20 Best Romantic Movies On Amazon Prime [October 2023]

Love and romance just seem to hit hardest when they come as a surprise, when one isn't looking — or at least that's the magical notion that fuels plenty of romantic comedy movies. It's also one of the big ideas behind "Anything's Possible," a cute and affecting rom-com about two teenagers who delicately fall for each other during an already chaotic senior year and when one of them is in the middle of a profound and important identity transformation. Cool teen guy Khal develops a crush on the charming and self-assured Kelsa, who has just transitioned. They decide to go for it, despite the potential hardships of young love and the scandal their relationship may create at their school.

• Starring: Eva Reign, Abubakr Ali, Renee Elise Goldsberry
• Director: Billy Porter
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 96 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

"Bros" reinvents the romantic comedy while lovingly embodying those films' tropes, injecting new life into the genre and not just because it's one of the first major studio rom-coms to feature a same-sex couple. "Bros" features emotionally complicated characters who are a little afraid of relationships and not necessarily looking for true love. Screenwriter Billy Eichner plays a podcaster happy with a series of meaningless flings until he meets Aaron, a lawyer with a similar mindset about commitment. Before long, however, they like each other so much they just can't help but let their guards down and inadvertently let love just happen.

• Starring: Billy Eichner, Luke Macfarlane, Monica Raymund
• Director: Nicholas Stoller
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 115 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

A low-key romantic comedy, "Forev" explores the pros and cons of marriage through a very unique lens. Sophie and Pete are new neighbors and quick friends. When he embarks on a long drive to pick up his sister from college, she tags along. As a joke, they decide to get engaged, as marriage offers tax breaks, better insurance, and companionship. They really don't see much of a downside — until they get stranded in the desert. This awkward situation forces them to look inward to determine if they even want to be in such a permanent arrangement, and what they want out of life itself.

• Starring: Noel Wells, Matt Mider, Amanda Bauer
• Directors: Molly Green, James Leffler
• Year: 2013
• Runtime: 88 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71% (Audience Score)

As an erotic psychological thriller, this movie throws a lot at its audience — but it's always delivered in exactly the right way. Sook-hee is the titular handmaiden, in service to a Japanese heiress named Lady Hideko. In truth, Sook-hee is after Hideko's fortune, and is operating with the help of a con man. Yet Hideko is hiding complex secrets of her own. Things become even more complicated when Sook-hee and Hideko develop feelings for each other. This isn't your typical romance film, and that's what makes it so exceptional.

• Starring: Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong
• Director: Park Chan-wook
• Year: 2016
• Runtime: 144 minutes
• Rating: Not Rated
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

"His Girl Friday" is widely regarded as a classic romance. It might surprise you, then, to learn that it's defined by a major twist: Here, the male lead is enamored with his ex-wife, and desperate to keep her from marrying a ho-hum insurance salesman. A newspaper editor and star reporter respectively, these former lovers are forced back into close proximity by a sizzling scoop. With a killer cast, spectacular script, and memorable plot, this swoon-worthy smash-hit is as comical as it is romantic.

• Starring: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy
• Director: Howard Hawks
• Year: 1940
• Runtime: 92 minutes
• Rating: Not Rated
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%

The story becomes reality for novelist Loretta Sage in "The Lost City," a romantic adventure that unfolds over a treasure hunt deep within the jungle, complete with a wacky but evil villain in pursuit. Loretta is a popular adventure novelist who keeps to herself, turning her deceased husband's travel stories into novels adorned with images of a hunky cover model named Alan. While Loretta and Alan are out promoting their latest work on a book tour, weird billionaire Abigail Fairfax kidnaps them in hopes that they can lead him to the fabled Lost City of D. Loretta is brainy and cranky; Alan is goofy, sweet, and dumb, and they just might fall in love if they can get out of the jungle alive.

• Starring: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe
• Director: Adam Nee and Aaron Nee
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 112 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

An Amazon Prime original, "Red, White & Royal Blue" brings Casey McQuiston's top-selling romance novel to the small screen. Mixing international politics and royal intrigue with the slow build of an unlikely love story, this film shows how romance can quell an international incident. Alex Claremont-Diaz is the son of U.S. president Ellen Claremont. Prince Henry is an heir to the English throne. They absolutely loathe each other, to the point where their respective parents force them to call off their feud. But the time they spend together makes them realize their strong feelings for each other might skew more towards love than hate.

• Starring: Taylor Zakhar Perez, Nicholas Galitzine, Uma Thurman
• Director: Matthew Lopez
• Year: 2023
• Runtime: 112 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75%

"Sylvie's Love" is a romance fan's romance movie. It follows a saxophonist named Robert and a woman named Sylvie, who develops a burning passion for her career in television — something not everyone is happy about, given the fact that it's 1962. The two fall head-over-heels for each other, but commitments, work, and a remarkable offer to play in Paris get in the way. Sylvie and Robert's story splits, reconnects, and branches in a number of fascinating ways. Love is complicated here, but it is also enduring.

• Starring: Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Eva Longoria
• Director: Eugene Ashe
• Year: 2020
• Runtime: 114 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

"Untamed Heart" explores to its fullest extent the metaphorical idea that the blood-pumping organ is also the place where feelings of love reside. The result is a heart-swelling and heartbreaking romance. 

After a string of unfaithful and unreliable boyfriends, diner worker Caroline doesn't even notice busboy Adam gazing adoringly at her until he rescues her from a street assault. He's severely injured in the melee, and while hospitalized, he learns that he has a likely fatal and rare heart condition. But when approached about a transplant, Adam refuses, swearing that his doomed heart is where his love for Caroline resides. A quick but profound romance ensues, from which no one will emerge without some kind of heart damage.

• Starring: Christian Slater, Marisa Tomei, Rosie Perez
• Director: Tony Bill
• Year: 1993
• Runtime: 102 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 58%

Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore showed off their palpable chemistry for the first time in "The Wedding Singer," an '80s-set tale about a couple of banquet hall workers helpless against their attraction to each other. Sandler plays Robbie Hart, a guy who loves weddings so much that he applies his formidable musical talents to becoming a poorly paid reception singer.  This line of work introduces him to Julia, a server engaged to a despicable, adulterous yuppie stockbroker. Robbie becomes absorbed in self-loathing after being dumped by his shallow girlfriend, and Julia trudges ahead with her ill-advised wedding ... but they can't stop thinking about each other, and growing ever closer.

• Starring: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Christine Taylor
• Director: Frank Coraci
• Year: 1998
• Runtime: 96 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 72%