunrise (1995)
Directed by Richard Linklater
Two strangers get off a train in Vienna and talk until morning. Almost nothing happens, and it is one of the most romantic films ever made.
Also in: Movies to watch cuddled up: 20 picks for a quiet night, The best movies for a couple’s movie night
- 3
When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
Directed by Rob Reiner
Two people argue for years about whether men and women can be friends. Sharp, very funny and the template for every romantic comedy after it.
Also in: Movies for a first date at home
- 4
La La Land (2016)
Directed by Damien Chazelle
A jazz pianist and an aspiring actress fall for each other in Los Angeles while chasing the things they want most.
Also in: Movies to watch cuddled up: 20 picks for a quiet night, The best movies for a couple’s movie night
- 5
Past Lives (2023)
Directed by Celine Song
Two childhood friends from Seoul meet again in New York decades later. Quiet, precise and devastating in the gentlest way.
- 6
Notting Hill (1999)
Directed by Roger Michell
The owner of a small London bookshop and the most famous actress in the world. Warm, funny and full of friends you would want over for dinner.
Also in: Movies to watch cuddled up: 20 picks for a quiet night, Romantic movies to watch with your boyfriend or girlfriend
- 7
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Directed by Joe Wright
Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, in the version with misty fields and long looks. The best way into Jane Austen if you have never read her.
Also in: Movies for a rainy night in, as a couple, Movies to watch cuddled up: 20 picks for a quiet night
- 8
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
Directed by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa
A newly separated man gets dating lessons from a smooth stranger, and several love stories turn out to be tied together.
Also in: Movies for a first date at home, Romantic movies to watch with your boyfriend or girlfriend
To laugh
- 9
Palm Springs (2020)
Directed by Max Barbakow
Two wedding guests get stuck living the same day over and over in the desert. A time-loop comedy that is also a sneaky love story.
Also in: Movies for a first date at home, The best movies for a couple’s movie night
- 10
The Princess Bride (1987)
Directed by Rob Reiner
A grandfather reads his grandson a fairy tale of pirates, giants and true love. Endlessly quotable, and fun at any age.
Also in: Movies for a first date at home, Movies to watch cuddled up: 20 picks for a quiet night, The best movies for a couple’s movie night
- 11
Groundhog Day (1993)
Directed by Harold Ramis
A cynical weatherman wakes up to the same small-town day again and again. A comedy that quietly becomes a film about becoming a better person.
- 12
The Big Sick (2017)
Directed by Michael Showalter
A stand-up comedian falls for a woman just before she falls seriously ill, and ends up spending his days with her parents. Based on a true story, and funnier than that sounds.
- 13
Knives Out (2019)
Directed by Rian Johnson
A famous crime novelist dies the night of his birthday party, and a detective with a Southern drawl questions the whole family. A proper whodunnit you can solve together.
Also in: Movies for a first date at home, Movies for a rainy night in, as a couple, The best movies for a couple’s movie night
- 14
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Directed by Wes Anderson
A legendary concierge and his lobby boy get caught up in a stolen painting and a family fortune. Every frame looks like a pastry box.
Also in: Movies for a first date at home, The best movies for a couple’s movie night
- 15
Paddington 2 (2017)
Directed by Paul King
A polite bear is wrongly sent to prison and wins everyone over anyway. Possibly the kindest film ever made, and not only for children.
Also in: Movies for a first date at home, Movies to watch cuddled up: 20 picks for a quiet night, The best movies for a couple’s movie night
To cry a little
- 16
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Directed by Michel Gondry
After a painful break-up, a couple have their memories of each other erased. Strange, funny and heartbreaking, and worth talking about afterwards.
- 17
Up (2009)
Directed by Pete Docter
An elderly widower ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies off to South America, with an accidental stowaway. Keep tissues nearby for the first ten minutes.
Also in: Movies to watch cuddled up: 20 picks for a quiet night
- 18
The Notebook (2004)
Directed by Nick Cassavetes
A man reads a love story from an old notebook to a woman in a care home. The rain scene alone has kept this film on lists for twenty years.
Also in: Movies for a rainy night in, as a couple, Romantic movies to watch with your boyfriend or girlfriend
- 19
A Star Is Born (2018)
Directed by Bradley Cooper
A famous musician finds an unknown singer and brings her on stage. A love story with a great soundtrack and a heavy heart.
- 20
Coco (2017)
Directed by Lee Unkrich
A boy who dreams of music crosses into the Land of the Dead on the Day of the Dead. Colourful, funny and guaranteed to make at least one of you cry.
Also in: Movies to watch cuddled up: 20 picks for a quiet night
Something different
- 21
Amélie (2001)
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
A shy waitress in Montmartre starts secretly fixing the lives of the people around her, and avoids her own. Paris as a daydream.
Also in: Movies for a first date at home, Movies to watch cuddled up: 20 picks for a quiet night
- 22
Her (2013)
Directed by Spike Jonze
A lonely writer falls in love with the voice of his computer’s operating system. A gentle, strange film about what we need from the people we love.
- 23
In the Mood for Love (2000)
Directed by Wong Kar-wai
Hong Kong, 1962. Two neighbours suspect their spouses are having an affair, and grow close while trying not to. Every shot is gorgeous.
- 24
Spirited Away (2001)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
A ten-year-old girl wanders into a bathhouse for spirits and has to work there to save her parents. The masterpiece of Studio Ghibli.
- 25
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Directed by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
A laundromat owner in the middle of a tax audit discovers other versions of herself across the multiverse. Chaotic, hilarious and surprisingly tender.
- 26
Arrival (2016)
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
A linguist is brought in to talk to visitors from somewhere else. Science fiction with a big emotional turn you will want to discuss.
A big night in
- 27
Titanic (1997)
Directed by James Cameron
Rose and Jack on the ship everyone knows the ending of. Three hours that still go by fast.
- 28
Inception (2010)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
A team of thieves goes inside people’s dreams to plant an idea. A blockbuster that ends in an argument about the last shot.
- 29
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Directed by George Miller
One long chase across a desert wasteland. Two hours of the best action filmmaking of its decade.
- 30
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
Maverick comes back to train a group of young pilots for an almost impossible mission. Pure big-screen fun, even at home.
Want only the romantic ones? There are twenty more in romantic movies to watch with your partner. Planning something special? Start with movies for a first date at home.